Ford, Pat (James Patrick), 1948-
Biographical note
James Patrick “Pat” Ford was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1948. In 1951, he moved with his family to Idaho Falls, Idaho. He studied English at Columbia College in New York, New York, but left school in 1969. In 1977, he joined the board of directors of the Idaho Conservation League (ICL), and in 1979, he became its executive director. From 1984 to 1987, he was a freelance writer for High Country News, and then was its editor from 1990 to 1991. In 1991, he co-founded the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition, and from 1998 to 2014, he served as the coalition's executive director. He continued to work as a freelance writer for publications, including the Washington State Standard and the Idaho Capital Sun.
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; Information provided by Ford in his interview; "Announcing a leadership change for SOS," by Tom Stuart, August 30, 2013, Save Our Wild Salmon website (accessed November 2025)," https://www.wildsalmon.org/news-hold/announcing-a-leadership-transition-for-sos.html; author page for Pat Ford, undated, Idaho Capital Sun website (accessed November 2025), https://idahocapitalsun.com/author/patford/, accessed July 29, 2024.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Oral history interview with Pat Ford
Oral history interview with Pat Ford, conducted by Clark Hansen on May 7, 1998, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Ford discusses his work with the Idaho Conservation League from 1977 to 1984, and with the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition from 1991 to the time of the interview.