Board and Staff

Working to preserve and protect Gold Butte National Monument

Shi-Lynn Campbell

Director

Shi-Lynn, a long-time resident of Nevada, moved to Las Vegas in the early 1990s. He graduated from Cheyenne High and attended UNLV where he studied Marketing. Like many southern Nevada hikers, some of his favorite canyons to explore were erased from existence by the ever-reaching arms of growth and development. Witnessing the boundless sprawl of Las Vegas firsthand made him curious about how certain areas were protected and preserved. In 2016, while attending an outreach event and hike in Gold Butte, he fell in love with the area. Gold Butte supporters informed him of their petition for national monument status and he quickly signed up and began his journey in conservation.

Shi-Lynn has volunteered to lead hikes with several organizations. He currently leads hikes with his group, Hike Nevada. He is an adventure photographer and writer. He leads communications for multiple diversity, equity, and inclusion-based conservation organizations. Shi-Lynn joined the Board of Directors in 2021 and hopes to continue spreading awareness for Gold Butte National Monument. He believes that educating the public about the wonders of Gold Butte NM will lead more people to become advocates of the monument like him.

James Conwell

Director

James Conwell spends a huge amount of his time in retirement exploring the trails of southern Nevada in the winter and south-central Montana in the summer. His love of the outdoors stems from his childhood growing up in Red Lodge, Montana, a small town nestled in the Beartooth Mountains in the Absaroka Range northeast of Yellowstone National Park.
Before retiring, James spent about 22 years working as a lawyer for the federal courts in Montana and in private practice. After college and before law school, he served a tour in the U.S. Army’s Military Police Corps in Germany (West Germany, at the time) as a platoon leader, provost marshal, and battalion personnel/administration staff officer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a juris doctor (law) degree, both from the University of Montana.
James has served on or been active with several boards and community volunteer organizations, including the Children’s Museum of Montana, the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, and the Knights of Columbus Council 9976. He now looks forward to working with others (including his wife of 31 years, Jenny, also a Friends of Gold Butte board member) to preserve and protect Gold Butte National Monument.

Jennifer Conwell

Director

Jenny, originally from Minnesota, grew up swimming and boating in the lakes region. After graduating from the US Military Academy in 1987, she met and married her husband, James, while both were stationed as Lieutenants in the US Army in Germany. Jenny and James returned to the US, attended law school together and enjoyed careers practicing law in Great Falls and Billings, Montana, while raising two children. In 1999, Jenny re-entered the military as a Judge Advocate in the Montana Air National Guard, and, in 2021, retired after a 27-year military career.
Jenny credits the mountains of Montana for sparking her obsession with hiking. Since relocating to Mesquite for the winters she is eager to turn her attention to exploring the deserts of the Southwest on foot and working for the preservation of Gold Butte National Monument.

Lois Etzel

Secretary and Treasurer

Lois moved to Nevada from New York after 38 years in public education, after retiring from her position as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction at a school district on Long Island. Prior to this position, Lois held positions in public education as a high school principal, and as a chemistry, biology, and science research teacher. Lois received her Ph.D. in Science Education from the Science and Mathematics Education Centre at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. She holds a Master's Degree and a Bachelor’s Degree, both from Stony Brook University.
Growing up on Long Island meant lots of beach time and boating, clamming ns fishing, swimming and water skiing throughout the summers. Although Lois has always been a wanderer and has traveled on many continents, the western lands of our country, especially the desert, were her favorite place. Lois now spends almost all her free time exploring the public lands of Nevada, especially Gold Butte National Monument. She happened to join a hike in Gold Butte and because of her love of wild places she is now dedicated to preserving and protecting the Monument.

Mitch Fry

President

Mitch retired from Western Oregon University and Chemeketa Community College after 30 years of teaching software engineering and computer science. He has served on numerous volunteer boards for educational organizations, community organizations, and non-profits over the years. Also worked as Executive Director of a non-profit corporation providing services to handicapped adults prior to shifting his professional focus. A software engineer by profession, Mitch has a lifelong connection to the outdoor lifestyle of the western US.
Growing up in Idaho, his youth was spent in the mountains and wilderness of central Idaho; working years in the mountains and coast of Oregon and now retirement in southern Nevada deserts. Backpacking and camping in Idaho; cycling, fishing, hiking, and rafting in Oregon, and now desert exploring in retirement. The southwest deserts and their dark skies are great places to improve skills in other retirement hobbies of astrophotography and ham radio communications.

