Jane was born and raised on a dairy farm in southern Wisconsin, where she developed an early passion for the outdoors and a deep respect for nature. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in education from the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.
Throughout her career, she taught grades 4–8 in a variety of settings: Monona Grove and Janesville, Wisconsin; Department of Defense schools in Germany and Fairbanks, Alaska; and finally for 20 years in Pocatello. Jane received several awards during her teaching career, including the prestigious Idaho Science Presidential Teacher of the Year Award in 1994.
In 1974, Jane and her husband, Don, arrived in Pocatello with their two sons. Don began teaching biology at ISU, and when their boys entered school full-time, Jane returned to the classroom. While teaching, she served as president of the League of Women Voters four times and was active in Audubon, the Idaho Natural History Museum, and the Methodist Church.
After retiring, Don and Jane moved to Teton Valley, Idaho, to be close to their son Dan and his family. They returned to Pocatello in late 2018. Jane quickly became involved in helping at Ardith’s Garden. Recognizing the opportunities at EFNA, Don and Jane organized the Nature Talk Series beginning in September 2021.
During the summer of 2024, they invited a group of like-minded community members to form the Friends of EFNA. Don and Jane walk the EFNA pathways with their dog, Lucky, most every morning. They are now dedicated to developing programs and inspiring both young and old to discover EFNA as a true community treasure.
Tracy A. Casselman grew up in the Finger Lakes region of central New York, where he spent much of his time exploring fields and woods, developing a deep curiosity about the natural environment. That early interest led to a 30-year career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a Refuge Manager. During this time, he helped start and mentor multiple Refuge Friends groups. In 2009, Tracy moved to Pocatello with his wife Christine and their two daughters, where they enjoy exploring the wondrous landscapes of southeastern Idaho.
Now retired, Tracy stays active in the community through volunteering with CASA, as a founding member of a local woodturning club, and serving as Vice-President of the Friends of Edson Fichter Nature Area, where he helps lead infrastructure improvement efforts. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, birding, kayaking, cross-country skiing, woodturning, bird hunting and training his dog, Sora.
Tracy passionately believes that the residents of Pocatello deserves an accessible area where they can relax in the outdoors and experience the wonders of nature.
Lisa Jorgensen is a school counselor at Indian Hills Elementary, the elementary school adjacent to Edson Fichter Nature Area. She is passionate about safeguarding childhood as the foundation of a healthy life.
Lisa grew up in the unique and beautiful landscape of Helper, Utah, where she spent countless hours exploring the sagebrush and weather-sculpted sandstone boulders right in her own backyard. She considers the pace and beauty of nature a great gift to her inner peace and hopes the children she works with can experience the same.
She loves to see children (of all biological ages) enjoying nature at EFNA!
Cristine Casselman has proudly served as Secretary of Friends of Edson Fichter Nature Area (FEFNA) since the group’s founding two years ago. Additionally, she has taught Life and Earth Sciences at Grace Lutheran Middle School for the past 15 years, sharing her passion for the natural world.
She is a certified High Desert Master Naturalist and serves as the Southeast Idaho Regional Coordinator for Invent Idaho. Outside of work, Cristine enjoys birding, hiking, cross-country skiing, training her dog, and kayaking.
She loves working with people of all ages and is passionate about fostering an appreciation for the Edson Fichter Nature Area as a place of respite—where people can slow down, turn away from screens, explore, and get lost in nature.
She is grateful to serve alongside this amazing FEFNA Board, full of fun and dedicated people working to promote this community gem.
Joanne grew up on a dairy farm in southern Wisconsin, not far from Jane Struebel’s childhood home. She worked as a seasonal employee at a state park in Wisconsin while attending the University of Wisconsin.
After completing a graduate degree in economics from Iowa State University, Joanne taught business statistics, economics, and finance at Idaho State University. She retired from ISU in 2024 after a 36-year career teaching and working in administration. In 2025, she received the ISU Achievement Award.
Joanne enjoys hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and exploring nearby national and state parks with her family.
Meg Salness Fleischmann is new to the board and is excited to be part of the team. A teacher at Century High School, Meg appreciates the peaceful atmosphere that the Edson Fichter Nature Area provides to the community.
