Behind the Stories

A Tribute to Bill Studebaker

By Bruce Reichert
July 7, 2008

The East fork of the South fork of the Salmon River, near Yellow Pine, claimed a good man, and a good friend of Idaho Public Television and Outdoor Idaho.

Bill Studebaker died over the 4th of July holiday, doing something he truly loved to do, something most of us would never do: kayaking arguably the most dangerous river in Idaho.

Bill was made for television. Warm, intelligent, photogenic, he was the guy we went to when we needed excitement or analysis and reflection. In fact, Bill was probably in more Outdoor Idaho shows than anyone else!

He was around the campfire for our 25th Anniversary show. He was around the campfire for our 20th Anniversary show. (He drove my ATV up to Hard Butte Lake for that shoot, and had to go over some rough terrain. Said it scared him more than the river.)

He read a poem for our "City Made of Stone" program, in 1994, at the City of Rocks.

He jumped into the rapids where William Clark turned back, on the Salmon River, for our "Lewis & Clark in Idaho" program, just because we needed someone to look like he'd been thrown from a dugout canoe.

He was the heart and soul of "Extremely Idaho," our February '08 program, as he and his friend Mike Copeland performed a wild kayak ride down an icy waterfall at Thousand Springs. Not once, but twice, for the camera.

And for a show yet to air, Bill kayaked down a snowy mountain in the Sawtooths. A group of volunteers got to see that segment last month, for our Volunteer Appreciation Day. They found it delightful and crazy.

That was Spill. Delightful and crazy. Warm and generous. And really smart.

But my favorite segment with Bill Studebaker is featured in our "River of No Return" show, when he talked about the plight of the salmon and what it means to everyday Idahoans.

It combined so much of what, to me, was special about Bill. A man who could make poetry work for him, as he talked about the lifecycle of the salmon, dying in the very water that gave it life, so that the logger and the truck driver could understand what was being taken from them in the name of progress.

Come to think of it, Bill could have just as easily been talking about himself.

We'll miss you, Bill.

 

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A Busy Summer Ahead

By Bruce Reichert
July 3, 2008

This summer our small but mighty Production Team will be crisscrossing the state to bring you stories about wild fire and pioneers on the Oregon Trail; about underground mining and a 5th generation ranch family; about wildlife refuges and wooden boats. And even stories about dinosaurs.

Here's a thumbnail about some of them.

Wild Fire

On August 20th of last year, the state was primed for another calamitous fire season. Folks were worried that 2007 could be as bad as the historic Great Blowup of 1910. Luckily, we did not experience the two days of hurricane-force winds that made the 1910 fire the nation's largest and deadliest.

Still, almost 2 million acres burned in 2007. So, what's happening out there? Why have things gotten so bad?

Outdoor Idaho will explore the new face of "Wild Fire" on Thursday, July 24th.

Dude Ranch Family

How many ranches can trace their lineage back 130 years, through five generations? Butch Small, a former rodeo champ, runs the Small Cattle Company near Dubois, along the Continental Divide.

You'll meet this wonderful family, along with a couple of "dudes" who pay to work at the cow camp. This program will air in September.

Mining Idaho

Gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper – these have been the staples of Idaho's mining industry for 150 years. Add to that list molybdenum, cobalt, and phosphate, and you have a mining industry that is truly statewide.

We will explore the complexity of mining today, using real-life examples from Silver Valley, Atlanta, the Thompson Creek molybdenum mine, the Smoky Canyon phosphate mine, the Rock Creek silver and copper mine on the Idaho-Montana border, and others. This program will air in October.

The Oregon Trail

We'll relive that amazing period of America's push westward, as families risked everything to find the new promised land. Some of this has already been shot this summer, but many of the re-enactments have not, like bringing wagons down the steep hills outside of Montpelier.

We're hoping no one, including the animals, gets hurt. This program will air in March of 2009.

D4K

Continuing a tradition that spans a decade, this science-oriented program for school kids will revisit the popular topic of dinosaurs, this time by traveling to Dinosaur National Monument. Look for this program during the upcoming school year.

And be sure to check out the great website at http://idahoptv.org/dialogue4kids/.

 

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