The Osprey Editorial & Management Committee
Bill Bakke - Scientific Advisor
Bill Bakke has spent his life advocating for wild fish. He grew up fishing rivers and streams throughout Oregon and Washington. As Bill began seeing the effects of poor harvest and hatchery management, he was among the first conservation-oriented anglers to search the scientific literature behind those early observations, and advocate for changed practices before anyone who would listen. Bill continues that work to this day, more than 50 years after he began it. Among his accomplishments and highlights, Bill worked for agencies such as the Columbia River Fisheries Council and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, founded several environmental groups aimed at native fish conservation, including Oregon Trout, the FishCons Coalition, and the Native Fish Society. Bill has written over 100 articles on fish conservation for sporting, scientific and news journals and has been featured in numerous books about salmon conservation.
Kurt Beardslee - Editorial Committee
Kurt Beardslee is a co-founder of the Wild Fish Conservancy and has been the organization’s Executive Director for the past 29 years. As director Kurt oversees a professional staff of 21 individuals with a wide variety of technical and scientific disciplines. Over the years he has enjoyed working with staff on a variety of wild fish issues, from Central California to Northern Alaska. Previously Kurt worked as an art director in an advertising agency producing educational films for the National Science Foundation.
For recreation he enjoys boating, fishing and exploring the remote coastal fjords of northern Canada with his wife Candace and his dog Wally.
Brian Braidwood - Editorial Committee
Brian Braidwood is a lifelong steelhead angler and steelhead advocate born and raised in BC. Brian has
spent considerable time angling throughout the province and is dedicated to the conservation of
steelhead. Brian is currently the President of the Steelhead Society of BC, a role he has held for the past
12 years. He has been a member of the society’s board of directors for over 20 years. Brian is also the
current President of the Kingfishers Rod and Gun Club, a group that was formed in 1959. In addition, he
also manages Sea-Run Fly and Tackle in Coquitlam BC.
Guy Fleischer - Editorial Committee
Guy Fleischer grew up in Colorado and learned to fish at an early age. His experiences in the outdoors instilled a lifelong interest in science and inspired him to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in Fishery Biology. Early in his career, Guy worked for the state fish agencies in Colorado and Wyoming before heading to the Midwest for graduate school. In the Great Lakes, Fleischer worked on various fish management and fish ecology issues, including research in support of treaty-based fishing rights and as a federal agency research biologist. His knowledge of fish stock assessments and experience with fisheries acoustic technologies brought him to Seattle, where he worked for NOAA and took advantage of the opportunities across the Pacific Northwest to chase wild steelhead. After 34 years in fisheries science, Guy officially retired in 2016 and is now using his extensive expertise to advise the Wild Steelhead Coalition Board.
Greg Knox - Editorial Committee
Greg Knox has served as the Executive Director of Skeena Conservation Trust in October since 2007, and is responsible for the overall management of the Trust’s activities. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Geography from the University of Northern BC in 2000, after which he became a certified Fisheries Technician and Field Supervisor with the Nisga'a Fisheries program. In 2003, Greg partnered in an ecotourism business based out of Terrace where he specialized in guided grizzly bear and jet boat tours while continuing with his fisheries work. In 2013, Greg completed a Masters in Environmental Science at Royal Roads University which developed a framework for implementing a collaborative freshwater salmon habitat-monitoring program in the Skeena watershed. Greg sits on the Northern Panel of the Pacific Salmon Commission, is a board member of the Bulkley Valley Research Centre, and a Steering Committee member of the Friends of Wild Salmon Coalition.
Jim Lichatowich - Scientific Advisor
Jim Lichatowich is the author of two books. His latest book is Salmon People and Place: A Biologist’s Search for Salmon Recovery, and he also wrote Salmon without Rivers: A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis. Jim has worked on Pacific salmon issues as a researcher, manager, and scientific advisor for more than 40 years. He specializes in the history of salmon management and the life history and status of salmon and steelhead populations and the development of restoration plans in the Pacific Northwest. Jim was formerly the Chief of Fisheries Research and Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the State of Oregon. He served ten years on the Independent Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) for the Columbia River salmon restoration program. He served four years on the State of Oregon's Independent Multidisciplinary Science Team (IMST).
