Special Collections Department
Special Collections Department - Collections - Subject Guides - Agricultural Collections - Soil, Water, Wildlife Conservation
Agricultural Collections - Soil, Water, and Wildlife Conservation
ALLEN, GEORGE E. (1886-1944) AND SEWELL E. (1913-1975). Papers, 1910-1972.
Extent: 4.5 linear feet.
Number: MS-081.
Description: Attorneys. George E. Allen and his son Sewell E. Allen were lawyers who practiced separately and, from 1939-1944, in partnership in Onawa, Iowa. The collection deals with farm foreclosures during the Depression and with legal matters stemming from drainage problems in Woodbury, Harrison, and Monona counties. These problems went back many years. The Monona-Harrison Drainage Ditch was built in 1906-1909, and the Monona-Harrison Drainage District was formed the next decade. Sometime after this, a connecting ditch was built between the drainage ditch and the Little Sioux River. This "equalizer" was blamed for shifting water during heavy rains from the Little Sioux to the drainage ditch. The Gaynor Plan of 1953 proposed to correct the problem of periodic flooding. In the same year the Monona-Harrison Flood Control Association, organized by R. W. Fischer, was formed to oppose the Gaynor Plan and to support Plan "O" of the Army Corps of Engineers. In 1955 the Gaynor Plan was defeated and the Corps began its work, finishing in 1958. To help the Corps, the Little Sioux Intercounty Drainage District was formed in 1955, with Sewell Allen, John Beardsley, and Michael Murray retained as attorneys. Collection contains legal documents, correspondence, maps, and printed materials.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
AMERICAN SCHOOL OF WILDLIFE PROTECTION. Records, 1919, 1921, 1923-1941, 1977-1978, 1982.
Extent: 0.42 linear foot.
Number: MS-133.
Description: The American School of Wildlife Protection was an outgrowth of a summer meeting of the Iowa Conservation Association held at McGregor, Iowa, in July 1918. The school was established in McGregor in August 1919 and continued each summer until 1941. With the exception of the first year, the school lasted two weeks and covered such topics as Indian lore, botany, geology, forestry, entomology, and ornithology. Faculty members were drawn from Midwestern colleges and state and federal agencies.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
BARNETT, CLAY C. (1895-1994). Papers, 1937-1961.
Extent: 5.21 linear feet.
Number: MS-024.
Description: Conservationist. Clay C. Barnett was born on a farm in Davis County, Iowa, in 1895. He was a farm manager until 1935, when he entered the Soil Erosion Service (later the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service) in Oskaloosa, Iowa, as an agronomist. He also worked as an agronomist for the Civilian Conservation Corps. Barnett served in the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) for twenty-four years as district conservationist in Des Moines, Iowa, and as work unit conservationist in Davis County, Iowa. He was also state director of Izaak Walton League; a member of the board of Southern Iowa Electric Cooperative; chair of the Davis County Soil Conservation District; chair of the Wheat Allotments Committee in Wapello County (1933-1934); and temporary chair of the Corn-Hog Allotment Committee (1933). He promoted the first National Soil Conservation Field Day in 1946 and conducted the events for the Des Moines Register. Collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other papers relating mainly to the National Plowing Match and Field Day (1946-1950), pasture improvement and conservation projects, and corn and soybean test yields. Other materials relate to Bennett's career with the SCS. Collection also includes correspondence with Herb Plambeck, farm director of WHO Radio in Des Moines, and a sound color film of the 1946 National Plowing Match and Field Day.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
BAUR, R. EDWARD (1895-1977). Papers, 1950-1977, n.d.
Extent: 0.63 linear foot.
Number: MS-082.
Description: Conservationist who lived near Van Meter, Iowa. R. Edward Baur, who attended Iowa State University in the late 1920s but did not receive a degree, was president of the Iowa Soil Conservation District Commission from 1951-1954. He was also instrumental in forming a soil conservation recognition program conducted by the Des Moines Register and Tribune for 20 years. Active in farm credit, Baur served on the board of directors of the Farm Credit Banks of Omaha, Nebraska. Collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, printed materials, reports, and papers by Baur.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
BEARDSLEY, JOHN D. (1904-1978). Papers, 1941, 1945-1950, 1954-1963, 1965-1967, 1969.
Extent: 1.68 linear feet.
Number: MS-079.
