Josh Johnson

Senior Conservation Associate, Idaho Conservation League

Ketchum, ID

9/11/2022

Josh met with us on the White Clouds Preserve in Idaho to talk about his work with the Idaho Conservation League. As Senior Conservation Associate for ICL, he focuses on a variety of conservation issues, specifically mining. He orchestrated an agreement with the Blackbird cobalt mine to provide funding for organizations like White Clouds doing riparian restoration on the Snake River.

Josh told us ICL's watchdog role includes a "balancing act of where to draw the line or mitigate the impacts" of mining. It's a complex issue and Josh works hard to ensure that mining companies are extracting material as safely as possible. He took us to the Thompson Creek Molybdenum Mine to discuss the environmental realities of mining. Consumers require materials like cobalt for high output batteries or molybdenum for steel strengtheners, but open pit mining can create enormous ecosystem and water quality concerns. Josh and ICL face a huge gray area in their conservationism and constantly grapple with how to best protect the places and spaces they care so deeply about.

By Rachel Husband