Wild Idaho! 2026 Award Winners
The Idaho Conservation League recently gathered on the shores of Redfish Lake for the 2026 Wild Idaho! Conference. At the event, ICL celebrated and recognized achievement over the past year, charted a path for what’s ahead, and recognized leaders in activism, public service, journalism, and lifetime achievement.
Keith and Pat Axline Award for Environmental Activism
Ian Von Lindern, the recipient of ICL’s 2026 Axline Award,is a lifelong Idahoan and has worked for more than 50 years on various environmental projects. He designed and implemented the original Silver Valley Children’s Lead Health Studies and was part of the Teton dam disaster response team in the 1970s. He served as DEQ’s lead health risk assessor at the Bunker Hill Coeur d’ Alene Basin Superfund Site from 1984-2016. After retirement, he and his wife, Margrit von Braun, formed the nonprofit TerraGraphics International Foundation. TIFO has followed and commented extensively on human health and hazardous waste aspects of various international mining projects.
In particular in Idaho, Ian has provided expert review of environmental permit applications for the Stibnite Gold Project for the past five years. He worked closely with ICL and Advocates for the West staff to serve as an expert witness for the appeal of the Stibnite Gold Project’s air pollution permit. In this role he testified during oral hearings on the dangers of airborne dust and arsenic that the mine will generate and jeopardize both human health (in particular children’s health) and the environment.
The award is named after Keith and Pat Axline, long-time ICL members from Challis, who were dedicated to conservation. The award honors citizen activists who promote conservation values in Idaho, and are deeply committed to the cause.
J. Robb Brady Award for Environmental Journalism
The 2025 J. Robb Brady Award for Environmental Journalism was presented to Sheridan Prasso, recognizing her coverage of the proposed Stibnite Gold Project. As a senior writer for Bloomberg News, Sheridan covers geopolitics and business. Her work has looked in depth at a variety of socio-environmental issues including Amazon deforestation, human rights abuses within the rubber industry, and mining.
During the summer of 2025, Sheridan reached out to ICL to learn more about the Stibnite Gold Project. Through dozens of email chains and conversations that lead to a tour of the mine site with ICL, Sheridan looked closely at not only the environmental impacts of the mine, but its financial backers and questionable critical minerals claims. Sheridan’s investigation culminated
in both an in-depth written piece as well as a short documentary film, both featuring ICL staff. These pieces have helped elevate the issues surrounding the Stibnite Mine and translated complex topics that have resonated with readers and viewers.
Initially awarded in 1999, this award is named for the former publisher of the Idaho Falls Post Register, J. Robb Brady, who is remembered for his passionate coverage of many environmental issues including the Boulder White-Clouds, nuclear waste, dams, wildlife, and much more. The award recognizes excellence and integrity in press coverage of environmental topics.
Nimiipuu Youth Salmon Protectors in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy Mariah Miranda Photography.
Alex Frizzell Award for Youth Activism
Nimiipuuu Youth Salmon Protectors were awarded the 2026 Alex Frizell Youth Activism Award. Over the past four years, ICL has had the privilege of working alongside the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) Chapter of Youth Salmon Protectors, and their coordinator, Danielle Scott. Based in Lapwai, Idaho, these young leaders advocate for wild salmon and a free-flowing snake river through a wide range of efforts. They have spoken at conferences across the Northwest, traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet directly with elected officials and decision-makers, participated in on-the-water advocacy and educational programs, and shared their perspectives with audiences throughout the region. Through every opportunity, they bring Indigenous perspectives, lived experiences, and a powerful voice for salmon recovery.
“The theme of this year’s Wild Idaho! was resilience, and there is no better example than these young women,” said ICL Community Engagement Manager Rachel Brinkley. “These young leaders can complete a difficult meeting with elected officials and, moments later, be outside the office laughing together, finding joy, and grounding each other again in purpose, culture, and community. Their ability to balance advocacy, leadership, and hope in the face of challenges is inspiring to everyone who has the opportunity to work alongside them.”
The award honors the legacy and memory of Alex Frizzell, a brilliant young woman from Boise who cared deeply about addressing the threats of climate change and preserving the planet. The award recognizes the importance and power of young people engaging in efforts that they care about.
