The Wood River Wolf Project Team

Suzanne Asha Stone

Co-Founder, Wood River Wolf Project
Executive Director, International Wildlife Coexistence Network

For nearly four decades, Suzanne Asha Stone has worked to ensure that wolves once again have a rightful place in the American West — and that the people who share these landscapes can thrive alongside them.

Her journey began in the early days of wolf recovery as an intern with the Central Idaho Wolf Steering Committee, and soon after as a member of the historic 1995–1996 U.S./Canadian Wolf Reintroduction Team that restored wolves to Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho and released some of the first wolves to return to the region.

As wolf populations rebounded, Suzanne recognized that true success would depend not only on restoration but on coexistence. In 1999, she joined Defenders of Wildlife, where she directed the Rockies Wolf Compensation Program and helped pioneer practical, nonlethal strategies to reduce conflict between livestock producers and gray wolves.

In 2008, she co-founded the Wood River Wolf Project — one of the nation’s first collaborative, community-based initiatives demonstrating that proactive deterrence, science-based monitoring, and partnership with ranchers can dramatically reduce wolf–sheep conflict. The project’s success has since informed coexistence efforts across North America and beyond.

Suzanne is the lead author of the peer-reviewed study “Adaptive use of nonlethal strategies for minimizing wolf–sheep conflict in Idaho” (Journal of Mammalogy, 2017) and has received numerous awards for her leadership in wildlife conflict resolution.

At the heart of her work is a simple belief: wolves and people can share the land — and with commitment, science, and community, coexistence is not only possible, but the only way forward.

Contact her @ Suzanne@wildlifecoexistence.org

Jim Santa

Community Outreach Co-coordinator and Field Camera Support

Jim Santa grew up exploring the woods, lakes, streams, and rivers of northern Minnesota, where his lifelong passion for the outdoors and wildlife first took root. During college, he spent countless days fishing rivers, chasing steelhead along the North Shore of Lake Superior, and canoeing through the Boundary Waters and Ontario’s Quetico Provincial Park.

After working at The Ski Hut in Duluth, Jim followed his love of wild places west to Idaho’s Wood River Valley, where he joined the team at Sturtevant’s. More than 25 years later, he is still proud to call the Valley home.

Today, Jim volunteers with the Wood River Wolf Project as a Community Liaison. In this role, he helps raise awareness about the Project’s work and the vital role it plays in protecting both wildlife and local agricultural livelihoods. As a liaison, Jim encourages community members to support the Project by writing letters of support, attending events, contributing financially, and advocating for continued collaboration between the Project and county and state leaders.

For Jim, supporting the Wood River Wolf Project is a natural extension of a lifetime spent valuing wild places — and the responsibility to protect them.

Corey Graham

Community Outreach Co-coordinator

Corey Graham serves as a Community Liaison for the Wood River Wolf Project, helping strengthen the connection between the Project and the people who call the Wood River Valley home. She is a trusted point of contact for community members who have questions, ideas, or feedback about the Project’s work.

Corey helps identify and engage local stakeholders, assists in planning meetings and events, and offers thoughtful insight into meaningful outreach opportunities.

Her role is grounded in listening, relationship-building, and ensuring that collaboration remains at the heart of the Project’s efforts. Most importantly, Corey serves as a bridge between the community and the Project — helping ensure that local voices continue to guide the work and that the Valley’s values of peace, goodwill, and sincere cooperation remain central to protecting both wildlife and the people who share this landscape.

Ava Elliot

Field Manager

Ava joined the Wood River Wolf Project three years ago as a field technician and now serves as our Seasonal Field Manager — a role that places her at the forefront of our efforts to protect wolves while preventing conflict during grazing season.

Before joining the Project, Ava worked as a wildlife technician on a Sage Grouse research project through the University of Idaho, collaborating with ranchers to study the effects of cattle grazing on sage grouse habitat and nesting success. She also conducted detailed vegetation surveys as a range technician, strengthening her understanding of working landscapes and wildlife habitat.

Today, Ava leads field monitoring and helps coordinate proactive, nonlethal deterrence strategies that reduce the risk of wolf–livestock conflict. She brings strong technical expertise in wildlife telemetry, GPS tracking technology, ArcGIS, Survey123, and data management systems that are essential to tracking wolf movements and guiding rapid response efforts.

Fluent in both Spanish and English, Ava strengthens communication across crews and collaborators in the field. Known for her calm leadership, strong work ethic, and deep commitment to wildlife conservation, she plays a critical role in ensuring that wolves remain protected on a shared landscape.

Wood River Wolf Project Consultants

Dr. Stewart Breck

USDA APHIS National Wildlife Research Center Researcher

Dr. Stewart Breck is a researcher for the USDA APHIS National Wildlife Research Center. His research is focused on carnivore ecology and behavior and minimizing conflict between carnivores and people. Studies include testing nonlethal methods for preventing conflict, measuring the impact of carnivores on livestock, influence of urban environments on carnivore ecology, and population biology and behavioral ecology of carnivores.

Dr. Breck has been a long term consultant for the Wood River Wolf Project and served as co-author on our study published in 2017.

Wood River Wolf Project Steering Committee

Chris Leman

Trail Specialist & Recreation Enthusiast

Chris is a 30-year resident of the Wood River Valley. In 1996, he helped bring together an all-volunteer trail advocacy group known as Big Wood Backcountry Trails. It represented the interests of both non-motorized and motorized trail users in the valley, and the group’s messaging stressed trail etiquette and responsible trail sharing. Volunteers with the group contributed thousands of hours to trail maintenance projects, and the organization was an important funding partner for trail construction efforts.

Currently, from May through September each year, Chris serves as the Trail Coordinator for the Blaine County Recreation District. In the winter, he’s a stay-at-home ski bum.

Betsy Ann Mizell

Wildlife Friendly Communities Coalition

Betsy realized that she wanted to help protect the amazing planet we live on at an early age while traveling to some of the world’s most remote and wild places – exceptional places like Antarctica, Papua New Guinea and the Galapagos. 

Betsy has a B.A. from New England College in environmental studies, with a minor in outdoor leadership. In the years since she graduated from college she has worked around the world and country for various environmental conservation organizations. She is very passionate about protecting Idaho's spectacular public lands, rivers and wildlife.

Francie St. Onge

SV Trekking Outfitter and Guide

Sun Valley Trekking Co-owner, Outfitter and Guide Francie St. Onge has a long history working in environmental education, backcountry exploration, and wildlife ecology. During her years in graduate school Francie had the unique opportunity to work with Dr. Gordon Haber in Denali National Park, helping to observe and gather data about wolves in the Park. She also guided educational tours and gave presentations about wolf ecology and predator-predator interactions.  

For the past 20 years she and her husband, Joe, have been outfitting Sun Valley Trekking with its 6 backcountry ski huts, 2 of which operate as summer huts in the Wood River Wolf Project area. Francie founded and led the first Wolf Ecology Tours in 2007 in collaboration with Defenders of Wildlife and Idaho Conservation League to provide a local, field-based educational program about wolf ecology for the public. Francie continues to run the Sun Valley Mountain Huts business with Joe and staff, while raising 2 daughters and occasionally training for ski marathons. She is especially looking forward to helping the Wood River Wolf Project to start a student wildlife tracking and photography program in spring and summer of 2021.