Charley Mooney, Chairman
I grew up in West Virginia running around through the woods and playing in the creeks that surrounded our family farm. Growing up in rural Appalachia, hunting and fishing seemed normal activities and that everyone just lived that way.
I started working at our local outdoor store when I was 17. It was an iconic shop and sold everything you could want for climbing, camping and backpacking. Little did I know then that it would lead me into working in the outdoor industry for the next 25 years. Chasing snow and mountains landed me in Colorado and Montana for several years. It is in Colorado that I started fly fishing some 22 years ago.
I am fortunate to be able to make my living fishing and guiding here in West Virginia. I fell in love with all the wide-open space that the West provided and the amount of open public land that is out there. When I came home to West Virginia I found that many of the places I hunted and the woods I ran around in were no longer there. I have two boys and being able to make sure they have a place to go and have the same experiences that I had is of the highest priority for me. That is why I am a BHA member!
Mark Tonkin - Vice Chair
I was born and raised in Braxton County West Virginia and currently reside near Buckhannon. I joined the U.S. Navy upon graduating high school and served on-board the USS Cape St. George stationed in Norfolk, VA. I fulfilled my 4 years of service and came home to West Virginia where I took a job working night shift at a local mill and earned a degree from New River Community and Technical College in Computer Science. This has lead to a long career in automation and instrumentation.
I grew up in the woods and on the water hunting, fishing, and foraging. I was blessed to be raised in a very rural setting near a lot of public land. I am an avid fly fisherman who pursues any species on the fly, but my heart is with the backcountry trout of the lakes and streams of the West and here at home in Appalachia. I also love backpacking, camping, foraging for mushrooms and other wild edibles, small game hunting, waterfowl hunting, and am an obsessed public land bowhunter, be it in the Mon National Forest or local WMAs.
Logan Bockrath, Secretary
I grew up in Dayton, Ohio and while I loved the outdoors my perception of hunting was that it was a redneck activity in which the goal was to kill an animal for antlers.
Rivers brought me to West Virginia straight out of high school; throughout the next decade of being a dirtbag kayaker I was exposed to a different side of hunting. Before the BHAs and Steve Rinellas of the hunting world began their sermons, West Virginia culture taught me that this is how families feed themselves and connect to the outdoors. In a short time span apathy turned into respect, respect turned into interest and the fact that my living situation had upgraded from a car to a camper to a bus to a house meant that I now had a freezer to fill.
I purchased a beat-up rifle from a friend and a used bow from a pawn shop. Book knowledge substituted for experience and I bumbled my way through the woods for the first handful of years, luckily filling my freezer.
While I enjoyed the connection to West Virginian culture that hunting brought me, I felt a disconnect to what I saw in the hunting media. I forged my own hunting philosophy based on wild game and the love of the outdoors. Years later I discovered the work of Steve Rinella and BHA and finally found a kinship of ideas surrounding hunting.
Somehow the dirtbag kayaker life rolled into working at an advertising agency, which rolled into owning my own production company, Thelonious Step. I live in the New River Gorge area where I enjoy the public lands at my doorstep on a daily basis.
David Tuckwiller - Treasurer
I was raised on the family farm in Greenbrier County WV where I reside today working the farm along side my brother and sister. I have been working for CSX Transportation for the past 17 years and was a member of the WV National Guard while being employed by Asplundh Tree Co prior to that.
I spent most of my early years chasing game and and fish around the state, especially in the Monongahela National Forest which I have a deep love for. Later in life I began traveling to other parts of the country to experience what they have to offer and expand my knowledge of the outdoors. From chasing turkeys in the Black Hills of WY to chucking flies at muskies in VA or casting from the surf of the Outer Banks for reds, there is nothing I'd rather be doing than enjoying the mountains and waters that God has blessed us with.
Bill Lehrter,
I grew up on a family farm on Ohio's Whitewater river. I was fortunate to have the opportunity for excellent smallmouth bass fishing, deer hunting, and waterfowl right out my back door. While I had been exposed to public lands through family backpacking and fishing trips, it wasn't until college that my focus shifted to hunting on public ground. I quickly realized that hunting and fishing access was not to be taken for granted. I spent my free time roaming Wayne National Forest while earning a degree in wildlife and fisheries management.
After graduating I moved to Fayetteville, West Virginia, and have been guiding fishing, hunting, and whitewater rafting trips there for 10 years. I volunteer for the Trout Unlimited Water Quality Monitoring Project and am currently working on a degree in environmental science to further my career in conservation.
When I'm not in the Monongahela National Forest or New River Gorge National River, I spend as much time as possible hunting, fishing, and rafting on public lands and waters from coast to coast.
Ross Tuckwiller
Ross grew up an avid hunter and angler on his family’s farm in Greenbrier County, WV and the nearby Monongahela National Forest. After graduating from WVU with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources, he moved to DC to work as the Energy Development Policy Coordinator for the American Sportfishing Association. Following his time with ASA, Ross moved to Durango, CO to work as a Field Representative for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership in Colorado and New Mexico, focusing on responsible energy development among other public lands issues that impacted sportsmen and women. After a couple of years in the west, Ross moved home to help manage the family farm in WV and began a career as a Watershed Design Specialist with the West Virginia Conservation Agency, restoring habitat and stability to impaired rivers and streams throughout the state.
