(STANLEY) The Idaho Conservation League awarded several people with awards at its Wild Idaho! conference over the weekend. Scott Friedman and Chris Ryan both won the Keith and Pat Axline Award for Environmental Activism while Eric Barker was awarded the J. Robb Brady Award for Environmental Journalism
Friedman joined ICL’s board of directors in May 2018. He practiced cardiology for 30 years on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Scott and his wife both retired from careers in medicine and moved to the Wood River Valley after coming every year for 18 years. Retirement has allowed Friedman to rekindle some old interests. These include lots of outdoor activities and conservation. He has done volunteer work for ICL for the past three years, including reviewing mining sites and documents and serving as a wilderness steward.
Ryan won the Axline Award for her tireless work to protect wilderness in U.S. Forest Service lands. While at the Forest Service, She helped develop guidance for the regional office to preserve the essential character of wilderness. She spent 35 years with the Forest Service, most of that time in wilderness management. She also served as wilderness program manager for the Northern Region.
Established in 1995, the Axline Award for Environmental Activism is named for two long-time Idaho Conservation League members dedicated to conservation causes. It is ICL’s highest award.
Barker won the Brady Award for Environmental Journalism for his body of work as outdoor editor and environmental reporter for the Lewiston Tribune. This work includes his in-depth reports on Idaho salmon and steelhead. He has been a reporter at the Tribune for about 20 years.
The J. Robb Brady Award is named after the former publisher of the Idaho Falls Post Register. Started in 1999, the award recognizes excellence and integrity in press coverage of environmental issues.