Meet Samuel Torpey
By Sue McMurray
Year: Junior
Program: Ecology and Conservation Biology
Hometown: Coeur d'Alene
Though Samuel Torpey’s tribal name is Little Laughing Boy, restoring cutthroat trout populations within the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s jurisdiction is no laughing matter. Camas, mussels and cutthroat, as well as many other species, once were abundant food sources for many northwest tribes. Non-sustainable forestry practices coupled with extensive grazing near or within the riparian zones led to an imbalance of the watersheds within the tribe’s aboriginal territory.
Torpey has spent the last three summers working as a fisheries technician for the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Fisheries Department in Plummer, Idaho. He worked on multiple projects, including electroshock fishing, riparian habitat monitoring and stream restoration in Lake Creek, Benewah Creek and Evans Creek. He also participated in a camas population survey to determine successful harvest potential for the Tribe in future years.
In the summer of 2010, he successfully quantified the Western Pearlshell, a freshwater mussel species in the Benewah Creek Watershed.
“This watershed was chosen because of the past restoration work and the planned restoration in the future,” said Torpey. “Mussels can be used to monitor the health of a stream ecosystem, as they are very particular about their environment. This study will help determine if restoration in this creek is successful in the next decades.”
Torpey explained the restoration and monitoring he and other biologists conduct will provide an avenue for the Tribe to set standards for watershed management in the future, and perhaps someday there will be a healthy harvest of camas, mussels and cutthroat.
“Having this field experience puts the applications of my classes into perspective even before I have taken the classes,” said Torpey, who plans to study environmental law. “It truly was a valuable and key part of my future.”
Year: Junior
Program: Ecology and Conservation Biology
Hometown: Coeur d'Alene
Though Samuel Torpey’s tribal name is Little Laughing Boy, restoring cutthroat trout populations within the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s jurisdiction is no laughing matter. Camas, mussels and cutthroat, as well as many other species, once were abundant food sources for many northwest tribes. Non-sustainable forestry practices coupled with extensive grazing near or within the riparian zones led to an imbalance of the watersheds within the tribe’s aboriginal territory.
Torpey has spent the last three summers working as a fisheries technician for the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Fisheries Department in Plummer, Idaho. He worked on multiple projects, including electroshock fishing, riparian habitat monitoring and stream restoration in Lake Creek, Benewah Creek and Evans Creek. He also participated in a camas population survey to determine successful harvest potential for the Tribe in future years.
In the summer of 2010, he successfully quantified the Western Pearlshell, a freshwater mussel species in the Benewah Creek Watershed.
“This watershed was chosen because of the past restoration work and the planned restoration in the future,” said Torpey. “Mussels can be used to monitor the health of a stream ecosystem, as they are very particular about their environment. This study will help determine if restoration in this creek is successful in the next decades.”
Torpey explained the restoration and monitoring he and other biologists conduct will provide an avenue for the Tribe to set standards for watershed management in the future, and perhaps someday there will be a healthy harvest of camas, mussels and cutthroat.
“Having this field experience puts the applications of my classes into perspective even before I have taken the classes,” said Torpey, who plans to study environmental law. “It truly was a valuable and key part of my future.”
