From Backcountry Hunters and Anglers:
T. Edward Nickens, Mike Schoby and Dan Martel have joined the national board of directors of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, bolstering the leadership of the rapidly expanding sportsmen’s group. The new board members were announced at BHA’s annual rendezvous, which took place in Spokane, Wash., March 6-8.
“At Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, hunting and fishing isn’t what we do; it’s who we are,” said BHA Executive Director Land Tawney. “Renowned sportsmen, experts in their chosen fields and leaders in our community, BHA’s new board members personify this philosophy. I am honored to have them join our ranks, and I look forward to all they’ll bring to BHA.”
For more than three decades, T. Edward Nickens has reported on conservation, the outdoors and rural culture for some of the world’s most respected publications. He is editor at large for Field & Stream and a contributing editor for Audubon magazine. His work has appeared in Smithsonian, National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, Garden & Gun, Shooting Sportsman, Sporting Classics and many other titles. His two books for Field & Stream have sold more than 250,000 copies. His works have been collected in a half-dozen “best of” anthologies and won numerous awards. In addition, Nickens has served as host, writer, and field producer for Field & Stream’s television shows The Gun Nuts and The Total Outdoorsman Challenge as well as the award-winning Heroes of Conservation webisode series. He has consulted as a speaker, speechwriter, white-paper author and communications specialist for a range of conservation organizations. Nickens lives in Raleigh and Morehead City, North Carolina.
“Whether you live on the edge of wilderness or spend your days dreaming of distant unfettered, un-civilized landscapes, the notion of backcountry and the possibilities it offers are sustaining values of the American ethos,” said Nickens. “I have a foot in both camps – a resident of the settled East yet a frequent visitor to backcountry areas, both here and in the still-wild ’empty’ places of the American West, Alaska and Canada. The biggest backcountry battles can’t be won without a backcountry constituency that spans the country, and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers comprises that constituency. I’m very glad to be able to contribute to BHA’s work.”
Mike Schoby is editor in chief of Petersen’s Hunting, author of five books, active in TV hosting and production, and a lifelong sportsman. Schoby accepted his position with Petersen’s in 2009 following stints with Gander Mountain, where he headed up a newly formed hunting/fishing travel agency and managed pro-staff, TV production and media relations, and Cabela’s, where he was online managing editor for cabelas.com. In 2012 he won the Zeiss Writer of the Year Award. He has lived in South Africa and worked for a professional hunter/lodge operating in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique, and he has spent time in the retail gun and archery industry. He has a bachelor’s degree from Washington State University. Mike started hunted when he was 8 years old, carrying a Red Ryder BB-gun following his father. Since then, he has hunted all six huntable continents, 35 or so states and six African countries.
“I am really looking forward to becoming more involved with Backcountry Hunters & Anglers,” said Schoby. “The BHA members I have met thus far are some of the most passionate, hardcore and diverse hunters and anglers I have been around in my 30-plus years of hunting and fishing.”
Dan Martel grew up hunting and fishing in rural North Dakota near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers. After obtaining degrees in computer science and accounting he relocated to Colorado, where he still lives. At age 48 he chose to leave his career in software development and volunteer his skills to wildlife and wild places. Martel is a habitat watchman for the Rio Grande National Forest, has chaired BHA’s Taste of Backcountry Angling clinics and provides technology services to BHA. He educates young and old by providing tracking workshops and other education, and he mentors novice hunters each fall. His wife Janet shares his passion, and they spend well over 100 days per year backpacking, backcountry skiing and observing wildlife. When the leaves begin to turn, Dan, with bow in hand, spends an additional month or more chasing elk, deer and other species, primarily in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
“As a lifelong sportsman, I believe in the mission of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers,” said Martel, “and I couldn’t be more excited to contribute to realizing BHA’s vision for sportsmen and conservation in the United States.”
“Fundamentally, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers stands for sportsmen’s values and fights to uphold our nation’s unique hunting and fishing legacy,” concluded Tawney. “However, this legacy is under assault. We are currently engaged in a war that will determine the future of our outdoor traditions. No generals are better equipped to lead this battle than Eddie, Mike and Dan. Their leadership, skills and expertise will help us achieve victory.”
Founded around an eastern Oregon campfire in 2004, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers has expanded rapidly in both size and influence since its inception. With chapters in 19 states and British Columbia, BHA is the sportsmen’s voice for wild public lands, water and wildlife.
Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is the sportsmen’s voice for our wild public lands, waters and wildlife
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