Our Board and Executive Director
President Colt Foster
Board Member since 2020 | Board President since 2021
Colt Foster was born and raised in Wasilla, AK and has spent his entire life enjoying everything the outdoors has to offer. After finishing dental school in 2008 Colt returned to Alaska because of the amazing hunting and fishing opportunities he had grown up with. Seeing an increase in hunting pressure and in-the-field conflicts, Colt became involved with RHAK as a founding member with the hopes of preserving quality hunting opportunities for future generations of Alaskans. “I want to help give residents a voice going forward. I want my kids and their friends to have some of the same experiences I had growing up. Hunting adventures with my family in this great state shaped who I am today.”
Vice President Bob Cassell
Board Member since 2016 | Vice President since 2020
Bob moved to Alaska in 1977 and started college at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. He skinned his way through college working part time at a taxidermy shop while spending as many days as he could out hunting and fishing. Graduating with a BS in biology from UAF, he landed a dream job with ADF&G as a wildlife technician in the Anchorage office where the first teeth he pulled were on Kodiak brown bears immobilized from the back of a Bell helicopter with a dart gun. He flew numerous big game surveys including doing age/sex composition surveys for sheep in GMU 14C. But the Federal/State split on subsistence management demoralized Bob so he left ADF&G for dental school at the University of Washington. After returning to Alaska from dental school, Bob and his wife Cynthia settled in the Valley and began to seriously enjoy the great outdoor experiences Alaska has to offer.
Treasurer/Secretary Travis Drake
Board Member and Treasurer since 2021 | Secretary since 2023
Travis was in a military family and moved to Eielson AFB in 1984 when he was 5 years old. Hunting, trapping and fishing have always been a part of his heritage and he carries on that tradition today with his own family. He graduated high school from Anchorage Christian School and graduated UAA with a bachelor’s degree in history. Originally planning to be a high school teacher and wresting coach he transitioned to a career in project management. Travis joined RHAK early on as a Founding member and has supported the organization continuously with one goal in mind: To make sure that hunting opportunities are prioritized for Alaskan residents and their families.
Board Member Dick Cameron
Board Member since 2020
We’re not sure when my grandfather left Scotland, but he landed in Juneau in 1917. Over the generations our family has participated in mining, commercial fishing and construction but the one constant has been hunting and fishing. Growing up we gardened and fished the summer months, canned and hunted in the fall and lived off what we put away throughout the winter. I was taught to respect the ocean, streams and woods and creatures that live in them. To harvest what you need and use all that you harvest. I’ve been fortunate to be able to hunt and fish most Alaska’s varied geographic regions from the western Brooks to the south tip of Prince of Wales. The range of emotions one can experience are as vast as the land we live in. The satisfaction of witnessing your values and love for the outdoors come to life in your children, and soon, grandchildren. These are the experiences that should be made available to those who choose to live and work here first, rather than sold off to the highest bidder. Alaska in a national treasure, a beautiful place steeped in opportunity and tradition. The appeal to the traveling sportsman is 100% natural and to be expected. The desires of Outside hunters and anglers, along with the industries that facilities them, should never be allowed to supersede the wishes and needs of those us who have chosen to live here. I hope my unique perspective and experiences can help RHAK restore and protect what we all hold so dear.
Board Member Pete Dickinson
Board Member since 2023
Pete Dickinson was born and raised in Alaska. He spent his youth learning everything he could about trapping and hunting around the state. He met his wife in high school and after their college career in Minnesota, they made their home in Soldotna. Pete has enjoyed hunting all over Alaska and the world and is thankful that his wife and two teenage children share his passion for subsisting off the land and respecting what God puts before us. One of the most important lessons he teaches his children is that meat does not come from a store; you must know how and where it comes from, including how to preserve and prepare it. Becoming a RHAK board member is a privilege to Pete and he is excited to actively protect and support Alaskan’s rights and opportunities to hunt.
Board Member Tom Lamal
Board Member 2016-2017, and since 2023
Tom grew up in Ashland, Wisconsin and had dreams of coming to Alaska starting in the 3rd grade. "I was totally focused on hunting and fishing from a young age and enjoyed running a trap line during high school." Tom went to Regis College in Denver, Colorado and after graduation moved to Fairbanks. He has commercial fished (seined) in Southeast Alaska, drift netted in Bristol Bay and on the Lower Yukon and gill netted herring in Norton Sound. He worked on the pipeline and several rural airports as a surveyor, taught school in Fairbanks, ran heavy equipment and has his own mining claims in the Chisana District. "My wife Kate and I try to keep our freezer full of wild game. We have four retrievers and hunt ducks and upland birds. We also hunt moose, caribou and sheep in various places and have good friends that share when we aren’t lucky." Tom resigned from the RHAK Board in 2017, to avoid a conflict of interest, after being appointed to the Board of Game by Governor Walker.
Board Member Anthony Henry
Board Member since 2024
Anthony was raised in Pennsylvania and, after college, joined the Army with the intent to be stationed in Alaska where he had always dreamed of hunting and fishing. Prior to coming to Alaska, Anthony spent five years in Colorado hunting mule deer and black bear and fishing the streams and lakes in the Upper Beaver Creek Wilderness Area. It was here that he first met his wife’s family who owned a guide and outfitting businesses focused on hunting bear, lion, sheep, deer, and elk. He moved to Fort Wainwright Army Base in 1987. He got out of the Army in 1991 and moved to Anchorage. Anthony is currently retired after 39 years in law enforcement. He and his wife, Tara, are avid outdoor enthusiasts spending their time hunting, fishing, boating, hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. Anthony is also a volunteer instructor with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Hunter Safety Education Program. He joined RHAK because he believes in prioritizing hunting opportunities for residents of Alaska over the commercial interests of non-resident hunters.
Executive Director Mark Richards
​(907) 371-7436 | info@residenthuntersofalaska.org
Mark and his high-school sweetheart, Lori, married and made the big jump to Alaska from California in 1980. They arrived by canoe, descending the mighty Yukon River from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. They moved to the remote bush of the eastern interior the next summer, lining their laden canoe scores of miles up a Yukon River tributary and building their log cabin from dead-standing spruce with only an axe and bowsaw. The rugged bush life must have agreed with them, for they spent over 30 years in the remote bush more than one hundred miles from the nearest faraway village, living a subsistence lifestyle of hunting, fishing, trapping and gardening, and raising a family of three children and several generations of beloved sled dogs. Mark's time in the bush taught him a profound respect for the fish and wildlife resources he has been dependent upon for so long. He is passionate about giving back to Alaska and protecting hunting opportunities for resident Alaskans and their families. The Richards' now base out of Fairbanks for most of the year. Mark enjoys giving wilderness living presentations to high schools and helping with hunter education classes, along with promoting RHAK's message across the state.