Ross grew up an avid hunter and angler on his family’s farm in Greenbrier County, WV and the nearby Monongahela National Forest. After graduating from WVU with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources, he moved to DC to work as the Energy Development Policy Coordinator for the American Sportfishing Association. Following his time with ASA, Ross moved to Durango, CO to work as a Field Representative for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership in Colorado and New Mexico, focusing on responsible energy development among other public lands issues that impacted sportsmen and women. After a couple of years in the west, Ross moved home to help manage the family farm in WV and began a career as a Watershed Design Specialist with the West Virginia Conservation Agency, restoring habitat and stability to impaired rivers and streams throughout the state.
Away from work and the farm, Ross enjoys every minute spent outdoors hunting and fishing, with a particular fondness for laying out flies on cold mountain water and chasing gobblers on cool spring mornings. There is a special place reserved for conserving our outdoor heritage and passing along to the next generation that which has brought so much joy.
RJ Callaway
I was born and raised in southern WV. Hunting and fishing has always been a huge part of my life. After high school I attended WVU for a BS in Wood Science and Technology. While at WVU hunting and fishing may have taken a priority over classes. The many public lands around Morgantown fueled my passion for the outdoors. I have been lucky enough to travel throughout North America from southern Florida to northern Canada hunting and fishing. Bow hunting is my passion along with fly fishing and kayak fishing the rivers. I have guided many fly trout fishing clients at Glade Springs Resort. The NRG has always been a part of my life from white water rafting, small mouth fishing, and hunting. I hope to be able to stay informed and involved with our public lands for future generations.
I was born and raised in southern WV. Hunting and fishing has always been a huge part of my life. After high school I attended WVU for a BS in Wood Science and Technology. While at WVU hunting and fishing may have taken a priority over classes. The many public lands around Morgantown fueled my passion for the outdoors. I have been lucky enough to travel throughout North America from southern Florida to northern Canada hunting and fishing. Bow hunting is my passion along with fly fishing and kayak fishing the rivers. I have guided many fly trout fishing clients at Glade Springs Resort. The NRG has always been a part of my life from white water rafting, small mouth fishing, and hunting. I hope to be able to stay informed and involved with our public lands for future generations.
Matt Kearns
I'm from Charleston, West Virginia. I grew up doing a little bit of hunting and fishing but got away from it after I joined the Coast Guard. Stationed on the West Coast, I was fortunate to see a lot of our country through my service. I came home to use my GI Bill at WVU for a degree in Forest Resource Management. I've worked in conservation and hydrology.
I've been getting back into hunting and fishing and I enjoy the knowledge and connection that comes when engaging with the landscape on a deeper level. I like turkey and squirrel hunting the most. I missed the first shot I ever took at a deer this year. And usually lures lost is greater than caught fish. I believe that BHA is the organization that best represents my evolving ethic as a conservation-minded, public lands-loving Mountaineer.
I've been getting back into hunting and fishing and I enjoy the knowledge and connection that comes when engaging with the landscape on a deeper level. I like turkey and squirrel hunting the most. I missed the first shot I ever took at a deer this year. And usually lures lost is greater than caught fish. I believe that BHA is the organization that best represents my evolving ethic as a conservation-minded, public lands-loving Mountaineer.
Josh Zerkel
I grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia as a lucky kid with Coopers Rock State Forest and the Cheat River as my backyard and playground. In my teen and college years I fell in love with skating and snowboarding and followed those passions across the world from Japan to New Zealand and all over the United States. This journey turned into a career and allowed me to come home and settle down into my current role managing the southeast territory for Burton Snowboards. The same style of self-discipline and drive that comes inherently with boardsports translated well with hunting and fishing and opened a whole new world for me later in life.
I’ve always been proud to call West Virginia home, but seeing this place through the lens of a sportsman has given me a great appreciation for what we have and a greater sense of responsibility to protect it. Being a new father, it’s my goal to share this tradition and leave this place better than I found it for my little girl and for generations to come.
Grant Gibson
Grant is an avid outdoorsman & adventure seeker. He cut his teeth in the hunting world running hounds with his grandfather in pursuit of the sly ringtail bandit. Some folks may love the allure of trout on a fly line. For Grant, nothing beats pulling monster “Blue Cats” from a river under the full moon. Grant’s hunting and outdoors knowledge trace its roots from the heart of Appalachia. He is a fervent consumer of local culture & history as it pertains to the landscape, knowledge, and traditions of hunting or fishing. Grant is a veteran of the United States military. During that time he found BHA. Constantly relocating for military assignments drove Grant to public lands to pursue his passions. Grant is firmly committed to protecting and increasing access to public lands and waters.
Jacob Miller
Jacob Miller is a passionate traveling turkey hunter, fly fisher, and biologist from Charleston, WV. Jacob is a firm believer that our wild public lands, water, and wildlife simply have a right to exist far beyond mankind; and ensuring that right is of upmost importance.
Jacob has been a serious outdoorsman from the beginning but also considers himself a naturalist with interest in “non-game” species of invertebrates, fish, birds, reptiles, and so on. After completing his master’s degree in biology at Marshall University, Jacob began working as a biologist for a private company, traveling extensively throughout the Eastern U.S. This experience has allowed him to encounter a variety of ecological systems and habitats through a scientific lens, but also hunt and fish in new places year after year. Working day-to-day in our streams and forests, and spending every other possible day recreating in those same places, Jacob feels strongly that these places and the organisms that live there need protection. This is why he is belongs to BHA.