John Sturgeon: SCI Alaska Chapter President

John has been in Alaska since 1970. Prior to that time he served in the US Navy with 2 tours in Viet Nam.  He has a BS in Forestry from the University of Minnesota. He has worked for the US Forest Service as well as the State of Alaska as a forester. He ended his career with the State as the State Forester and was appointed to that position by 2 governors. Since 1986 he has worked in the private sector as President of Koncor Forest Products which currently has operations on Afognak Island. He also owns several other businesses that are in the building products sector.

John is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys all types of hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, boating and snow machining. He has hunted moose on the Yukon River consecutively since 1971. He also goes on an annual elk hunt in both Alaska and Montana. Still an avid sheep hunter at 75 he took his daughter on a successful sheep hunt (40” ram) in 2017. He has a mt. goat and Kodiak brown bear in the all-time B&C record book.  In 2017 John was awarded the Governor’s Conservationist of the Year for his efforts to preserve access to Alaska’s river. He took his battle all the way to the US Supreme Court and won 2 unanimous 8-0 ruling. He was also awarded the SCI’s president’s award in Las Vegas in 2017.

One of my goals as the AK Chapter president is to increase the involvement of the younger generations in protecting our sheep hunting heritage.  In my time in Alaska I have seen the opportunities for sheep hunters drop drastically. If we are to retain our hunting heritage in Alaska it is going to take a lot of hard work.

John is active in many organizations and has served on many Boards and commissions including:   Alaska Board of Forestry, Alaska Forest Association, Trustee- PNW Medical University, Resource Development Council, The Alaska Outdoor Council, Anchorage South Rotary, Alaska Outdoor Access Alliance, The Alaska Clean Water Commission, the PNWU Advisory Board and The Nature Conservancy of Alaska.

Steve Colligan: SCI Alaska Chapter Vice President

Is a life-long Alaskan with an abundance of experience, who has held numerous leadership positions in the political arena, and over 30 years private business experience in Digital Mapping and Technology Integration. Steve finds solutions to complex problems. He knows that trust is essential to our long-term success and that Alaska is really just one big, small town. He has navigated Alaska’s electoral battleground since the mid-1980s building relationships and gaining the confidence of a diverse spectrum of leaders from various parties and affiliations. Steve has served on the SCI Alaska Chapter Board for more than 10 years and been the Sportsmen’s Conservation Alliance & Political Action Committee President since 2010.

Terri Mayeur: SCI Alaska Chapter Secretary

Terri Mayeur has been a resident of Alaska since August 1992.  Terri loves the lifestyle that we are afforded here in Alaska through hunting and fishing.  She grew up in a very anti-hunting / anti-gun home.  When she moved to Alaska, she was introduced to fishing and a few years after that, to hunting.  It was an interesting transition, but Terri quickly realized how important it was to eat wild, organic meat that was ethically harvested.  She learned what a valuable learning opportunity hunting and fishing was for her family and saw the importance of teaching our children about where our food came from.  Not from the sanitized meat counter at the grocery store, but from the wild and the circle of life.

She believes it is up to us, as stewards of this earth, to protect the population of animals.  A well-managed population of animals keeps the animals healthy and available for generations to come.

In 2020 Terri decided to “put her money and volunteer time into the activities that she supports, buy placing herself up for election and becoming and SCI-AK Board member.  She has been a great assest to our Chapter

David Garganta: SCI Alaska Chapter Treasurer

In 1970, at the age of 10, Dave Garganta moved to Alaska with his family from Florida. He graduated from Chugiak High School in 1979, joined the Alaska Air National Guard in August 1980 and spent the next 38 years in service to his country. He is an Alaska registered guide and outfitter of over 27 years and has hunted, fished and trapped all corners of Alaska from Southeast to the Arctic, the Alaska Peninsula to the Interior. When he is not hunting, guiding or fishing in Alaska, he enjoys traveling to hunt in other states and countries. His travels include Oregon, Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Argentina and New Zealand. Dave is a lifetime member of SCI, SCI Alaska Chapter, NRA, Boone & Crockett and the Veterans of Foreign Wars association.

Dave’s passion for hunting, fishing, trapping and wildlife conservation is a great fit for our organization.

Kerribeth Bahr: SCI Alaska Chapter Director

I’ve lived in Alaska for more than 15 years. I love that can call this place my home. I am a lifetime member of Safari Club International and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. 

I was raised in Nebraska hunting mostly pheasant and white tail with my dad. He has always been an avid outdoorsman and introduced me to hunting and shooting sports at a very young age. My four years in high school I was on a competitive marksmanship team as part of the ROTC program. My senior year I enlisted in the US Army where I spent ten years as an avionics technician on helicopters. This took me all over the US and abroad. I then ended my military service with the Alaska Army National Guard. It was after my military career when I really fell in love with the Alaskan wilderness. 

I spent the next ten years in western Alaska working as an A&P mechanic and exploring the remote parts of the Seward Peninsula. There I began hunting musk ox, caribou, and moose, salmon fishing, and crabbing on the frozen Bering Sea. I learned to appreciate that subsistence way of providing and the importance of maintaining these resources. 

I volunteered for several years on the committee for the local FNRA chapter helping to organize fundraisers and firearm safety and familiarization courses, including Women On Target. It was a joy to see someone, within the span of a day, not only become comfortable shooting a firearm but learn to really enjoy it. 

I have also had the opportunity to hunt in South Africa and, my absolute dream, trekking the Southern Alps of New Zealand hunting Himalayan Tahr. Wildlife conservation has become more and more important to me and I appreciate being a part of this likeminded organization.

