Thomas Tilden

Tom “Thomas” Tilden is a lifelong Alaskan with deep roots in the Bristol Bay region. Raised in Portage Creek, he learned traditional lifeways—including hunting, fishing, and gathering—from an early age. After graduating from high school in Dillingham, Tom spent a semester at the University of Nagoya in Japan before continuing his studies at the University of Alaska. He later earned a cooking diploma from Seward Skill Center and worked in a variety of roles across Alaska, including as a baker on the North Slope and a cook at fish processing plants. 

Tom has dedicated much of his career to serving the Dillingham community. He worked as a safety instructor and tobacco-cessation trainer with the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation and as a cook at Kanakanak Hospital. His commitment to community leadership includes serving as a Dillingham city councilman and mayor, chairing Indian Education for the Dillingham City School District, and representing the Bristol Bay Native Association. He currently serves as Second Chief of the Curyung Tribal Council and has also served as a board member for Choggiung Ltd., Nunamta Alukestai, the Alaska Federation of Natives, and the UTBB board. 

An experienced subsistence and commercial fisherman, Tom has participated in herring, salmon, halibut, crab, and shrimp fisheries since the 1960s. Throughout his career, he has advocated for sustainable fisheries and policies that support Bristol Bay communities, including providing testimony before the Alaska Board of Fisheries. 

Tom’s lifelong work reflects a deep commitment to cultural stewardship, sustainable resource management, and the people of Bristol Bay. Through his leadership, advocacy, and connection to the region’s fisheries, he has helped advance opportunities for his hometown and the broader Bristol Bay region. 

McKie Campbell

McKie Campbell has worked as staff for the Alaska Senate, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Hickel, Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and Staff Director of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for Senator Murkowski.​ 

​He also owned BlueWater Strategies, an energy and natural resources consulting firm, and continues his relationship with the firm as Senior Advisor. He served on the Board of ConservAmerica and was a Visiting Fellow at the Energy Policy Center of the University of Chicago.​ 

​In the public and private sectors, McKie has worked on most of Alaska’s large mines. He was first on the ground at the Pebble mine site in 1992 and has worked actively against the project since PLP came out with their first mine plan.​ 

McKie has published two novels set in Alaska, Clean Slate and North Coast. His work in progress, Pitfall, is set against the backdrop of the battle over large-scale open pit mining in Bristol Bay.​ 

Peter Van Tuyn

Peter Van Tuyn is an environmental lawyer and Managing Partner with the firm Bessenyey & Van Tuyn, LLC. Along with his colleague Karen Schmidt he has represented BBNC in its efforts to protect Bristol Bay from the risks associated with mining of the Pebble ore deposit.

Peter drafted BBNC’s petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeking action under the Clean Water Act to protect Bristol Bay’s waters. He helped advance that successful effort through 16 years of administrative process under three presidential administrations. Most recently, he helped defend EPA’s pro-Bristol Bay decision in federal court, arguing the case on behalf of BBNC, the United Tribes of Bristol Bay, commercial and sport fishing interests and non-government organizations. Peter and his firm were also instrumental in securing a denial by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of a key permit for the proposed Pebble mine.

In hundreds of meetings over these years Peter has ensured that BBNC and Bristol Bay “Fish First!” voices were front and center in the rooms and minds of decision-makers and other officials. Wild Alaska salmon are also his favorite fish, and favorite food.