Pat Ford Award for Lifetime Leadership and Contributions to Conservation
The Pat Ford Award was awarded to Dr. Bill Platts, recognizing his incredible contributions and career in science and conservation. Bill is a past vice-president and president of the Idaho chapter of the American Fisheries Society and the National American Fisheries Society. His memories going back to his childhood of salmon abundance in the Snake River, Middle Fork headwaters, Dagger Falls, and Upper Salmon are astonishing.
The South Fork Salmon River is one of the strongest throughlines of Bill’s career. Bill raised the alarm about unsustainable logging and road construction in the South Fork Salmon River which ultimately led to the Forest Service to change its management approach in the watershed—shifting from a theme of industrial forestry to watershed restoration.
While working for the Forest Service, Bill explored hundreds of lakes in the Sawtooths, Smokies, Boulders, and White Clouds, and even named many of them. On one of his research trips, Bill came across an exploration drilling rig from the ASARCO mining company that had been flown in by helicopter to a lake at the base of Castle Peak, and was illegally dumping drilling fluid into the lake. Bill’s coverage of the proposal by ASARCO to build a massive open pit mine at the base of Castle Peak in the White Cloud Mountains sparked a new era in conservation history in the West. It became national news and caught the attention of a young logger from Orofino named Cecil Andrus who was running for governor and thought that fighting the mine would be a good campaign issue. It led to the 1970 Andrus election, the creation of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in 1972, and the eventual protection of the Boulder White Clouds as wilderness in 2015. The lake where ASARCO was drilling is now in Cecil D. Andrus Wilderness.
Bill’s commitment to wild Idaho helped galvanize an environmental movement that changed Idaho forever.
ICL staff, board, and members—including Pat Ford—were honored to present Dr. Platts with this award in Stanley at this year’s Wild Idaho! Conference, where Bill shared that Pat Ford is his hero.
Cecil D. Andrus Award for Conservation in Public Service
Will Whelan received the 2026 Andrus Award, recognizing his long record of public service for conservation. Will has also served as a mentor and colleague to many ICL staff over the years.
From 1985 to 1988, Will served as an attorney in the Idaho Attorney General’s Office under Attorney General Jim Jones. Will served as the lead counsel on a lawsuit against the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) for failure to protect migrating salmon. BPA confessed to an error and agreed to increase spill for fish migrating in the Snake and Columbia Rivers. Will returned to this office from 1991-2001, working initially under Attorney General Larry EchoHawk and Governor Andrus. Will was the lead counsel on a lawsuit that overturned the plan of operation for the federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers as a violation of the Endangered Species Act.
Will then served as ICL’s legislative and state issues lead, as well as a grassroots organizer for ICL chapters across the state. He helped pass state water quality legislation and blocked the Idaho Mining Association from undermining Clean Water Act provisions of Idaho’s Anti-degradation Agreement. He also represented ICL in litigation to protect Box Canyon near Twin Falls, working under lead plaintiffs’ counsel Jeff Fereday.
Will’s conservation career also includes working as The Nature Conservancy’s government relations director for 18 years, where he worked closely with ICL on the Owyhee Initiative, sage-grouse conservation, the Clearwater Basin Collaborative, the successful campaign against the 2006 “property rights’ initiative, collaborative forest restoration, and more. Following his long tenure at TNC, Will served as the Executive Director for the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts and as a board member for the Magic Valley Land Trust. He’s also married to Mary Beth Whitaker, who worked as editor, writer, and graphic designer for ICL for 25 years.
The award is named after four-time Idaho governor and former U.S. Secretary of the Interior who exemplified public service. Will shared a statement after receiving the Andrus Award:
“I am amazed by my incredibly good fortune in spending much of my life working for Idaho’s natural places. I’ve met wonderful people from all walks of life. I’ve experienced wild places and creatures that have touched my heart and inspired me to work on their behalf. We don’t become conservationists for awards or financial payoffs. We do it for love.
Idaho’s wild lands and waters have endured because countless conservationists devoted themselves to saving them for future generations. The way I see it, each new generation has a responsibility to make its own contribution to their legacy. I am deeply grateful to ICL and everyone at Wild Idaho for your love of our natural world and for taking on the responsibility to protect it.”
