Pete Leibee, local business owner and president of the Sweetwater Snowpokes and ATV Club, sat down with us this past week to talk about a project local snowmobile and outdoor enthusiasts should be very excited about.

For years, the Sweetwater Snowpokes and the Pinedale Snow Explorers have worked to get permission from the US Forest Service to put a better safety shelter in the Strawberry Creek area.

Strawberry Creek is near the continental divide in between Green River Lakes and Dubois and is a popular snowmobiling area.

The previous (and smaller) safety shelter would need to get transported each snow machine season. The new shelter will be able to stay at the Strawberry Creek location year-round, based on a cooperative agreement that has been established between the Sweetwater Snowpokes and ATV Club, Pinedale Snow Explorers, and the US Forest Service.

As part of the agreement, the maintenance of the shelter will be the responsibility of the snowmobile clubs.

The construction of the new shelter began in June and Snowpokes members, volunteers, and Pete Leibee’s crew have worked on it all summer long as time allowed.

Roughly 100 individuals assisted in building the shelter – from construction to donating money and materials to lending space to build.

The following businesses donated materials and time:

Monetary donations were made by:

• Sublette County Rec Board
• Rocky Mountain Powersports – Rock Springs
• Rocky Mountain Powersports – Pinedale
• Bucky’s Polaris
• Along with proceeds from the last 5 years of fundraising efforts of Sweetwater Snowpokes, including poker runs.

The safety shelter is now finished and ready for this year’s snowmobile season! Be sure to check it out if you’re in the area.

Great job to everyone who helped on this project!