Description: Lawyer. John D. Beardsley was born in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1904, and received an LL.B. from the University of Iowa in 1928. He practiced in Sioux City from 1928 to 1942, when he moved his legal practice to Onawa, Iowa. The collection deals with legal questions which arose from drainage problems in Monona, Harrison, and Woodbury Counties; Beardsley represented the Little Sioux Intercounty Drainage District. Collection includes minutes, legal documents, maps, photographs, and correspondence.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
BECK, F. PAUL (1905-1975). Papers, 1948-1954.
Extent: 1.26 linear feet.
Number: MS-037.
Description: Conservationist and independent trucker in Sioux City, Iowa. F. Paul Beck served as vice-president and president of the Iowa Division of the Izaak Walton League of America. Collection contains correspondence, resolutions, articles of incorporation, membership records, speeches, newspaper clipping files, selected copies of Outdoor America and The Iowa Waltonian, and materials on the Floyd Valley [Iowa] Watershed Association.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
BEHN, ERNEST E. Papers, 1975-1982, undated.
Extent: 0.42 linear feet.
Number: RS 21/07/13.
Description: Conservationist and farmer from Boone County, Iowa. Ernest E. Behn was born on an Iowa farm and received a B.S. (1940) from Iowa State College (University). After serving in the military, he worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service in Boone County, Iowa. In 1965 he was named conservationist of the year by the National Wildlife Federation and the Sears-Roebuck Foundation. In 1975 he was named no-till farmer of the year by No-Till Farmer Magazine. Behn is the author of a work on conservation tillage, More Profit with Less Tillage (1977). This collection contains correspondence, testimonials from farmers, news clippings, photographs, publicity files, and drafts of the manuscript for Behn's book.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
BENNETT, HUGH HAMMOND (1881-1960). Papers, 1924-1959.
Extent: 15.33 linear feet.
Number: MS-164.
Description: Conservationist and pioneer in the soil conservation movement in the United States. Hugh Hammond Bennett was born in Wadesboro, North Carolina, in 1881. He received a B.S. from the University of North Carolina (1903) and joined the Bureau of Soils of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a soil scientist. Thus began a career characterized as a "life devoted to the prevention of land wastage." In 1909 Bennett was given general supervision of the soil survey work in the Eastern and Southern states and portions of the Central and Southwestern divisions, duties he kept until 1928. He was also in charge of the Chugach National Forest Commission (1915), the Guatemala-Honduras Boundary Commission (1919), the Rubber Commission sent to Central and South America and the West Indies (1923-1924), and an agricultural and soil survey of Cuba (winters of 1925-1932). Bennett preached soil conservation beginning in 1905, working to convince legislators of the need to control erosion. In 1929 federal funds were allotted for the purpose of studying erosion and installing methods of control. Bennett was placed in charge of soil erosion for the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils (1928-1932), and he organized and headed the Soil Erosion Service of the Department of the Interior (1933-1935). In 1935 the Soil Erosion Service was moved to the USDA and was renamed the Soil Conservation Service (SCS). Bennett headed SCS until 1952, when he retired. He was a founder and fellow of the Soil Conservation Society of America, president of the Association of American Geographers, and honorary president of the International Union for the Protection of Nature. Collection contains writing and speeches (1931-1959) on soil conservation; manuscripts for articles and books; published articles; drafts and final proof for Bennett's Elements of Soil Conservation (2nd ed., 1955); field diaries (1914-1957) covering trips in the United States and abroad, mainly Cuba; memoranda; statements before Congressional committees; speeches, articles, and correspondence relating to the SCS reorganization controversy; reference files on soil conservation world-wide; personal and family items; and a small amount of correspondence. Correspondents include Claude A. Barnett, Waters Davis, William L. Southworth, Charles F. Brannan, and Robert M. Salter.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online. (pdf file)
BLACK, MARGARET J. (1898- ). Papers, 1938-1971.
Extent: 1.89 linear feet.
Number: MS-013.
Description: Conservationist and educator. Margaret Black received a B.A. from the University of Northern Iowa in 1926. She later received a master's degree from Drake University. Between 1922 and 1925, she taught school in College Springs and Clarinda, Iowa. She then taught in Newton, Iowa, and in 1927 she started teaching in the public schools of Des Moines. In 1938 she became assistant professor of education in field science at Drake University, where she remained until she retired in 1967. Her teaching was based "on the philosophy that life is of supreme importance, that plants, animals and mineral matter are closely interrelated and that man reaches his full height of development as he finds his place of responsibility in the over-all plan of life." Black was co-editor of Conservation--Source Book (1962) and served a three-year appointment on the State Preserves Advisory Board. For her contributions to conservation she was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Izaak Walton League's conservation award in 1960 for originating, planning, directing, and fostering the Children's Forest Project in Des Moines. In 1967 she was named conservation educator of the year by the Iowa Wildlife Federation, Inc. In 1968 she was given the Drake alumni distinguished service award, and during the same year she was named to the Iowa Conservation Hall of Fame by the Iowa Chapter of the Wildlife Society. Collection consists of correspondence; honors and awards; and professional papers including lecture notes, student term papers, her master's thesis and notes, and Callanan Junior High School (Des Moines) conservation projects. Correspondents include members of the Iowa Conservation Education Council; the Nature Conservancy, Iowa Chapter; and the U.S. Soil Conservation Service.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
CARLANDER, KENNETH D. (1915- ). Papers, 1936-1977.
