Conservation group names new head for state chapter

HAILEY, Idaho – The Nature Conservancy has a new state director.

Laura Hubbard, 43, a lawyer and the daughter of newspaper publisher and two-time Idaho gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brady, was named to replace Geoff Pampush, who resigned from the environmental group’s Idaho chapter earlier this year.

Hubbard has been the Conservancy’s Greater Yellowstone program director, working with staff in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. She’ll begin work in the group’s Hailey headquarters starting in September.

When she arrives, Hubbard will have a list of numerous challenges to address.

In addition to working to conserve sensitive land within the state from development or other potentially negative disturbances, The Nature Conservancy is trying to figure out what to do with the former home of Ernest Hemingway in Ketchum, which the group owns.

Neighbors of the home have opposed the group’s wishes to turn it into a literary museum.

“In my work with the Greater Yellowstone program, I’ve collaborated with staff, the public and landowners, so I come with some familiarity with the staff in Idaho,” Hubbard said of the new post.

Brady, a Democrat, has announced another run for governor in 2006.