She served for many years as the advisor to Century’s Ecology Club, “The TreeHuggers,” and loves teaching science, outdoor education, and leadership to her high school students. She was recently awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching and enjoys seeing today’s youth discover and appreciate our amazing natural world.
Meg strongly believes in the healing benefits, mindfulness, and improved health that come from spending time in nature.
The EFNA has been a special part of my life for more than 20 years. It all began when I joined a group of women in maintaining Ardith’s Garden, a pollinator garden created in remembrance of Edson’s wife. I was fortunate to meet both Edson and Ardith and to be inspired by their reverence for our local flora and fauna. This past fall, I was asked to be part of the Friends board working to develop opportunities for visitors to meet, explore, and help maintain the EFNA.
As a child, I developed an appreciation for nature while spending many summer days at my grandparents’ cabin located at the base of Scout Mountain. I watched squirrels scold my dog from the heights of fir trees, saw bats hanging upside down from tree branches in the early dawn, and spied deer silently slipping past the cabin in the evening—all with the awe of a child.
Later, after earning a degree in biology from ISU, I had the pleasure of teaching science at Blackfoot High School and then at middle schools in Pocatello, eventually retiring from School District 25.
My hope in serving on the board is to create opportunities for visitors to explore the native plants, pollinators, and the web of life that abounds at EFNA; to meet old friends; and to make new connections with those who value this “gem” of ours.
Helping at EFNA has allowed me to observe visitors of all ages who come to fish, walk, bike, swim, or sit quietly on one of the benches and soak in the tranquility.
I am so pleased to be a member of the board and to have the opportunity to work with like-minded people to preserve, protect, and develop the Edson Fichter Nature Area.
The Edson Fichter Nature Area lies entirely within a flood control project administered by the Army Corps of Engineers. Dale Reavis performed the hydraulic and flood risk analysis and signed and stamped the permit application for the bridge construction.
He has since been involved in building the levee crossing and developing preliminary designs for the paths and ponds. Most recently, he led the amphitheater upgrade project.
Dale is a lifelong resident of Pocatello and became a board member in 2025.
Eric grew up in Los Angeles, yet he was always drawn to the natural world. Family trips to local tide pools, the San Bernardino Mountains, Death Valley, and Sequoia National Park sparked a lifelong passion for exploration and discovery.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology and a high school teaching credential from Loyola Marymount University, Eric and his wife, Stacy, moved to Pocatello, where he completed a master’s degree in Natural Science (Biology) at ISU. He has taught a wide range of math and science courses at Pocatello High School since 1987 and currently teaches Dual Credit Biology and Forensic Science. He says he isn’t ready to retire from teaching yet because, as he puts it, “I still have a lot to learn!”
Nature photography is one of Eric’s great passions. He shares his work on Facebook, where he serves as an administrator for both the Pocatello Trails and Friends of Edson Fichter groups, and on iNaturalist, a worldwide platform for documenting biodiversity. Each year, his students participate in two BioBlitzes at the Cherry Springs Nature Area, where they have observed hundreds of species.
At Edson Fichter Nature Area, Eric helped lead the first BioBlitz last summer and organized a series of birding walks. He looks forward to continuing to share the rich wildlife and natural beauty of the area with the community.
My early life in northern Wisconsin gave me many opportunities to experience nature. After college in Wisconsin, I worked as a state forest ranger for two years. I then enrolled in a master’s degree program in wildlife management at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. After graduation, we returned to Wisconsin, where I worked as a wildlife manager for three years.
We later moved to Colorado, where I enrolled in a Doctor of Arts program in biology. There, I studied certain aspects of college biology teaching and, in the field, researched the behavior of two coexisting species of ground squirrels.
In 1974, I was hired by the biology department at ISU, where I had the good fortune of getting to know Dr. Edson Fichter as well as many other wonderful faculty members and students. In addition to teaching at ISU, I also taught a short course on Mammals of Yellowstone for the Yellowstone Institute for 23 summers. I also conducted a two-year study of small mammals in Yellowstone and later wrote the book Small Mammals of the Yellowstone Ecosystem.
My interest in nature is broadly based on the philosophy: “The more you look, the more you see.” Try this at EFNA—there is so much to discover there.
The Edson Fichter Nature Area will be closed to the public so contractors can make necessary repairs on Wednesday, October 8 and possibly Thursday, October 9.
Thank you for your understanding