Extent: 12.6 linear feet.
Number: RS 09/10/52.
Description: Animal ecologist. Kenneth D. Carlander received three degrees from the University of Minnesota: a B.A. (1936), an M.S. (1938), and a Ph.D. (1943). He was a professor and distinguished professor of zoology, entomology, and animal ecology at Iowa State University from 1946 to 1988. His publications include Symposium on Evaluation of Fish Populations (1957) and Handbook of Freshwater Fishery Biology (1969). Collection contains research files on fish and animal ecology, lecture notes, manuscripts of students and colleagues, as well as those of Carlander and his wife, Harriet Carlander. (Harriet Carlander published on the history of fishing on the upper Mississippi River.) The collection includes an extensive amount of material relating to Carlander's involvement in the United World Federalists and other peace and world government organizations. It also contains personal and professional correspondence, particularly on Carlander's work with the Iowa Cooperative Wildlife Research Project and on fishery research, including work done on Iowa lakes.
Status: Container listed.
Finding Aid: Available in Special Collections.
CENTRAL IOWA TILLAGE EXPO. Records, 1981.
Extent: 0.21 linear foot.
Number: MS-229.
Description: The Central Iowa Tillage Expo was held September 2, 1981, in Jefferson, Iowa, and featured talks and demonstrations on conservation tillage practices. John B. Crowell, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, and Iowa Senator Roger W. Jepsen were on the program. The event was sponsored by the Save Our Soil Task Force, the extension service, the soil conservation districts, and the U.S. Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. It drew 2,500 persons. Collection includes correspondence, meeting materials, memoranda, a program, and a treasurer's report.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
CITIZENS AGAINST RIVER POLLUTION (CARP). Records, 1988-1992.
Extent: 0.42 linear foot.
Number: MS-472.
Description: Citizens Against River Pollution was formed in 1988 with the goal of protecting the waters of the Iowa and Cedar Rivers. The organization was established in response to a permit amendment granted in April 1988 to the IPB, Inc., pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa. The amendment allowed the plant to use a Cedar River wastewater outfall to discharge wastes when the Iowa River was at low flow. Collection includes correspondence, news clippings, proposed legislation, and legal documents. Correspondents include Charles Grassley, Jim Leach, Tom Miller, and Jo Anne Zimmerman.
Status: Container listed.
Finding Aid: Online.
CITIZENS UNITED FOR THE CONSERVATION OF UNDERGROUND WATER, INC. Records, 1981-1988.
Extent: 0.42 linear foot.
Number: MS-222.
Description: Organization incorporated in 1981 in Carroll County, Iowa, with the goals of protecting Iowa's water supply and promoting a water resources plan on the state level. The group was dissolved in 1988. Collection includes correspondence, legal documents, and news clippings.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
DEHNER, JOHN A. (1874-?). Papers, [1936-1958].
Extent: 0.21 linear foot.
Number: MS-146.
Description: Businessman and conservationist. John Dehner was born in 1874 and attended parochial schools in Burlington, Iowa. From 1887 to 1916 he was in the cigar business, and in 1916 he began the Dehner Seed and Supply Company in Burlington. He was a charter member of the Des Moines County [Iowa] Farm Bureau and was president of the Burlington chapter of the Izaak Walton League of Iowa. Collection includes correspondence documenting Izaak Walton League activities and photocopies of news clippings. Correspondents include Jay N. "Ding" Darling.
Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
ERRINGTON, PAUL L. (1902-1962). Papers, 1930-1962.
Extent: 17.26 linear feet.
Number: RS 13/25/51.
