
Incoming Idaho Wildlife Federation President Kahle Becker, left, and Michael Gibson, former IWF executive director. Image: Lew Carpenter
By Lew Carpenter, NWF Regional Representative
In 1938, the Idaho Wildlife Federation (IWF) celebrated one of its first victories when it organized and circulated petitions and lobbied for the passage of an initiative establishing a professional Fish and Game Department and Fish and Game Commission. For more than 75 years IWF has consistently delivered legislative victories for the benefit of sportsmen, sportswomen, wildlife and habitat.
Last year, IWF’s work on behalf of sportsmen and women and conservation paid off when the Boulder-White Clouds area secured congressional wilderness protection. The designation came on the heels of IWF’s strong leadership and advocacy to protect that special place through monument status, which ultimately lead to the wilderness bill. IWF led the charge through the Sportsmen for Boulder-White Clouds campaign.
“There is still work to be done in protecting the East Fork of the Salmon watershed,” Michael Gibson said. “The East Fork is the highest spawning habitat for salmon and steelhead found anywhere in the world."