Idaho Conservation League Names New Director

Businesses engaging with Idaho's public-land and data center debates should expect the league's advocacy to reflect its new leader's background.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in People

Idaho Conservation League Names New Director

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Should data centers be allowed to be built on Idaho's public lands?

The Idaho Conservation League has named Courtney Washburn its executive director, succeeding Justin Hayes, who moved to American Rivers. Washburn most recently served as chief of staff for the city of Boise from 2020 to 2026.

Why it matters

Leadership changes at a long-running state advocacy group signal shifts in how conservation policy is lobbied and how public-land disputes are pursued in Idaho. Washburn's background spans lobbying, voter advocacy, and municipal government, a mix that bears on how the organization engages state and local decision-makers.

Washburn's tenure spans roughly two decades of Idaho conservation and government work, from 2006 through 2026. The Idaho Conservation League was founded more than 50 years ago and is a nonprofit focused on clean air, clean water, land, and wildlife.

The players

Idaho Conservation League

A nonprofit advocacy organization founded more than 50 years ago that lobbies on clean air, clean water, land, and wildlife protection in Idaho.

Courtney Washburn

A longtime Idaho conservation lobbyist and former Boise city chief of staff who now leads the Idaho Conservation League.

Justin Hayes

The former Idaho Conservation League executive director who left to take a position at American Rivers.

Gregg Servheen

The Board Chair of the Idaho Conservation League, who is part of the board that announced the appointment.

The details

Washburn joined ICL as community conservation director and statehouse lobbyist in 2006 and held that role until 2015. She then led Conservation Voters for Idaho as executive director from 2015 to 2020, before becoming chief of staff for the city of Boise. She has publicly opposed data centers on public lands, and she visited a proposed data-center site south of Boise where she counted 25 pronghorn. The ICL staff and board were invited to sit in on her final interview, and the organization and its board announced the appointment.

Washburn served at ICL as a lobbyist and community conservation director from 2006 to 2015.
She led Conservation Voters for Idaho from 2015 to 2020 and was Boise's chief of staff from 2020 to 2026.
Boise Dev reported in May 2026 a severance payment authorized by Mayor Lauren McLean after Washburn left the city post.
ICL and its board announced the appointment in October 2026.

Market Landscape

The appointment moves a former Boise chief of staff into a statewide advocacy role at a time when public-land fights over proposed data centers are active in southern Idaho. It follows a pattern in which conservation groups recruit leaders with lobbying and campaign backgrounds, as Washburn did when she led Conservation Voters for Idaho.

Idaho businesses and organizations that engage with state conservation policy should expect the league's lobbying posture to reflect Washburn's background in statehouse advocacy and city government. Firms weighing projects on public lands, including data center developers, should track how ICL positions itself on those proposals.

The takeaway

Organizations that work with conservation groups should note that leadership changes can shift advocacy priorities even when the mission stays fixed. Watch the league's public statements on land-use and data center projects in the coming months to gauge how its approach develops under new leadership.