Idaho Conservation League
“To protect the wild places, clean water, and wildlife that make Idaho home.”
1 live lawsuit, 6 comments to the agencies, 74 cents of every dollar to the work.
The origin
How they started
The Idaho Conservation League was founded in 1973 by a group that included former state senator Mary Lou Reed, growing into a statewide voice with roughly 30,000 members across all 44 counties. It works to protect Idaho’s public lands, clean water, and wildlife, from alpine lakes to wild rivers. Early on it helped pass land-use planning reform through the 1974 Sunshine Act, approved by 78% of voters. Based in Boise, it stays active on mining, forests, and wilderness.
Every year they sign one sentence and file it with the federal government: “ICL's mission is to create a conservation community and pragmatic, enduring solutions that protect and restore the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the land and wildlife you love.” as filed.
Where the money went, FY2025
The work, and what it cost
Recovering Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead
$628K, 22% of spendingICL partners with Tribes, local communities, and regional organizations to recover Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead.
Including $32,150 granted onward, most of it ($30,000) to Nez Perce Tribe.
Read it as they filed it
RECOVERING IDAHO'S WILD SALMON AND STEELHEAD: ICL PARTNERS WITH TRIBES, LOCAL COMMUNITIES, AND REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO RECOVER IDAHO'S WILD SALMON AND STEELHEAD. WE BUILD PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR REMOVING THE FOUR LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS AND ADVANCE INTERIM CONSERVATION MEASURES TO PREVENT THESE ICONIC FISH FROM GOING EXTINCT WHILE LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS ARE PURSUED.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Protecting Idaho’S Public Lands
$498K, 17% of spendingICL advocates for the sustainable management of Idaho’s public lands and the fish and wildlife that depend on them.
Including $1,000 granted onward.
Read it as they filed it
PROTECTING IDAHO'S PUBLIC LANDS: ICL ADVOCATES FOR THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF IDAHO'S PUBLIC LANDS AND THE FISH AND WILDLIFE THAT DEPEND ON THEM. OUR STAFF ENGAGE COMMUNITIES, STAKEHOLDERS, AND AGENCY ADMINISTRATORS ACROSS THE STATE TO ENSURE THAT FORESTS, RANGELANDS, WILDLIFE HABITAT, AND RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ON FEDERAL LANDS ARE MANAGED RESPONSIBLY. WE ALSO PROMOTE THE CONSERVATION OF NATIVE SPECIES SUCH AS SAGE GROUSE, GRIZZLY BEARS, WOLVERINES, BISON, AND BULL TROUT.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Confronting Climate Change
$254K, 9% of spendingICL works to reduce Idaho’s contribution to the global climate crisis by advocating for cleaner, cheaper energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal power.
Read it as they filed it
CONFRONTING CLIMATE CHANGE: ICL WORKS TO REDUCE IDAHO'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CRISIS BY ADVOCATING FOR CLEANER, CHEAPER ENERGY SOURCES SUCH AS WIND, SOLAR, AND GEOTHERMAL POWER. WE ENGAGE IN LAND-USE AND ENERGY POLICY DECISIONS TO SUPPORT RESPONSIBLE SITING OF RENEWABLE ENERGY AND TRANSMISSION PROJECTS, AND WE ADVOCATE FOR A WESTERN ENERGY MARKET THAT LOWERS ELECTRICITY COSTS AND EXPANDS ACCESS TO RENEWABLE RESOURCES ACROSS THE REGION.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Snake river, north Idaho lakes and water
$196K, 7% of spendingICL worked to make the snake river across southern Idaho safe, fishable and swimmable again, worked to ensure the enforcement of regulated discharges and reduce the amount of unregulated agricultural surface runoff and…
Read it as they filed it
SNAKE RIVER, NORTH IDAHO LAKES AND WATER: ICL WORKED TO MAKE THE SNAKE RIVER ACROSS SOUTHERN IDAHO SAFE, FISHABLE AND SWIMMABLE AGAIN, WORKED TO ENSURE THE ENFORCEMENT OF REGULATED DISCHARGES AND REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF UNREGULATED AGRICULTURAL SURFACE RUNOFF AND NITRATE-LADEN GROUNDWATER DISCHARGES TO THE SNAKE RIVER, WORKED TO CREATE A FRAMEWORK FOR A JOINT STATE/FEDERAL/TRIBAL/PRIVATE BASIN-WIDE TERRESTRIAL AND AQUATIC RESTORATION PLAN. WE ENGAGED IN A PROGRAM TO MONITOR THE HEALTH OF NORTHERN IDAHO LAKES AND RIVERS, AND ENCOURAGE POLICY THAT PROTECTS WATER QUALITY.
IRS Form 990 Part III for fiscal year 2025, signed under penalty of perjury.
Follow the dollar
74 cents of every dollar goes to the work
Read it as a snapshot, not a scorecard. Splits move year to year with grants and campaigns, and healthy shops live all across this range.
$2,144,447 programs, $422,472 management, $328,267 fundraising. Form 990, FY2025.
The backers
Backed, each with its source, by Pew Charitable Trusts, Wilburforce Foundation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and 39 others, latest filing FY25.
The people
Who does the work
Took the helm from Justin Hayes, who drew $125,950 in the final year on file.
Honesty note: leadership comes from each year’s federal filing, so it can run a year behind. If it’s out of date, tell us. Work at the Idaho Conservation League? Claim this page.