Bill McMillan - Scientific Advisor
Bill McMillan is an accomplished writer, researcher and photographer whose work has been published in regional and international fishing, outdoor, and conservation publications. He is the author of several extensive book forewords and chapters. He wrote Dry Line Steelhead and Other Subjects, a famous 1987 book on steelhead fly fishing and steelhead conservation issues. With his son John McMillan, he co-authored May the Rivers Never Sleep, a book documenting the cycle of life in, and along, healthy wild steelhead and salmon rivers throughout the seasons. Additionally, McMillan has published and presented extensively on the detrimental effects of hatchery programs on the fish populations of Pacific Northwestern rivers. He is a leading expert on the history of hatchery based-stocking programs and the interbreeding, poor fitness and incompatibility of those fish with wild populations. As an angler, biologist and passionate advocate, McMillan has dedicated his life to wild steelhead like few others.
Bruce McNae - Editorial Committee
Bruce is a lifelong fly fisherman and outdoorsman with years of philanthropic relationships and work with various NGO’s including the Wild Fish Conservancy, North Atlantic Salmon Fund, Atlantic Salmon Federation, and the Wild Salmon Center. These organizations, together with a greater understanding of the immediate risks facing the future of wild salmon, inspired him to create World Salmon Forum. He was one of the major contributing owners of the Wild Steelhead & Salmon magazine, whose objective was to celebrate the art of fly fishing while delivering a strong message encouraging the protection of future generations of wild salmon and trout. He has organized and hosted many fund-raising events in the Seattle area over the years.
David Moskowitz - Editorial Committee
David Moskowitz is a conservationist, environmental lawyer, lobbyist, and educator. He’s served as Executive Director with the Northwest Steelheaders between 1991-1993, on conservation staff with Oregon Trout from 1993-1995, the Native Fish Society from 1995-1996, and the Wild Salmon Center from 2000-2006. He worked for NOAA Fisheries on ESA issues from 1996-1998, and served as Salmon Recovery Advisor to the Metro Regional Services Executive Officer in Portland, OR from 1998-2000. He was Co-founder and Executive Director for the Deschutes River Alliance from 2013-2015. David has been The Conservation Angler's executive director since 2016.
Dave Peterson - Editorial Committee
Dave Peterson is currently Chairman of the Board of Fly Fishers International. Dave resides in Pentwater, Michigan. He is a semi-retired school superintendent who fly fishes as often as he can. He has served as Chairman of the FFI Conservation Committee and is a Life Member of FFI. He is also Conservation Vice President for the Great Lakes Council of FFI and a dedicated member of the West Michigan Hacklers, his local FFI charter club.
Michael Price - Scientific Advisor
Michael Price is a Ph.D. candidate at Simon Fraser University, and Director of Science for SkeenaWild Conservation Trust. Michael’s doctoral thesis explores the change in abundance, diversity, and productivity of wild salmon populations and their habitats over the last century, and investigates how humans may have compromised the resilience of salmon to future global change. He holds a M.Sc. from the University of Victoria, is a proud Papa of a beautiful boy, and currently serves as a science advisor to several First Nations of the Skeena River.
Rich Simms - Editorial Committee
Rich Simms is a lifelong angler from the Pacific Northwest with a passion for steelhead since his childhood growing up around the great streams and waters of the Olympic Peninsula. Simms is a founding board member of the Wild Steelhead Coalition, where he saw the need for a focused wild steelhead conservation group. Since then he has helped grow the wild steelhead conservation effort, build a community, and change the trajectory of wild steelhead. Simms was named Conservationist of the Year by Fly Fisherman Magazine and Sage for his unrelenting efforts to conserve wild steelhead for present and future generations. He has served on and donated his time to many state boards regarding steelhead management. Simms’ professional background includes a career in Industrial Design and User Experience. He now applies his creative and analytical thinking, along with a dash of dogged persistence, to steelhead conservation issues.
