Our History and Accomplishments

The Idaho Conservation League was founded in 1973. At the time, we were founded to be a voice for conservation at the Idaho Legislature. ICL has engaged in every legislative session since.

In the late 1970s, we began our public lands program to protect the best of Idaho. We also have a community conservation program to protect healthy families, clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and our wonderful quality of life. Here's a sample of what we've accomplished so far.

2000 to Present

• Worked with phosphate mining companies to dedicate profits to improving habitat in the Blackfoot River
  

• Defeated a proposal to burn garbage at the Ada County landfill which would have resulted in tons of toxic air pollution and ash
  

• Engaged in active collaborations throughout the state to build support for landscape protection by working with locals who live, work and play in Idaho's special places
  

• Worked with private donors and ranchers to permanently remove cows from the fragile Owyhee wilderness area
  

• Helped effect new rules nationally to deal with the problem of airborne mercury
• Helped move the Owyhee Canyonlands wilderness bill through Congress, the first new wilderness designation for Idaho in 29 years
• Passed Idaho's first countywide open space measure for Blaine County
  
• Stopped the single largest source of airborne mercury pollution in the United States
  

• Led a statewide ballot measure to defeat Proposition 2, a regulatory takings measure
  

• Joined a diverse coalition to defeat the Sempra coal-fired power plant in Magic Valley

• Championed the Boise Foothills Open Space Levy, which preserved Boise's spectacular natural setting for recreation and other human uses

• Helped private landowners exercise their property rights and conserve their land by enhancing tax incentives for Idaho conservation easements

• Worked to make sure all Idahoans' concerns were heard as the state planned to manage wolf populations

1990s

• Made sure state officials and agencies lived up to the Clean Water Act, guaranteeing that Idaho's water remains fresh and clean

• Improved the Idaho Forest Practices Act and made sure logging plans on state and national forests balanced timber harvest with clean water, healthy habitat and recreation
  

• Preserved the Owyhee Canyonlands prized wildlife habitat and solitude from plans to expand a bombing range

• Protected Boise's popular Hulls Gulch from an unnecessary and destructive dam
• Created an endowment that, by the end of the 1990s, was valued at over $1 million. For a permanent home for Idaho conservation, we purchased a historic home within walking distance to the Statehouse for our office
  

1980s

• Conserved Idaho's clean water through creation of the Idaho Clean Lakes Act and Water Quality Anti-degradation Act

• Fought for healthy air through the reinstatement of the Idaho Air Quality Bureau

• Preserved Idaho's wildlife habitat, rivers and recreation areas by amending the Idaho Surface Mining Act

1970s

• Preserved the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, a 2.3 million-acre wilderness paradise

• Helped Idaho communities plan for prosperity and growth while maintaining their unique character, through the Idaho Local Planning Act

• Guaranteed Idaho's overtaxed rivers and streams maintain enough water for fishing, boating, and other uses through the Idaho Minimum Stream Flow Act