George Jacoby: SCI Alaska Chapter Director

I grew up in the Spokane Valley and graduated from E.W.S.C with a biology degree. After graduating I moved to Anchorage and have never left.

As a kid I followed my dad around hunting and fishing all over Washington State. Now my son and oldest grandson follow me around caribou hunting and fishing on the Kenai River. 

After 40 years being self-employed, I finally retired and spent 5 years on the Anchorage Advisory Committee and now 6 years on the Board of SCI. I lead the taxidermy committee for our banquet display and am always looking for diversity and unusual mounts.

I do not want to look back and say “We should have done that (to save a species).”  Let us react now to save our hunting heritage.

Francis Gallela: SCI Alaska Chapter Director

He has been a member of the Alaska Chapter since 1989.  He served as President for three years and Secretary for an estimated 13 years.  He is active in the youth programs sponsored by the Alaska chapter as well as our annual fundraiser. Francis is a member of conservation organizations including the Water for Wildlife (Lander, Wyoming), charter member of the Renewable Resources Coalition (Alaska).  He is a life member of SCI and a life member of NRA.

Dan Williams: SCI Alaska Chapter Director

Dan was born and raised in Michigan where he married his high school sweetheart Kim. When he was 17 he shot a nice 8 point buck and has a local taxidermist Jim Dreeve mount it. After that he knew that he wanted to do taxidermy. After high school he did an apprenticeship with Jim Dreeves for a couple of years and won 1^st place professional division with a whitetail. At the age of 21 he opens his own taxidermy shop, Dan’s Taxidermy. From there he bought his mentor’s taxidermy business, Bay West Taxidermy. In 2022 Dan and Kim sold that business and moved to Alaska where there is plenty of more animals to hunt and fish. Dan’s passion is competing in the state, national and world shows where he keeps up to date on the newest forms and techniques.

Ryan Peyton: SCI Alaska Chapter Director

I grew up in a conservation and hunting focused household. My father worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and I grew up on five different Federal Wildlife Refugees from Maine to Florida to Hawaii. Hunting and conservation have always been at the forefront of my mind. I learned to hunt when I was 10 years old and never stopped. 

Growing up and hunting on a refuge showed me the importance and role that hunters play in wildlife management, and how with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Model that we use in our country, hunters are required to enhance and regulate game. 

After spending 5 years as a hunting and fishing guide in South Dakota, I moved to Alaska to peruse the Alaskan dream. To pursue game in a world barely altered by man and to try to keep it that way for as long as possible. Currently, I serve as a board member of the Alaska Chapter of SCI and as the Refuge Liaison for Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. I hope to run for another two years so that I can continue to support SCI and its mission here in Alaska and beyond.

Kyle Tripp: SCI Alaska Chapter Director

   My name is Kyle Tripp out of Chugiak, Alaska and I am currently serving my last year in the Army, reaching my 20 years of service. Originally from Delaware, I was raised in farm country and have always considered myself to be an outdoorsman. Growing up primarily eastern style hunting for whitetail, it wasn’t until I came to Alaska in 2013 when my hunting interests and experience took off. I found my love for backcountry style hunting, and living in austere environments that was work related.

   It wasn’t long after where I found my interests wasn’t just hunting or fishing, but conservation. I felt the passion to tell the story of each hunting adventure with my photos and dialog, and tailored each to show the ethical side of hunting. I volunteered with the Conservation Law Enforcement on Joint Base Richardson-Elmendorf and continue to help out their team at every opportunity. And each year, I try to invite a novice hunter along for an Alaska adventure, attempting to show positive experiences on what hunting should be.

    Previously, I have hunted in Delaware, Florida, Tennessee, Colorado, Texas, Utah and Alaska. I am currently preparing for a 2024 hunt in South Africa, thanks to the latest SCI Banquet.

   I am a firm believer in wildlife conservation and I would like to do my part to ensure hunting rights and habitats are protected.

Jeremiah Williams: SCI Alaska Chapter Director

I grew up in Idaho fishing and hunting. I served in the US Army for 12 years my last station was at Ft Richardson. I enjoyed Alaska so I decided to stay. I am married and have 4 children that love to be out fishing or hunting. I joined SCi to help fight for hunters rights and preserve our way of life for our future generations. 

Angie Bloomquist: SCI Alaska Chapter Director

Alaska. The Great Land. The Last Frontier. Or as I prefer to call it, home. I am a third generation Alaskan with roots in the Copper River Valley. My grandparents homesteaded near Paxson in the 1930’s and my grandfather was one of the pioneering bush pilots and guides. If you’ve ever watched My Home is Alaska, you will have seen my grandfather, Cleo McMahan, only once in it because he loved to take videos and photos, so he was behind the camera for most of the film. I can recall riding around in an argo and sleeping in a wall tent at sheep camp when I was 6 years old, just running around with my cousins and fishing with no idea how fortunate I was at the time. That Alaskan heritage is not something I take for granted.

Even growing up as I did, I have been behind the scope far less than I’ve been behind the skinning or butchering knife. I’ve taken great pride and joy in helping to harvest on so many successful hunts and I hope the future affords me more opportunities to notch more of my own tags. My experiences have no doubt instilled in me a strong advocacy for hunter’s rights here in our State. I had the privilege to serve as the Board Secretary for Alaska Professional Hunter’s Association for nearly 5 years, so I am able to see through the lens of subsistence and sport hunters, both of which play a role.

Conservation to me is care in action. Think about it. You can have all the care and concern in the world for our wildlife, and not take any action. You can also take all kinds of action without the proper care and concern. Combine the two, genuine care and positive action, and to me, you have conservation. I believe it’s more important than ever for those dedicated to wildlife conservation to stand together and I would be honored to serve on the SCI-AK Board.