Pete Soverel - Chair
Over the past 30+ years, Pete Soverel has been deeply involved in salmon and steelhead conservation as Founder and President of The Conservation Angler; Chair, Steelhead Committee of the International Federation of Fly Fishers; Founder and President of the Wild Salmon Center; Founding Director, Save Our Wild Salmon; Director, Steelhead Society of British Columbia; Director, Habitat Restoration Corporation, Founder, Wild Fishes, and Bio-diversity Foundation (Russia); member of U.S. Delegation on the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission; Advisor to Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Pete has a long record of significant conservation achievements including founding the Kamchatka Steelhead Project. Pete has been a publisher and editorial board member for The Osprey: International Journal of Salmon and Steelhead Conservation. Pete has received numerous national and regional conservation awards including IFFF Conservationist of the Year, Washington Chapter, FFF Conservationist of the year, and Steelhead Society of British Columbia Cal Woods Award (Conservationist of the year).
Ryan Smith - Editorial Committee
Ryan joined the Osprey Journal’s Steelhead Committee in 2008 as a concerned fishing guide eager to learn how to help more. Growing up in Oregon, Ryan fished the coastal streams for cutthroat and steelhead before leaving to pursue a Biology degree at Colorado College. Ryan is most excited about the Osprey Journal’s ability to educate the public through delivering scientific research. In turn this helps inform governmental and environmental agencies as they work to establish policies and procedures to help protect and restore our iconic sea-run species. Ryan currently runs The Avid Angler fly fishing shop and lives in Seattle, WA with his young family.
Rick Williams - Scientific Advisor
Dr. Rick Williams is a Research Associate in the Department of Biology at The College of Idaho and lives in Eagle, Idaho. His research and writing has focused on the conservation of native trout and salmon in western North America for more than 30 years. Rick has worked on Columbia River salmon recovery issues since 1986 and in 2006 authored Return to the River: Restoring Salmon to the Columbia River. Rick serves as a Senior Conservation Adviser for the Fly Fishers International and as a board member for the Fisheries Conservation Foundation. Rick is also an Outfitter, Guide, and Co-Owner of The Idaho Angler, a specialty fly fishing store in Boise, Idaho.
Jack Stanford - Scientific Advisor
Following doctoral studies at the University of Utah and the Flathead Lake Biological Station (FLBS) of the University of Montana, Jack Stanford spent 5 years on the biology faculty at the University of North Texas. In 1980 he became Director and Professor at FLBS, where he served for the next 36 years. Working with his 28 MS and 19 Ph.D. students and many colleagues, Prof. Stanford produced some 230 professional papers and books on river ecology. Jack and his colleagues successfully secured over $60 million in extramural research grants that helped grow the FLBS into a world-class field research and education facility. In 1999 Dr. Stanford began extensive work on a suite of salmon rivers in Kamchatka, Argentina, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and British Columbia. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science in 2000. In 2004 Professor Stanford received the Award of Excellence of the Society for Freshwater Science and in 2011 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for River Science. Stanford is Emeritus Professor of Ecology at FLBS. Jack and his wife Bonnie live by the Twisp River the Washington Cascades.
Jim Yuskavitch - Editor
Jim Yuskavitch has been editor of The Osprey since 2001 and a freelance editor, writer and photographer since 1993, specializing in environment related stories, and wildlife and fish subjects in particular. Previously, he was associate editor at Trout Magazine, the national publication of Trout Unlimited. He has also done media work for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, Oregon Hunters Association, Wild Salmon Center, Association of Northwest Steelheaders and a number of watershed councils. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry and Wildlife Science from Oregon State University.