Executive Director and Co-Founder

Ashley Winter

Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Ashley grew up exploring the surrounding natural landscapes, which sparked a lifelong passion for environmental protection and conservation. These formative experiences led her to earn a B.S. in Environmental Studies, with a focus on law and politics, from the University of Vermont. She has worked with several environmental nonprofits and is excited to bring her experience and education to her role as Co-Founder and Director of the Green River Conservancy. This work represents a full-circle moment for Ashley, who has spent much of her life fly fishing and recreating on the Green River.

Board President

Matt Lucas

Matt’s connection to the Green River began in childhood, floating the river in rafts with his family, and has evolved into a lifetime spent studying, navigating, and advocating for its waters. After guiding in Colorado, he returned to the Green River, where he has spent more than 17 seasons developing a deep, firsthand understanding of how flow, habitat, and seasonal changes affect the river’s health. Through the Green River Conservancy, Matt works to protect and sustain the water systems that support ecosystems, communities, and future generations. Fighting for the water that everyone is fighting over.

Board Member

Bryce Nichols

Bryce Nichols is the owner of Western Rivers Flyfisher in Salt Lake City, UT. Bryce grew up in Utah but began his path in the flyfishing industry when he left Utah to become a guide in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO with his best friend, Matt Lucas. In 2007 they both made their way back to Salt Lake City and took positions with Western Rivers Flyfisher; Matt guiding on the Green (wrfguides.com) and Bryce in the shop where he worked for over 17 years prior to taking ownership from Steve Schmidt in 2023. Western Rivers maintains a focus on teaching, conservation and pursuing fish on the fly with an emphasis on the cast, the bugs, the resources, and the greater process of the sport.

Bryce has fished all over the world, manages the Western Rivers travel business and hosts international trips annually in addition to spending his free time fishing and bird hunting around Utah and it’s surrounding states, often with his wife Kristi, two kids, and 3 french brittanys in tow.

Board Member

Bill Shann

Bill hales originally from New England, where he witnessed remarkable conservation efforts resulting in the recovery of historic rivers in the Northeast, as well as some notable failures. He moved to Utah in 1997 and, a couple of months later, fooled his first large western trout on the Green River with a Griffiths gnat. Bill spent many seasons guiding on the Green River and on small streams throughout northern Utah. A long-time scholastic educator and athletic coach, Bill is a community-builder who finds consensus to empower and achieve desired outcomes.