Our Team

Jason Baldes

Executive Officer, Board President & Eastern Shoshone Tribe Buffalo Manager

Jason Baldes received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Land Resources & Environmental Sciences from Montana State University, where he focused on Tribal Bison Restoration. As Tribal Buffalo Program Manager for the National Wildlife Federation’s Tribal Partnerships Program, he has established resolution-based agreements and helped restore more than 100 conservation Buffalo to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes in Wind River since 2016.

Pamela (Eagle Hawk) Duran

Associate Director

Pamela joined our team in 2024, bringing 20 years of experience in finance, human resources, Indian gaming, and the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) to WRTBI. She earned her accounting degree from Oglala Lakota College in Kyle, South Dakota. She loves turning innovative ideas into reality, and is excited about the Initiative’s growth and development.

Pamela is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe. She enjoys spending free time with her grandchildren in South Dakota and Idaho. She and her husband, Alfred, reside in Riverton, Wyoming.

Xavier Michael-Young

Administrative and Finance Coordinator

Since joining the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative staff in October 2023, Xavier’s roles have spanned bookkeeping, coordinating researchers, range fence-building and more. A graduate of the University of Wyoming with a degree in Agricultural Business, Xavier came to the initiative after visiting on a tour with the Restoring Shoshone Ancestral Foods Group (RSAFG). In Xavier’s words, the tour solidified what he already knew, that “Buffalo are really cool.”

Xavier is an enrolled member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and hopes to one day be a part of facilitating wildlife restoration there as well. In the meantime, he’s excited to be working on upcoming projects like expanding Buffalo range units, a new horse program for perimeter checks and youth education, and eventually establishing a quarantine facility for Buffalo.

Kaycee Prevedel

Partnerships and Communications Director

Kaycee is passionate about land protection and restoration. In college, she studied American history with a focus on Indigenous Land Rights. She has worked for the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, and Sierra Club Wyoming — and also for the National Park Service at Mesa Verde National Park, where she gave tours of 1,200 year-old Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings. Her expertise is in public/ancestral land protection and Tribal co-stewardship.

Kaycee is a Land Back advocate and is driven to amplify the efforts of Native-led organizations, especially WRTBI. She is eager to support the organization’s sustainable growth, and develop a cultural hub for connection.

“The restoration of Buffalo, one of the last remaining keystone species, is an incredible and historic project that will benefit future generations. I am happy to be a part of it!”

Albert Mason Jr.

Science Director

Albert’s interest in wildlife started in childhood. Determined to pursue a career outdoors, he attended Central Wyoming College (CWC) and graduated with an associate degree in Biology. He then transferred to University of Wyoming to finish his bachelor’s degree, and in his final year stacked on college credits to begin pursuing a masters degree before moving back to the Wind River Indian Reservation. He partnered with CWC to gain work-related experience, bringing him to the Wind River Tribal Buffalo Initiative.

Albert’s focus is researching the interaction between Buffalo and other wildlife with tribal populations and land uses. He is currently working on finishing his masters degree while living on the reservation full time. Albert is an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, with many different ancestry tribes.

Ryan Memering

Facilities and Project Manager

An avid outdoorsman with a passion for building and restoring classic cars, Ryan Memering brings his unique vision and perspective to the Initiative’s operations. Ryan joined the team in 2024 after owning and operating his own business for 25 years. His experience with extensive mechanic work, operating heavy machinery and welding mean that Ryan is both knowledgeable and willing to get hands-on with challenging on-site projects.

Ryan is also an ordained minister, and finds the Buffalo speak to him in a way nothing else ever has — leading to a passionate commitment to the Initiative and personal spiritual journey as he works closely with the animals.

Wes Martel

Board Chair

Wes Martel served on the Eastern Shoshone Business Council for twenty years where he oversaw programs and legislation dealing with water, taxation, energy, and environment. He was Chairman of the Fish & Game Committee for the Shoshone & Arapaho Tribes where they instituted sound fisheries and wildlife management planning with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and also adopted a Tribal Game Code. His work included developing a severance tax program for the Tribes and drafting, approving, and adoption of the Wind River Water Code.

Wes is a veteran and has a deep and abiding respect for the values and beliefs of indigenous people.

“Back in the old day, we used the Buffalo for everything. The Buffalo provided everything for us.”

Dennis O’Neal

Vice President & Northern Arapaho Tribe Buffalo Manager

Dennis is the Director of Traditional Resources Northern Arapaho Tribe, Buffalo Manager of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, and enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe (Sho-Rap).

A lifetime resident of Wind River Indian Reservation, Dennis’s parents are from Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes, thus his Sho-Rap status. He is a proud boarding school survivor — Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Dennis is grateful to be working with and for Buffalo restoration in the Wind River.

Lynette St. Clair

Board Member

Lynette St. Clair grew up in Fort Washakie, Wyoming, on the Wind River Reservation. She has always been passionate about preserving and sharing the Shoshone culture with the next generation — particularly language and connection with Buffalo.

Recently retired from a career in education, Lynette continues to contribute lesson plans for Wyoming classrooms and is a voice for Indigenous curriculum through her involvement with statewide initiatives. Her goal is to get Buffalo on the classroom schedule for students every school year.

Mark Headley

Secretary

Mark has enjoyed a lifelong love of nature, having been exposed to protected wild areas from a young age. After retiring from a successful career in international asset management, Mark has devoted much of his time protecting wild places of the Western United States. Mark currently lives in Wyoming.