The Boise-based Idaho Conservation League honored Idaho Mountain Express reporter Jason Kauffman on Saturday for outstanding work in covering environmental issues in the Gem State.
Kauffman accepted the organization's 2008 J. Robb Brady Award for Environmental Journalism at ICL's annual Wild Idaho! conference at Redfish Lake Lodge south of Stanley. ICL Executive Director Rick Johnson presented the award during a celebratory dinner at the rustic lodge.
The award—which recognizes excellence and integrity in press coverage of environmental issues—was initiated by the ICL in 1999. It is named after a former publisher of the Post Register, a daily newspaper based in Idaho Falls.
Kauffman, an Express reporter for three years, covers public lands, the environment and Blaine County government. His work in the past year includes in-depth coverage of wolf management in central Idaho, a state plan to alter how Idaho's roadless areas are used and managed, and the impacts of wildfire on public lands around Ketchum and Sun Valley.
"I couldn't ask for a better topic to write about," Kauffman said. "And to be covering these important issues in Idaho's beautiful Rocky Mountains, the reason I call this state home, makes my job even more enjoyable."
The three-day Wild Idaho! conference—held this year from May 16-18—brings together staff, board members and contributing members of the environmental group for a series of workshops and discussions about environmental issues.
Since its formation in 1973, the ICL has established itself as one of the state's most influential environmental groups. The nonprofit organization focuses on protecting and restoring the state's waterways and wilderness through advocacy and education.
The J. Robb Brady Award for Environmental Journalism is not presented every year. Past winners of the award include Brady, the first recipient of the award in 1999, and Pam Morris, publisher of the Idaho Mountain Express, in 2003.
Jason Kauffman
