‘Everyone has a voice’: Idaho Conservation League names new executive director

Experienced conservationist and policy leader Courtney Washburn has been named the new executive director of the Idaho Conservation League, the league and its board of directors announced last month. 

Washburn succeeds previous Executive Director Justin Hayes, who announced last year he was taking a new position at the group American Rivers. 

The Idaho Conservation League is a more than 50-year-old nonprofit organization with a mission to protect clean air, clean water, land and wildlife.

The new role represents a homecoming for Washburn, who previously served as the Idaho Conservation League’s community conservation director and statehouse lobbyist from 2006 to 2015. 

In her new role, Washburn is focusing on connecting and partnering with people and groups to take on the challenges of protecting Idaho. 

“I’m really focused on both growing the conservation community and connecting – or reconnecting, depending on how long people have lived in Idaho – with the conservation values and the actions that’s needed to protect this great state,” Washburn said in an interview Wednesday. 

“Progress would be to finally dispel the myth that people who care about conservation are associated with one party or another,” Washburn said. “I’d really like to see a durable kind of big tent. Everyone has a voice to speak up for their values, whether it be clean air, clean water, public lands.”

“People care deeply about their state, and if you get to the core values, there are far less arguments, in my experience,” she added. 

Washburn also previously served as executive director for Conservation Voters for Idaho from 2015 to 2020.

More recently, Washburn served as chief of staff for the city of Boise from 2020 to 2026, where she directed municipal operations, longterm planning and climate initiatives. Boise Dev reported in May that Boise Mayor Lauren McLean authorized a large severance payment for Washburn after Washburn left the city position.  

Data centers on public land represent a new challenge for water and wildlife habitat

While many of the conservation priorities around protecting clean water, clean air, land and wildlife have remained similar since Washburn’s first experience with the Idaho Conservation League, one new challenge has emerged recently. 

“Discussions about public lands, how they should be managed, who should own them and what should be developed on them are certainly bedrock conversations that have been happening in Idaho forever, but the new issue in that space is definitely data centers proposed on public lands,” Washburn said.

Washburn said she opposes data centers on public lands and is working to study how they would affect water, wildlife, wildlife habitat, birds, energy use and infrastructure in Idaho. 

While she was visiting the site of a proposed data center south of Boise recently, Washburn said she saw 25 pronghorn. 

“Data centers are a particular challenge, and everyone’s kind of running to catch up,” Washburn said. 

“I don’t shy away from complicated issues, so I’m looking forward to digging into that,” Washburn added. 

Board members and former director voice support for Washburn at ICL

Washburn’s predecessor at the Idaho Conservation League, or ICL, is endorsing her hiring as executive director. 

“Courtney understands what has made ICL successful: bringing Idahoans together around our shared love of Idaho’s public lands, wildlife, and water,” Hayes said in a written statement. “I’ve worked with her for many years, and I’ve seen firsthand her ability to build relationships, navigate difficult issues, and get things done. She also understands that conservation is a marathon, not a sprint. The work we do today needs to lay the foundation for even greater success tomorrow. Courtney has spent her career doing just that, and I can’t think of anyone better suited to lead ICL into its next chapter.” 

During her final interview for the new job, the entire Idaho Conservation League staff and board was invited to sit in. 

Board Chair Gregg Servheen said that after the interview it was clear that Washburn is the perfect fit for the job. 

“The challenges of the job are equaled only by Courtney’s passion for Idaho and her professional experience and expertise,” Servheen said in a written statement. “We couldn’t be more excited.”