STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Sawtooth Society’s Sagebrush Soiree may need a rebranding considering that its last two gatherings have been within a stone’s throw of Redfish Lake instead of private lawns looking out onto sagebrush-covered meadows and the mountains beyond.

"I think it's no longer the Sagebrush Soiree; it's the Lakeside Soiree," quipped Mike Hoover, the society's director of operations,

But the fact that the annual fundraiser was taking place next to beaches where dozens of people were trying to beat temperatures in the 80s, doesn’t mean that the mission of the Sagebrush Soiree to raise funds for the Sawtooth Society has changed.

Courtney Jelaco attended McGill University in Montreal and worked in university administration and corporate operations in Seattle, New York and Montreal before returning to her home state of Idaho in 2016.

If anything, the frolicking crowd showed how important the organization’s mission is to protect the 756,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area not just for wildlife and scenic values but for people who come to escape hot cities shrouded in smoke and to take a deep breath in the majestic scenery of the Sawtooth Mountains.

One of those who knows that feeling is Courtney Jelaco, the organization’s new executive director. She was introduced to supporters at the Soiree.

A native Idahoan who grew up in Idaho Falls, she spent most of her adult life in Seattle working in technology and telecommunications before returning to Sun Valley 10 years ago.

"I wanted to get away, and there's nothing like going away to gain fresh perspective of what you really love," Jelaco said. "Upon returning, I didn't want just a job. I wanted a cause I could really believe in and believe in deeply."

Paul Ries headed up the SNRA from 1993 to 1999 during 42 years with the U.S. Forest Service. It was he who enlisted the help of Bethine Church to establish the Sawtooth Society to mitigate the decline in funding and staffing for the SNRA.

Jelaco takes the helm at an organization that was founded in 1997. Since, it has helped secure $17 million in federal conservation easement funding, coordinated over $1.2 million in Idaho "Goat Plate" funds and mobilized thousands of volunteer hours protecting the SNRA.

"Idaho's landscapes are what brought me home, and protecting the Sawtooth National Recreation Area is work I care about deeply," said Jelaco, who fly-fishes in the summer and cross-country skis in winter. “These are challenging times for the lands we love. I’m committed to ensuring the SNRA remains wild, accessible, and protected for generations to come; and I am honored to lead the Sawtooth Society working alongside our Board of Directors, donors, and community partners.”

Until a few years ago, Jelaco worked at the Wood River Land Trust where she raised funds for conservation projects like the Warm Springs and Simons Bauer preserves. She has been consulting with small nonprofits in the Wood River Valley since.

"I think my background in the Land Trust work and learning about the conservation of private land is going to translate well to how we all feel about public lands," she said. "These are our lands, and how important they are."

Holly Coiner, left, says she and her husband were married on the SNRA 37 years ago: “It looks so different now.”

Jelaco spoke about the challenges facing the SNRA, from declining public funding for the Forest Service assigned to take care of it to the need for partnerships and sustained support. She referenced the book "Dirtbag Billionaires" about Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who set up a trust so all future profits go to Planet Earth.

"How do we give back more than we take?" she asked. "It's a question that applies to all of us because we love this remarkable place."

Hans Carstensen, chairman of the Sawtooth Society Board of Directors, said that Jelaco brings the blend of vision, conservation experience and community trust that this moment calls for--with a rare combination of fundraising discipline and genuine passion for the landscape.

"Her record of turning donor relationships into real conservation outcomes makes her exactly the right leader to carry our mission forward,” he added.

A red sun in a smoky sky reminded those attending the Sagebrush Soiree of the need to do what can be done to protect the area from wildfire.

The evening brought together 130 supporters from the Wood River Valley and the Treasure Valley, who noshed on pork bellies, beef wellington bites and chocolate mousse and strawberry tarts.

They raised their paddles on behalf of the SNRA, and they bid on such auction items as a progressive dinner at Redish Lake Lodge that included appetizers on a pontoon boat, tickets to the “& Juliet” musical at Boise’s Morrison Center and a three-night getaway in the Copper Basin with a $500 gift card from Atkinsons Market.

They also had an array of silent auction art work from Mary Roberson and Fred Choate, as well as a chance to bid on Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation kids who were willing to serve as sherpas on a backpacking trip.

They also honored two couples whose contributions to the SNRA run deep. Amy Klingler was named Champion of the Sawtooths, recognized for her two decades as the sole medical provider at the Stanley Clinic, the only medical facility across roughly 1,200 square miles.

Klingler, who has served as a director of the Sawtooth Society, began her practice in Stanley in June 2006, handling both family medicine and urgent care for nearly everyone in the area, without an x-ray machine down the hall or a colleague to consult in the next room. She has been credited for saving countless lives over the years she’s been there.

"For the people of Stanley, that skill and determination translates into something simple and profound: the confidence to live remotely, knowing that if something goes wrong, Amy is close by," said Carstensen.

Ann and Paul Hill were honored as Sawtooth Society Guardians for their role in creating the Guardian Fund, a reserve designed to help the organization weather unexpected challenges. Paul Hill recalled the inspiration for the fund came after a fire broke out during a Sawtooth Soiree a couple years ago.

"I said to the then-executive director, Gary O'Malley, one thing I'd really like to do before I step down as president is to establish some kind of a fund to support the Society so that we can continue to do what we're doing," Hill said.

The fund, which now exceeds a million dollars, ensures the society's work continues "long after we're gone," he said.

Hill’s work hasn’t stopped with that fund, however. He’s also served as director of the Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association (SIHA), as a board member of the Trust for Public Lands, as treasurer of the Advocates for the West, and as a director of the Idaho Dark Sky Alliance.

Ann Hll also has been deeply involved in her community, helping to create the Stanley School Hot Lunch program to address food security and helping to create a book fund for the Stanley School Library.

As the sun began to set over Redfish Lake 50 miles north of Sun Valley, smoke from wildfires burning in Oregon streamed in, turning the sun into a vivid red ball.

It reminded all in attendance that the Sawtooth National Recreation Area--756,000 acres of wilderness, forest, and trails--needs all the friends it can get.