Description: Naturalist and professor of zoology (1932-1962) at Iowa State University. Paul Lester Errington was born in 1902 in Bruce, South Dakota. He received a B.S. in 1930 from South Dakota State University and a Ph.D. in 1932 from the University of Wisconsin. Errington's research interests included food habits of avian and mammalian predators and the effects of prey on predator populations. He received the Aldo Leopold Medal in 1962 from the Wildlife Society, which had twice earlier honored him for outstanding writing on terrestrial wildlife. Collection contains correspondence, articles, papers and stories, manuscripts and galleys of books, a bibliography of his writings, and research and lecture notes pertaining to vertebrate ecology and population dynamics. Professional organizations documented include the American Ornithologists' Union, the Iowa State Conservation Commission, the Ecology Society, the National Audubon Society, and the Wildlife Society. Collection contains manuscripts and galleys for four books by Errington: Muskrats and Marsh Management (1961), Muskrat Populations (1963), Of Men and Marshes (1957), and Predation and Life (1967). Correspondents include Durward L. Allen, H. G. Andrewartha, Marston Bates, F. S. Bodenheimer, Walter J. Breckenridge, Kai Curry-Lindahl, Frank Darling, Charles Elton, Ira Gabrielson, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick N. Hamerstrom, Jr., Joe Hickey, David Lack, A. Starker Leopold, Aldo Leopold, G. W. Malaher, W. L. McAtee, Margaret M. Nice, Lauri Siivonen, Herbert L. Stoddard, and William Vogt.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
ERSKINE, ALDEN J. (1901- ). Papers, 1923, 1925, 1927, 1934-1937, 1942, 1948-1977.
Extent: 11.76 linear feet.
Number: MS-085.
Description: Conservationist and state legislator. Alden J. Erskine attended the Nebraska School of Agriculture (1920-1921), then went into the automotive business in Sioux City, Iowa. His interest in conservation began around 1936. Erskine was active in the Izaak Walton League of America, serving as its president (1960-1961) and as president of the League's Endowment, Incorporated, beginning in 1966. He was an Iowa state senator (1966-1972) and was chair of the Senate's Conservation and Recreation Committee. Erskine received numerous awards for his work in conservation and wildlife preservation. Collection includes correspondence, reports, financial records, minutes, newspaper clippings, photographs, and printed materials. Correspondents include F. Paul Beck, L. C. Binford, Jay N. "Ding" Darling, Ira Gabrielson, Frank Gregg, James R. Harlan, Bourke Hickenlooper, Jack Horn, Reynolds T. Hornsberger, Harold E. Hughes, Hubert H. Humphrey, Roger W. Jepsen, Carroll Lane, Wiley E. Mayne, Othie R. McMurray, Frank H. Mendell, Jack Miller, William G. Murray, Sigurd F. Olson, J. W. Penford, Fred A. Priewert, Robert D. Ray, W. H. Riaski, Edward F. Samore, Lloyd R. Smith, Bruce F. Stiles, John W. Tobin, Sam Tuthill, and Ries Tuttle. Other correspondents include the Floyd Valley Watershed Association, the Iowa Governor's Committee on Outdoor Resources, the Iowa Wildlife Society, the Izaak Walton League of America, and the Soil Conservation Society.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
FISHER, SHERRY ROBERT (1907- ). Papers, 1964-1971.
Extent: 11.55 linear feet.
Number: MS-007.
Description: Conservationist. Sherry Robert Fisher was born in 1907 in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended Iowa State University (1927-1928) and the University of Arizona (1928-1930). Fisher was commissioner and chairman of the Iowa State Conservation Commission (1958-1964) and was a member of the Citizens Committee for the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (1959-1963). He played a key role in the origin of the Lewis and Clark Trail Plan in 1962-1963, and won conservationist of the year awards in 1970 from both the Iowa Wildlife Federation and the National Wildlife Federation. The collection consists of Fisher's files as a member of the advisory council of the U.S. Public Land Law Review Commission from 1964 to 1970. The commission was established by Congress on September 19, 1964 "to study existing laws and procedures relating to the administration of the public lands of the United States." It went beyond an intensive review of existing laws and launched a comprehensive examination of the public lands and their resources and uses. Following its organizational meeting of July 14, 1965, the commission functioned until December 1970. After that, it held a series of regional meetings to convey the importance of public lands and the potential significance of the commission's final recommendations. Collection consists of reports and supplementary materials concerned with the history, laws and policies, resources, land uses, and economics of the public lands as well as their administration, management, and future use. Supplementary materials include comments of various private interests, state interests, and individual consultants on the reports of the commission. Also included are reports on the regional conferences held on the final recommendations of the Public Land Law Review Commission.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
HOUGH, EMERSON (1857-1923). Papers, 1890-1895.
Extent: 0.42 linear foot.
Number: MS-310.
