The Organization

Friends of the Teton River, a non profit organization, was started in the summer of 2000 by a group of farmers, outfitters and guides, scientists, conservationists and government agency representatives. In its first five years FTR developed a core staff of professionals, built effective relationships with all levels of government and developed and put to work its base of knowledge about the Teton Rivet and its tributary streams.

Over the past five years FTR’s work included the following programs:

  1. Water Quality Monitoring
  2. Juvenile trout study
  3. Ground and surface water hydrologic assessments
  4. Restoration work on Teton River and Fox Creek
  5. K-12 watershed education program, and
  6. Most recently in 2005, two tributary research projects, the largest ever undertaken by FTR:
    1. Complete inventory of trout populations in all of the major tributaries to the Teton River, and
    2. Study of all diversions on those tributaries, from the top diversion to the Teton River.

Today, as a result of FTR’s science, restoration projects and listening to residents, no one knows the Teton Valley watershed better than FTR. Core values driving FTR’s work are sound science, impartial communications, stewardship of water resources and collaborating with others in the community who work for the welfare of the Teton watershed.

Mission & Vision:

  1. Friends of the Teton River works for clean water, healthy streams and abundant fisheries in Teton Valley.
  2. Our Vision for the Future:
  3. Lead efforts to provide clean water, healthy streams and abundant fisheries in the Teton Valley
  4. Exhibit a bias for actions, using science as our platform.
  5. Be the voice for water in the Teton Valley.
  6. Become a model in the West for watershed research and management.
  7. Deliver results through core staff excellence and project expansions in collaboration with key partners.
 

Science 

FTR believes that a thorough scientific understanding of the Teton Valley's water resources is essential to successful management strategies. We develop and sponsor research projects to investigate the status of ground and surface water resources in the Teton Basin, including the Teton River, its tributaries and wetlands.

 

Education

FTR is committed to sharing all scientific findings with the general public and sponsoring regular public forums to promote a better understanding of the Teton Watershed. We are also actively involved in assisting local classroom teachers to develop educational materials for water studies.

 

 

Improvement

On-the-ground projects are based on what we have learned from scientific research. FTR implements projects that will promote the health of the Teton River and other aquatic resources in the Teton Basin.