The National Bighorn Sheep Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization Tax ID #83-0301605.
JOIN as a Member
Annual Membership Fees:
- Individual:
- Family:
- Business:
- Partner:
- Patron’s Circle :
- Summit Club:
- Benefactor:
- $30.00
- $60.00
- $125.00
- $250.00
- $500.00
- $1,000.00
- $5,000.00
Membership Benefits
All members receive 10% off admission and gift shop purchases
Additional benefits for membership levels…
Business: 6 “Big 4” Raffle Tickets for the Bighorn Bash
Partner: 12 “Big 4” Raffle Tickets for the Bighorn Bash
Patron’s Circle: Two Bighorn Bash dinner tickets
Summit Club: Four Bighorn Bash dinner tickets
Benefactor: Guided Wildlife Viewing Tour for up to 4 Guests
Center Expansion
It has long been apparent that the current exhibit hall lacks adequate space for student groups, tourists and meetings larger than a few people. With over 6,800 people visiting the National Bighorn Sheep Center in 2019 alone, among them over 952 students, 344 adults through Road Scholars bus tours and many other special group visits, we struggle to keep up with the growing demand of our small space for these special groups alongside our daily visitors.
Please donate today by contacting sara@bighorn.org,
call 307-455-3429 or make your secure donation online.
CONSERVATION EDUCATION FUND
“The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” — William James
What is the Conservation Education Fund?
To promote future generations of wild sheep conservationists, Gary Butler and the Butler Family Foundation seeded the Conservation Education Fund in 2018. This fund functions as an endowment for the National Bighorn Sheep Center’s mission to provide education and outreach for the national conservation of wild sheep, wildlife, and wild lands.
But it needs ewe to help grow the fund!
What does the fund do?
With this fund we build a sustainable future for wild sheep by providing programs that shape future generations of biologists, researchers, and educators.
How does it work?
Your donations are invested in the “Sheep Forever Fund”. Each year, proceeds are put to good use through our programs and national outreach. Your contributions are literally a gift that keeps on giving to the Center’s mission.
Gifts to the fund support national outreach that goes far and wide and grows each year. In 2019, The National Bighorn Sheep Center reached 13,000 youth through our education program and 7,000 visitors through our museum. We hosted a 4-day youth summer camp, called Camp Bighorn, at Whiskey Mountain (critical bighorn winter range). In 2022, we launched a Webinar Series where we host sheep researchers and scientists the second Thursday of every month to focus on national sheep issues. And your gifts help keep us going and keep our message moving forward!
Why do you need me?
The National Bighorn Sheep Center committed to raising this fund to $250,000 by 2028. Today, it has grown to $35,000. We need EWE to help us meet our goal of $250,000! Actually, we’d like to surpass it!
Without your help we simply cannot continue our national outreach!
As we move forward with a 1,000 square foot expansion to our existing facility, we seek to grow this fund to help support the programs and technology key to our strategic plan.
We invite you to join us to surpass this goal!
But I already gave to the Wyoming Wild Sheep Conservation Fund. Isn’t this the same fund?
No, it is a different fund. The “Conservation Education Fund” is for use on the national level. It is to focus on the education of wild sheep, wildlife and wild lands across all of the United States.
How can I give to the “Sheep Forever Fund”?
Ways to give:
Online: bighorn.org/support
Call us, we’d love to talk to ewe: 307.455.3429
Mail a check, yes, we still take hand written checks😉: P.O. Box 1435, Dubois, WY 82513
Interested in creating a lasting legacy?
The National Bighorn Sheep Center recognizes Legacy Society members each year at their Annual Banquet. Many of our supporters have included the Conservation Education Fund in their Estate Plan.
- The Conservation Education Fund is held at Dodge & Cox
- The Fund seeks regular income, conservation of principal, and an opportunity for long-term growth
- Webinars are recorded and can be found here: bighorn.org/repository
- Join the National Bighorn Sheep Center at the events: bighorn.org/special-events
Volunteer
The National Bighorn Sheep Center Volunteers provide key support to our daily operations. Your help is needed to allow us to grow and provide services and programs to both human and bighorn populations. Our goal in developing our volunteer program is to provide rewarding learning opportunities and experiences that advance bighorn conservation through education, hands-on stewardship projects and special events and programs.
Staff supports volunteers with training and guidance. We welcome volunteers in all capacities, so whatever your skills and schedule, there’s a place for you.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Wish List
There are many different ways to support the National Bighorn Sheep Center. You can volunteer, donate money, or donate items to support our work. If you would like to help us purchase any of these items through a donation click here.
- New vehicle to help build our Guided Educational Tours Program
- Postage Stamps
- Printer paper: 8.5”x11” and colored or cardstock
- iPads for Education Programs & more
- Simple folding wheel chair for visitors
You! Visit our volunteer page to find out more!
Board of Directors
Carolyn Gillette
President
Carolyn grew up across the street from Central Park in New York City; this was her first wilderness area. The family camping and canoe trips of her childhood helped her to find a trail to Wyoming, where she encountered the Fitzpatrick wilderness area. It was after 5 continuous weeks of backpacking in the Wind River Mountains with National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) her course changed.
Jessica Shuler
Vice President
Jessica was born and raised in Powell, Wyoming, where she developed a love for hunting and the outdoors as part of a family devoted to conservation, including supporting Ducks Unlimited and multiple trips to the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center with her father. After college, her professional careers have included retail banking and real estate.