Those 343 volunteers are people who decided this ground was theirs to defend. If the Idaho Conservation League is fighting for your place too, the matchmaker will find your way in.
Find your way inThe record
The court record
And 2 more in our case database: a selection we track, not their full docket.
Fights alongside Advocates for the West (3 shared cases), American Rivers (1 shared case), Center for Biological Diversity (1 shared case), Defenders of Wildlife (1 shared case) and Earthworks (1 shared case) and 2 more. Same case, same side, on the federal docket.
The filings
14 years of filings
Total revenue by fiscal year as filed. Point at or tap the line for any year.
| Year | Revenue |
|---|---|
| 2011 | $1,398,710 |
| 2012 | $1,476,146 |
| 2013 | $1,589,126 |
| 2014 | $1,890,184 |
| 2015 | $2,511,602 |
| 2016 | $2,804,331 |
| 2017 | $2,495,091 |
| 2018 | $1,985,159 |
| 2019 | $2,799,632 |
| 2020 | $2,171,747 |
| 2021 | $3,124,816 |
| 2022 | $3,577,511 |
| 2023 | $4,455,535 |
| 2025 | $3,356,365 |
From $1.4M in 2011 to $3.4M in FY25, across 14 public filings (none on record for 2024).
The returns as e-filed with the IRS, 3 years:
- FY2025Download the return
- FY2024Download the return
- FY2023Download the return
Source: IRS Form 990 e-file data, each return by its IRS object id, served by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. A year in the chart without a link here is read from a later return’s own history table; its return is on ProPublica’s page for the group.
On the Hill
The Idaho Conservation League has hired federal lobbyists: 5 filings from 2019 to 2020. The filings at the Senate.
Most filed on natural resources.
The record
On the record with the agencies
6 comments on federal decisions since 2023, each filed under the group’s own name on regulations.gov. The latest on decisions we track:
Year by year
In order
- 1973Idaho Conservation League is formed.the directory; the return’s own formation year is 1974
- 20012001 to 2026: 6 cases filed, all since closed: Idaho Conservation League v. Lannom; Idaho Conservation League v. Poe and 4 more.the docket
The other 4
2001, Kootenai Tribe of ID v. Glickman, closed; 2025, Save the South Fork Salmon v. U.S. Forest Service, closed; 2025, Idaho Conservation League v. Fish and Wildlife Service, United States, closed; 2026, Idaho Conservation League v. Forest Service, US, closed.
- 2016Western Watersheds Project v. Schneider: amicus, still in court.the docket
- 2022First appears in the grants of Wilburforce Foundation and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 2023First appears in the grants of Pew Charitable Trusts, Clif Bar Family Foundation, Idaho Community Foundation and Koa Charitable Tr.the funders’ returns
- 20242 comments, both to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- First appears in the grants of Alice Pack And L Thomas Melly Foundation and Innovia Foundation.the funders’ returns
- 20253 comments, all to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
- 20261 comment to the Fish and Wildlife Service, under the group’s own name.regulations.gov
Rust, a case still in court. Green, a funder’s return. Hollow, a filing. Every row comes from a public record: 7 federal cases with the group on the docket, 6 comments filed under its own name, 42 funders whose returns name it. Nothing here is written from memory.
Their ground
The places they defend
Plaintiff in the February 2025 federal lawsuit challenging the Stibnite Gold Project approvals for failing to protect Chinook salmon, bull trout, and clean water in the South Fork Salmon watershed, after years of EIS comments and permit appeals.
Who’s defending it On the record · On watchCraters of the Moon National MonumentMobilized Idahoans to file Interior Department comments defending Craters of the Moon during the 2017 national monument review, arguing shrinkage would damage the economies of Blaine, Butte, Minidoka, and Power counties.
Who’s defending itMost urgent first: open comment windows, then live federal cases, then the threat level. See every threatened place on one map, and who stands for each.
The Idaho congressional delegation averages 0 of 100 on public lands. See the full scorecard
Get Involved
Where you can help them
- Fri, Nov 20 · TalkShared Waters Film Screening - Missoula, MT, Idaho Conservation LeagueThe Panida Theater
- Wed, Dec 2 · MeetingOpen House! Boise, Idaho Conservation League
- Mon, Dec 7 · TalkPolicy Pub: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Idaho’s 2027 Legislative Session - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Conservation LeagueVantage Point Brewing Company
- Tue, Dec 8 · TalkPolicy Pub: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Idaho’s 2027 Legislative Session - Sandpoint, Idaho Conservation LeagueMatchwood Brewing Company
The wire
What they’ve done lately
- Tue, Nov 10 · Event addedOpen House! Boise, Idaho Conservation League
- Sun, Nov 8 · Event addedShared Waters Film Screening - Missoula, MT, Idaho Conservation League
- Wed, Oct 21 · Court filingSummons Issued as to Forest Service, US, (Print attached Summons for service.) (ac)
- Tue, Oct 20 · New caseIdaho Conservation League v. Forest Service, US
Ways in
How to help
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Give on their site ↗Show upVolunteer with themFind their volunteer door on their own site.
Find it on their site ↗SpeakComment and callOpen comment windows and call scripts for fights like these, ready to send.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapStand with the Idaho Conservation League
The mission is theirs. The backing is yours.