The Wild Sheep Foundation Professional Resources Advisory Board (PRAB) serves as a consultative body to the WSF Board of Directors through the WSF Conservation Committee, providing scientific, wildlife and habitat management, land use and other specialized expertise to assist in decisions concerning policy, Grant‐In‐Aid (GIA) funding, establishment of priorities, planning, and long‐term strategies for achieving the WSF mission and priority goals identified in the North American and International Conservation Vision documents. PRAB will work with the WSF staff and Board to continue to refine and improve the WSF Grant‐In‐Aid solicitation and review process to ensure that it serves the WSF mission, consistent with the WSF budget.
HELEN SCHWANTJE
Chair | British Columbia
TERM EXPIRES - 2026
Helen was the Wildlife Veterinarian for British Columbia from 1992 to 2021, currently in an emeritus status. She graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in 1981 and practiced on a variety of animals including zoo species and, following some international travelling, completed a Master of Science in Veterinary Pathology (specialty in wildlife diseases) in 1987, with a thesis on the evaluation of health status of bighorn sheep herds in the East Kootenay region of BC. That research was funded in part by the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, and she has been a member of FNAWS and the Wild Sheep Foundation since. The postgraduate work led to time as a contract wildlife veterinarian.
Some contracts with the BC government provided the impetus to help create and fill a full time, wildlife agency wildlife veterinarian position, the second in Canada. Her focus became the establishment of a formal agency-based Wildlife Health Program to support and aid provincial wildlife enforcement, management, external agencies, and all those involved with conserving the wildlife of the province.
The work and research with wild sheep never stopped, changing with the times. In retirement she continues that focus with membership on the PRA Board, as well as supporting several other groups with committee memberships, technical advice, and academia in an adjunct status. In her other life, she has a now 110+ year old farm on Vancouver Island where she has a live off the land hobby, raising domestic sheep and other edibles.
MELANIE WOOLEVER
Vice Chair | Colorado
TERM EXPIRES - 2028
Melanie earned both B.S. and M.S. degrees in Wildlife Science from Utah State University and spent the majority of their career with the U.S. Forest Service, leading wildlife and habitat management programs. From 1989 until retiring in 2015, she served as the Forest Service’s National Bighorn Sheep Program Leader—a 26-year tenure marked by national leadership in bighorn sheep conservation. In that role, Melanie guided policy development, conflict resolution, and collaborative efforts involving all levels of the Forest Service, other federal agencies, state fish and wildlife departments, researchers, veterinarians, and advocacy organizations. A key responsibility was resolving grazing conflicts in 14 western states to reduce disease transmission risks between domestic and wild sheep, ensuring actions were legally and scientifically sound. Melanie helped develop national policies addressing disease threats to bighorn sheep and were instrumental in forming the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Wild Sheep Working Group. One of her most significant achievements was initiating and leading the FS/BLM Bighorn Sheep Working Group, which created the science-based Risk of Contact (ROC) tool—used to assess disease transmission risk from domestic sheep to bighorns.
In retirement, Melanie remains an active advocate, serving on the WSF PRA Board and Legislative Affairs Committee, representing the Colorado Wildlife Federation, and serving on the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society Board of Directors. Her work has earned numerous honors, including the WSF Federal Statesman Award, the RMBS Presidents Award, and induction into the Wild Sheep Biologist Wall of Fame.
VERN BLEICH
North Dakota
TERM EXPIRES - 2027
Dr. Vern Bleich earned his BS (1970) and MA (1973) from California State University Long Beach and completed a Ph.D. at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1993. Over a 34-year career with the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), Vern became a leading expert on bighorn sheep, mule deer, and mountain lions in arid ecosystems. He was instrumental in restoring bighorn sheep to previously unoccupied mountain ranges and served as both statewide bighorn sheep coordinator and Project Leader for the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program, overseeing the development of the species’ federal recovery plan.
Vern played a key role in legislation that reinstated legal harvest of desert bighorn sheep in California after a century-long ban. In 1986, he and colleagues pioneered the application of metapopulation dynamics to bighorn sheep management—a concept that remains foundational today. A widely published researcher, Vern continues to serve the conservation community as Science Advisor to the Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep, an Advisory Board Member for the Texas Bighorn Society, Chair of the California Wild Sheep Foundation’s Grants-in-Aid Committee, and a long-standing member and former Chair of the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Professional Resource Advisory Board. He is also a Professional Member of the Boone and Crockett Club and a Research Professor at the University of Nevada Reno.
Now living in Bismarck, North Dakota, Vern remains active in wildlife conservation and enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with his wife, Teresa, and their five granddaughters.
CLAY BREWER
Rochelle, TX
TERM EXPIRES - 2028
Clay Brewer joined the Wild Sheep Foundation team as a Conservation Director in September 2016 after 25 years of service with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). He served in various capacities over 3 decades as a wildlife professional, including TPWD’s state-wide Bighorn Sheep Program Leader, Wild Sheep Working Group Chair (2011-2016) for the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), Desert Bighorn Council Technical Staff Chair, WSF Professional Resources Advisory Board 2011-2016, and many other key leadership positions. Known for his efforts in helping restore desert bighorns to historic levels in Texas, Clay provided important strategic direction and leadership in improving landowner relations and working with multiple stakeholders to achieve common restoration and management goals.
In recognition for his work with wild sheep west-wide, he was awarded the WAFWA Professional of the year in 2016. Clay also received TPWD’s 2004 Conservation and 2010 Leadership Awards, the Texas Bighorn Society’s President’s Award in 2003, the Desert Bighorn Council Honor award in 2011 and the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Wild Sheep Biologist Wall of Fame Award in 2007.