Kate Falco
Treasurer
Kate grew up in Scotland, attended Middlebury College in Vermont, completed an MBA at Emory University, GA, and ended up working as a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia. She first came to Wyoming in 1972 when the family came to the CM Ranch here in Dubois. Her parents returned for 35 summers consecutively – Kate, Jerry and their family started coming for annual family reunions in 1994.
Al Gehrt
Secretary
Al spent much time in Wyoming growing up and significantly more following retirement. He and his wife, Sue, moved to Dubois in 2020. He graduated from Kansas State University in 1979 with a degree in wildlife biology. He spent his 35-year career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning as a ranger and ultimately retiring as a senior project manager for hazardous, toxic, and radioactive waste remediation in 2012. He managed $60-million in projects annually. He has extensive experience with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), as well as a host of associated federal and state laws and regulations. Al and Sue are both active in Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Dubois. They have one daughter, Jackie, who received her Master’s Degree in Wildlife Biology from Kansas State University in 2021 and is currently employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in their Region 3 office in Bloomington, Minnesota.
Ryan Brock, PhD
Ryan grew up in the Colorado outdoors, but now lives in Reno, Nevada. Working as the youth education coordinator for the Wild Sheep Foundation part time, while also teaching 5th grade full time, his passion for connecting youth with the outdoors is evident.
Pat Neary
Pat grew up with a love of wildlands and wildlife. He first came to Wyoming in 1970 to attend and later teach at the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander. His undergraduate degree in History and Education was augmented by graduate work in Computer Science. He acted as Chairman of the Steering Committee to create the National Bighorn Sheep Center as part of his role in economic development for the Town of Dubois and Fremont County. He was effective in building partnerships with a wide range of social and economic interests in community, conservation and wildlife. Projects developed during his tenure earned awards from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Association of County Officials. His professional experience includes a variety of executive roles in financial data processing, business and economic development and wealth management. Notably, Pat was the CEO of the Wyoming Science, Technology and Energy Authority (STEA) and served two Governors as Science Advisor. In this role he administered the federal Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive
Research at the University of Wyoming and a state-sponsored venture capital fund. He also staffed the development effort creating the Wyoming Business Council, which absorbed STEA, as the primary agency for business and community development in the state. Pat has returned to Dubois in retirement with his wife Kyle and has two adult children. He continues his interest in community and childhood development with the Kiwanis Club of Dubois. Hiking, biking, backpacking, skiing and crafting custom fly rods fill his personal time.
Cindie Watson
Cindie was born in Utah, but moved to California at the age of two. She feels as if she must have imprinted upon the Utah mountains as a toddler because although she had access to the lovely beaches of southern California while growing up, the mountains were always calling to her.
Her father loved all animals, domestic and wild, and he passed on this appreciation and respect for wildlife to his daughter. Cindie would enjoy teaching about animals and nature to children, after earning her Bachelor of Science in Child Development from California Polytechnic State University and earning a Teaching Credential. She taught grades K-5 as a classroom teacher for 14 years, and for 10 years as a specialist in mathematics.
Ian Watson
Ian grew up in Southern California. He’s been coming to camp in the Tetons every couple of years since he was a child, first with his parents, two brothers and sister. Then with his wife Cindie, who he met in high school in Corona Del Mar California. And then he and Cindie brought their two boys. They love camping, hiking, backpacking and exploring in the Tetons.
It wasn’t until 2016 that he and Cindie found out about Dubois. They were in Moose eating pizza at Dornan’s when a nice couple walked by and started telling them how they often drive over to Moose for lunch. Ian and Cindie looked into Dubois and before they knew it, they had bought their new home on the Wind River. They moved permanently to Dubois in 2018.
Steve Kilpatrick
Steve lives in Dubois, Wyoming prior to living in Jackson for over 27 years. He grew up in Nebraska and earned a BS and MS in Wildlife Management from the University of Nebraska. His passion for wildlife and the backcountry come from working as a habitat biologist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for the past 33 years in the Torrington and Jackson areas. Steve is a member of several conservation and professional organizations and has been frequently recognized for his collaborative team building efforts. He engages in the plethora of outdoor amenities offered in this area: horse packing, hunting, hiking, back country skiing, rafting, and camping. His personal goal is to sleep on the ground 5-6 weeks and cover several hundred miles on mule/horseback per year. His professional goals are to continue representing our silent constituents (wildlife), and conserve the future of our natural resources by advocating for habitat integrity and youth involvement.
Staff
Sara Roni Bridge
Executive Director
sara@bighorn.org
Before moving to Jackson in 2018, Sara worked in New York City where she earned a degree in Economics from Columbia University. Starting her career as an intern with Friends of UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), she decided to transition back to philanthropy when she moved West, joining the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole in 2019.
Karen Sullivan, PhD
Education Manager
karen@bighorn.org
Karen was born in Texas, but she spent most of her life living in Louisiana. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Nicholls State University and a PhD in Microbiology from Louisiana State University. She spent almost twenty years teaching biology and microbiology at LSU.
Dana Griffis
Operations Manager
dana@bighorn.org
Dana is passionate about conservation, wildlife, and the outdoors. Raised on a dairy farm and having dreamt about living out West all of her life, she made the dream come true bringing her husband and two children to Dubois in 2019. Dana has intensive skills in retail and customer service. In her spare time, you can find her fishing, hiking, ATVing and horseback riding.