Connie Fullmer

Director

Connie was born and raised in Montana before moving to Washington State in her early 20’s. While living in Washington she met her husband, Mike. They lived in several places, including Colorado and Ukraine before deciding to retire in Mesquite. Connie was a stay-at-home mom and that gave her time to volunteer at her children's school. She continued to volunteer at a school in Ukraine. After moving back to Washington from Ukraine, Connie decided to volunteer at the local hospital. She worked in many departments but her favorite one was the Sewing Room where she worked for 12 years.

Connie joined Friends of Gold Butte shortly after moving to Mesquite and has helped with several activities. Connie and her husband both enjoy the outdoors and camping. Connie’s hobbies include cross stitch, sewing and reading.

Mike Fullmer

Director

Mike grew up in Southern Utah on a cattle and farming operation. He attended Dixie College in the early 70s when they were the Dixie Rebels. He always enjoyed the area and wanted to someday move back to the area. During the decades, St George grew from a few thousand to what it is today. He decided Mesquite was more to his liking than the big city of St George. Mike and his wife Connie had a house built and settled here in 2019. Both are involved with different activities involving the Friends of Gold Butte.

Mike received a BS degree in Occupational Safety and Health from Utah State University. He is a Certified Safety Health Professional. He spent most of his career in the nuclear industry, Connie and Mike had the opportunity to live in the Ukraine for over 3 years when Mike ran the program for safety and health for stabilizing the nuclear reactor that exploded in 1986. Connie did volunteer work in schools while she was in the Ukraine and was greatly appreciated.

Mike Lyons

Director

Mike and his wife, JoAnn are 2021 transplants to Mesquite, still spending summers in the Midwest, with kids / grandkids, but as much time as possible looking for adventure in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. He has immersed himself in the outdoors after spending 40 years as a software consultant with both domestic and international clients. Mike was able to fit in outdoor adventures across the globe including: Mt. Fuji / Japan, cliffs of Mohr / Ireland and the 12 Apostles / Australia. Having retired in 2021, the area around Mesquite has provided a continuation to these adventures.
Mike enjoys hiking, especially taking in the considerable differences of nature that we have within a few hours of Mesquite. Gold Butte is unique within these areas due to: it’s vastness, (330,000 acres), early Native American / Pioneer history, rustic environment, geological diversity (mountains and deserts), the variety of wildlife, plants, and trees.
Realizing the needs that our public lands like Gold Butte have, Mike has been involved in FoGB volunteer efforts: setting posts, filling pot holes, installing signs, trash pickup. Being added to the FoGB leadership team allows Mike to expand his impact on the Education, Stewardship, Advocacy, and Preservation of the Gold Butte Monument.

Terri Rylander

Director

Terri is a freelance marketing communication and web consultant with a passion for conservation—protecting our natural and historical resources or future generations. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, she finds everything about the desert, and Gold Butte, fascinating as well as precious. She enjoys getting outdoors, filling all five senses with nature, through hiking and photography.
She manages much of the technology and communication for Friends of Gold Butte, including the website, membership platform, and the email newsletter. She has been an active board member since its inception in 2009, with the exception of a couple years.
Terri is always thrilled to take people out to Gold Butte for the first time and loves seeing their eyes light up when they realize it has so much more to offer than just a boring desert. She works hard to help make sure Gold Butte is managed in a way that people can enjoy it forever.

Brenda Slocumb

Executive Director

Brenda is a southern Nevada ``almost-native,`` having lived in the area since she was two. She grew up in Boulder City and has lived in Moapa Valley for over twenty years.

She attended the University of Nevada, and previously worked for the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, where she managed the 4-H program. 4-H is a youth development program primarily run by volunteers and is managed by Cooperative Extension, a division of the land grant university system. She has two grown children and three grandchildren.

She began as the part time Outreach Coordinator for FoGB in early 2016, thinking it would be fun to work with volunteers again, especially when hiking or organizing events. When the former executive director left the organization in 2019, the Board of Directors offered her the position of Operations Manager. This has proven to be a good match, as she now counts FoGB's volunteers among her good friends and really enjoys the variety that her position provides.

When Brenda isn't working she enjoys riding and showing her horses, baking, drawing and painting, and repurposing furniture.