National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) - January 6 - January 10, 2025

Philip H Dietrich II, consultant and shooting instructor known for entertaining anyway legally and safely with a shotgun. Currently Director of Outdoor Recreation and Habitat at McGraw. He has managed Wing & Barrel Ranch located in Sonoma, Ca. catering to the heart of wine country. Prior at Five Star Plantation, the South’s Premier quail facility. And Before that he was the GM of Prospect Hall Shooting Club, a private hunting and shooting facility serving world class wing shooters of the Washington D.C. area. He is NSCA level II certified shooting instructor. Between coaching shooting and Dog handling, he loves being a slave to an age-old trade. He has a diversified professional background in land management, habitat & herd management along with shooting sports course layout and design. In addition, he was the Area Chairman of Eastern Panhandle of Ducks Unlimited when hosting the 2012 Federal Duck Stamp Vote. A graduate of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia with a BS in Sports Management and a Business Minor. He was born and raised in Ohio where he was mentored by family and friends at an early age in the world of conservation through hunting and shooting sports. Phil enjoys hunting waterfowl, upland birds and anything with feathers using great dogs, the best shotguns with the finest of companions. He is committed to introducing educating and passing along the heritage and importance of hunting and shooting sports to the world of conservation.

Texas Game Warden July 1988-August 2019. Stationed on the lower Texas coast. Firearms Instructor, Hunter Education Instructor, Marine Safety Enforcement Officer Instructor. I have been hunting creeks and fishing since a child with my grandpa and father. I enjoy migratory game bird and waterfowl hunting. I also enjoy cooking. Married to Jill Flores. We have 30 year old twins. A speech pathologist and wildlife biologist. My family and I take every opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. Living on the coast provides almost all season opportunities to fish and hunt. I have been able to pass on my knowledge to CLFT workshop students as to the roles of law enforcement in regards to wildlife conservation. I also provide preparation and cooking information of wild game meals for CLFT programs. Retired and living the dream. Enjoying organizing and assisting with youth hunting opportunities and summer wildlife programs.

Steve Hall earned a BS in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University in 1981, and became a Colorado Hunter Education Instructor beginning in 1980 as part of his studies. Upon graduation, he was hired as Colorado Services Manager for the American Sportsman's Club for 2 1/2 years, and then worked for Colorado Division of Wildlife. In 1985, he was hired Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) in hunter education, then moved to Education (& Outreach) Director starting in 1988. While at TPW, Hall served as International Hunter Education Assn. (IHEA) president and as vice president and board member of the National Bowhunter Education Foundation for 12 years. He serves as ‘Huntmaster’ for the Texas Youth Hunting Program, which he helped start in 1996. He was inducted into both the IHEA and Texas Hunter Education Halls of Fame. After retiring in 2011, he served as executive director for two years with the Texas State Rifle Association and then as executive director for IHEA-USA for 2 ½ years. He returned to Texas Parks and Wildlife in August 2015 where he and his wife, Karen, of 36 years, chose to reside. They have a son, Ryan (wife Kelsey), and daughter, Sarah, and a new grandson, Keelan and granddaughter, Rylee. Steve is an avid bow hunter and fly fisherman and continues to volunteer to teach in many outdoor education programs.

Heather currently works for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks as the Grassland/Wetland Coordinator for the state. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Trent University and her M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Mississippi State University. She grew up in Northern Ontario where she spent most of her time outdoors. She spends a good portion of her spare time hunting turkey, waterfowl, upland birds and big game and training her bird dog Riggs.

Aaron grew up spending some time camping and fishing, but it wasn't until high school that he discovered hunting. That discovery played a pivotal role in starting the fire that got him interested in conservation as a career. He received his B.S. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his M.S. from the University of Kentucky studying the physiological effects of translocation on elk. He has been the Cervid Biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation since 2016 helping to conserve the state's deer and elk population. He has been an instructor with CLfT since 2009 and enjoys the opportunities to work and interact with the diverse array of participants and instructors at each workshop.

Dr. Ryan S. Luna is a Research Scientist with Borderlands Research Institute, Chair of the Natural Sciences Department, and Professor of Wildlife Management at Sul Ross State University. He teaches curriculum associated with the Wildlife Management program, and is a faculty advisor to the Range and Wildlife Club. Ryan’s interests focus on habitat use and foraging ecology. His primary research pertains to game bird ecology and management, control techniques for feral hogs, and mule deer population characteristics and habitat use.