He is a Summit Life Member and a Life Member of the Texas Bighorn Society. Clay received a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Science degree in Range and Wildlife from the Borderlands Research Institute, Sul Ross State University.
Clay and his wife Helen of 34 years raised 3 successful daughters and currently reside in Placid, Texas.
PEREGRINE L. WOLFF, DVM
Leesburg, FL
TERM EXPIRES - 2027
Dr. Peregrine Wolff (Peri) has worked with captive and free-ranging wildlife throughout her 30-plus-year veterinary career. After receiving her veterinary degree from Cornell University, her focus was zoo medicine before she caught the free-ranging wildlife bug and spent 13 years chasing wild sheep and many other critters.
Peregrine served as Nevada’s state wildlife veterinarian, where she became involved in research and conservation programs focused on diseases affecting mountain ungulates. She collaborated with agency biologists, managers, and veterinarians across western states and provinces to develop standardized protocols for handling, welfare, and disease testing of wild sheep.
After retiring from the Nevada Department of Wildlife, she has taken on the role of Executive Manager for the Wildlife Disease Association (WDA), a leading international scientific organization representing wildlife health. The membership of WDA includes state, federal, provincial, and international veterinarians and disease specialists who work with mountain ungulates.
In 2015, she was invited to serve on the board of directors for the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) and later served as its chair for two years. She is the co-chair of the conservation committee, leads the Disease Initiatives, and is a member of the IUCN Caprinae Specialist Group. She is passionate about sharing knowledge and has delivered numerous presentations to various audiences on the role of disease in mountain ungulate health.
Although not a hunter, Peri supports the critical role that hunters play in wildlife conservation.
DR. KATE HUYVAERT
Rocky Crate Chair | Washington
Ex-Officio
Kate Huyvaert joined Washington State University as the Rocky Crate/Wild Sheep Foundation Endowed Chair after 14 years on the faculty in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University. Kate got her start in field biology working on seabirds on a desert, uninhabited island in Ecuador. She thought she wanted to be a physician – and was an English lit major as an undergrad - but fell head over heels for science as a way of getting to know the natural world and this led her to complete an MSc at Wake Forest University and earn her PhD at the University of Missouri-St. Louis on population biology in seabirds.
Kate’s interest and research focus on infectious disease ecology emerged from questions she tackled about genetic ‘quality’ in seabirds in her dissertation and has expanded to research projects on an assortment of wild critters – from boreal toads to spotted owls, blue-footed boobies to freshwater clams, to bighorn sheep. While Kate’s immediate research focus is on respiratory disease in wild sheep, she and her lab group apply both field and laboratory techniques to questions about pathogens and parasites at the interfaces between domestic animals, wildlife, and humans. Kate has a keen interest in applying knowledge from her work to conserve the world’s biodiversity and looks forward to bringing her perspectives and skill to the PRAB and Wild Sheep Initiative. In her spare time, Kate enjoys traveling to new places and exploring the outdoors.
LARRY JACOBS
WSF Board Liaison | Oregon
Ex-Officio
Born and raised on a farm/ranch in North Dakota provided Larry Jacobs the opportunity to build a strong work ethics at a young age. He has always been passionate about new adventures and opportunities in life. He traveled to Oregon for summer work, to earn his way through college, and started a Custom Construction Co. the at age 20. He still owns and operates this business forty-seven year later, building custom homes and light commercial projects. Larry also operates a farm and ranch business.
Larry has always spent time volunteering to local, county, state and regional non-profit groups so after drawing an Oregon bighorn tag in 2002 he joined OR-FNAWS for an opportunity to give back. He became a board member in 2003, served as VP in 2004 and as President in 2005,2006, 2016 and is the current Oregon President. He has initiated numerous hands on projects in Oregon- including guzzlers, spring projects, weed projects and juniper cutting to name a few. Larry has actively participated in the Hells Canyon Initiative as the OR-FNAWS representative since 2004. He has also participated in public land management planning in OR, WA and ID since 2004. Larry takes a leading role in the chapter fundraisers each year. The Oregon Chapter presented their Jo Josephson Lifetime Achievement award to Larry in 2007. The WSF Gordon Eastman award was presented to Larry in 2010 and the WSF Outstanding Achievement award was presented to him in 2016. He is dedicated to bighorn sheep and passionate about the future of our public lands and wildlife management strategies for these lands.
DARYL LUTZ
WYG&F, WAFWA Wild Sheep Initiative Chair | Wyoming
Ex-Officio
Daryl became the WAFWA Wild Sheep Inititave Chair (WSI) Chair in December 2022. Daryl attended the University of Wyoming and Humboldt State University. Daryl has worked for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for over three decades as a Habitat Biologist, Wildlife Biologist, and now a Wildlife Management Coordinator – and continues to serve in that capacity as he chairs the WSI. Daryl has been heavily involved in mule deer and bighorn sheep management throughout his career. Daryl led Wyoming’s Mule Deer Working Group, and represented Wyoming on WAFWA's Mule Deer Working Group for over 20 years, since its formation in 1998. Daryl has co-chaired Wyoming’s Bighorn Sheep Working Group the past several years. Daryl was raised as a hunter, fisherman, and outdoorsman in Colorado and Wyoming. Daryl and his wife Kim raised their two kids the same way, and are now working on their 5 grandkids.