FTR News

Teton Valley Idaho - (08/14/2009) - Friends of the Teton River couldn’t guarantee clear skies for its full moon float last week, but Don Streubel is a sure thing next week for the organization’s Teton River Natural History Float scheduled for Wednesday, August 19. Streubel is a local retired professor of Zoology who will be referencing the unpublished journals of Beaver Dick Leigh to compare wildlife present today with what early trappers and settlers observed in Teton Valley years ago. Beaver Dick Leigh lived in the Tetonia area many moons ago when the area was called Pierre’s Hole. His family was eventually wiped out by small pox, but Streubel has obtained Leigh’s journals from Yellowstone Park Historian Lee Whittlesey, who compiled Beaver Dick’s observation from generations ago. “My intent is to stop in a couple places during the float and talk about the animal life we find now in the riparian corridor, comparing it to what early settlers would’ve seen,” Streuebl said. Streubel’s extensive knowledge of area animals comes from the research he did in writing his book, “Small Mammals of the Yellowstone Ecosystem.” The float is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. and will last approximately three hours. Floaters need to bring their own boating gear, but assistance with shuttles is available. To sign up for the float and get directions to the starting and ending points along the Teton River, please contact Amy Verbeten, FTR’s Education and Outreach Director, at 354-3871 or e-mail her at amy@tetonwater.org.