Prior to joining BRI, Ryan obtained a PhD at Texas State University. While at Texas State, he was a Doctoral NSF Fellow working in a GK-12 program. When not in middle school classrooms getting students interested in science, Ryan was working on his dissertation which focused on body size, rumen-reticulum functions, and dietary nutrition of white-tailed deer. Prior to his doctoral work, he earned an MS from the University of Texas at San Antonio. During this period he worked for the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio performing behavioral assays on Rhesus Macaques. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University, Ryan worked as a Game Warden for New Mexico Department of Game and Fish until he returned to Texas to begin his master’s and doctoral work.

Dr. Wes Neal received his B.S in from Virginia Tech, and both his M.S. and Ph.D from North Carolina State University. He specializes in research on topics ranging from farm pond management to tropical fish ecology and management to sport fish genetic selection. Wes served as state Extension fisheries specialist in Arkansas for 4.5 years before joining the faculty at Mississippi State University in 2008 in the same role. He is an Extension Professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture at MSU. Wes is an avid angler and hunter, with a primary focus on connecting with nature and securing healthy natural meats for the freezer.

Eric is a retired Vermont Game Warden and Hunter Education Coordinator. His is the past executive director of the International Hunter Education Association and Orion-the Hunter's Institute. He currently serves on numerous boards including Orion, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) and Lamoille River Paddlers Trail. An avid hunter and owner of an eager Brittany bird dog, he has a hard time finding time to do all the wilderness canoe trips, fishing trips to Montana and in Vermont, and the hikes in Norway that he would like to do. Eric has introduced hundreds of folks to the joys of the outdoors thru hunting, fishing and tripping, and touched thousands thru teaching, talks and writing. He is currently coordinating an ethics column in the BHA Outdoor Journal.

Marcia Pradines Long is the Chesapeake Marshlands National Wildlife Refuge Complex Project Leader with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In this position, she has focused on strengthening relationships with the community, helping new audiences get engaged with the outdoors through programs like mentored hunts and partnerships, and finding the connections between people and wildlife that make conservation successful. She co-founded the First Shot mentored hunt program in 2018 with NWTF and MD DNR to help fill the gap she had personally experienced as an adult onset hunter who also needed help to get back out. She previously led the Division of Communications and Visitor Services for the National Wildlife Refuge System in the USFWS headquarters where she spearheaded the national Urban Wildlife Refuge Program.

She has a Masters degree in Wildlife Management from West Virginia University, and a BS in Biology from University of Pittsburgh. In her spare time she is an avid hunter, angler, and loves training her rescue dog Elsie. She also serves as a mentor for other women learning to hunt; Marcia has a strong desire to break down both the stereotypes and barriers for women and other minorities to get involved in the liberating and diverse world of outdoor sports.

Mark D. Smith is a W. Kelly Mosley Environmental Professor/Extension Specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension Systems in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences at Auburn University. He received his B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University and a M.S. in Wildlife Sciences and Ph.D. in Forest Resources from Mississippi State University. His extension activities focus on helping landowners and natural resource professionals reduce damage caused by wild pigs. Mark is an active member of The Wildlife Society, serving in various capacities at all levels (student chapter to national) and is also an Alabama Hunter Education instructor and 4-H Shooting Sports coach. Mark’s introduction to the shooting sports, hunting, and fishing began at the age of 6 on a 160-acre woodland in northern Michigan. These early childhood experiences in the woods with family and friends played a key role in developing his insatiable quest for adventure. Over the ensuing years, Mark has hunted and fished through much of the United States, 4 Canadian Provinces, and Africa. Despite these far-flung adventures, his true love is rabbit hunting with a pack of beagle hounds. Labeled a “Damn Yankee” by many (a northerner who visits the South and doesn’t leave), he has since developed an unshakeable addiction to saltwater fishing. Thus despite a having a relatively good paying job, he remains continuously broke.

Prior to coming to CLfT, David was a Captain with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division where he served for 27 1/2 years in a variety of positions including Field Officer, Environmental Investigator, Homeland Security Coordinator, Training Administrator and the Education and Training Section Commander. David has held a number of instructor certifications and specialties that included: 4H Shooting Sports Shotgun Instructor, NRA Muzzleloading Rifle, NRA Range Safety Officer, Indiana and Illinois Hunter Education Instructor and Indiana Trapper Education Instructor. David is a 1980 graduate of Vincennes University with an Associate of Science degree in Conservation Law Enforcement and a graduate of the 191st Session of the FBI National Academy. He served three terms as president of the Association of Natural Resource Enforcement Trainers (ANRET)(now a subcommittee of NAWEOA). David served as Secretary of the International Hunter Education Association, IHEA from 2009 to 2011. David was inducted into the IHEA-USA Hall of Fame in 2018. He has remained active in law enforcement by serving with the Mason County Sheriff's Marine Patrol Division and in 2021 he became NASBLA's 1st Certified Recreational Boating Professional (CRBP) in the Nation.