Description: Author, journalist, and conservationist. Emerson Hough was born in 1857 in Newton, Iowa, to Joseph Bond and Elizabeth Hough. He completed high school in his home town. After a brief season as a schoolmaster at a country school, he attended the University of Iowa and graduated in 1880. Following his father's urgings, he studied law. When the time came to begin his practice, he moved to the frontier town of Whiteoaks, New Mexico. There he began selling sketches and articles on sporting and the outdoors, eventually devoting himself to journalism full time. After working for newspapers in Ohio and Des Moines, Iowa, he became the manager of the Chicago office of Forest and Stream in 1889. In 1895 he published his first book, The Singing Mouse Stories, and he continued to write books and articles about outdoor life. Hough became known as a strong advocate for the preservation of wildlife areas and the creation and preservation of national parks. His exploration of Yellowstone Park in 1895 was instrumental in the creation of a Congressional act to protect the American bison in the park. Collection consists of 143 letters to Emerson Hough from his parents in Newton, Iowa, between 1890 and 1895. Most are from his father Joseph, who worked as a manager marketing grain and coal in Newton; many of the letters are on company letterhead. While most of the letters are of a personal nature and deal with family matters or fatherly advice, they also refer to events in Emerson Hough's career during these years, with references to the publication of his first book. Others were letters to Yellowstone Park while Hough was exploring it.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
IOWA CITIZENS TO SAVE THE LEDGES STATE PARK. Records, 1968-1978, undated.
Extent: 2.1 linear feet.
Number: MS-097.
Description: Organization established in 1972 with the goal of alleviating harmful effects of the Saylorville Lake Project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Ledges State Park, in Boone County, Iowa. Collection includes correspondence, environmental statements, and legal documents.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
IOWA CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS. Collection, 1933-1983.
Extent: 0.21 linear feet.
Number: MS-188.
Description: Collection consists of materials related to the Civilian Conservation Corps received from several sources. The principal donor, Harry G. Powell of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was captain of Iowa CCC company 1756, which helped to develop Backbone State Park near Lamont, Iowa. Powell was involved with the Backbone Lake Preservation Association's efforts to restore the lake; materials related to the association are included. Other donors, including Ralph Brown, John Farrell, Dennis Murphy, Earl Jago, and E. M. Van Sickel, contributed photographs, newsletters, and news clippings regarding CCC camps in Iowa.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
IOWA CONSERVATION EDUCATION COUNCIL. Records, 1958-1990.
Extent: 7.3 linear feet.
Number: MS-026.
Description: Non-profit organization incorporated in 1958, consisting of representatives from federal, state, and private organizations concerned with conservation in Iowa. It was formerly known as the State Conservation Education Conference. Its purpose is to lead the development and practice of a widespread and effective conservation education program in the state, working closely with the Iowa Department of Public Instruction and holding fall workshops for teachers. Collection contains correspondence, minutes, proceedings, articles of incorporation, annual conferences of Midwest and Iowa Conservation Education Councils, newsletters, and news clippings. Correspondents include Charles S. Gwynne and Frank W. Schaller.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
IOWA NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL. Records, 1972-1979.
Extent: 8.86 linear feet.
Number: MS-104.
Description: Organization created in 1949 to control, develop, and protect the water resources of the state of Iowa. The council approved or disapproved all structures in floodways. Collection contains correspondence, reports, minutes, hearing transcripts, briefs and appeals, newspaper clippings, maps and survey materials, and publications.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
IOWA SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS. Collected Materials, 1945-1989.
Extent: 20.11 linear feet.
Number: MS-264.
Description: Collection consists of files on the Iowa soil conservation districts collected by Dr. Minoru Amemiya, a member of the Iowa State University Agronomy Department from 1960 to 1993. Files are arranged alphabetically by county, and they contain soil conservation district annual reports and newspaper clippings. Reports date back to 1945, though most are from the 1960s and 1970s. The annual reports describe the steps taken to conserve Iowa soil from the effects of erosion and to establish areas where further soil conservation practices are needed.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
IOWA STATE SOIL CONSERVATION COMMITTEE NEWSPAPER SCRAPBOOKS, 1941-1948.
Extent: 0.84 linear foot.
Number: MS-497.
Description: Collection consists of news clippings from Iowa newspapers gathered by the State Soil Conservation Committee regarding conservation efforts in Iowa.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
IZAAK WALTON LEAGUE OF AMERICA (IOWA DIVISION). Records, 1922-1973.
Extent: 9.66 linear feet.
Number: MS-036.
Description: Organization founded in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1923 and affiliated with the Izaak Walton League of America, which had been founded a year earlier. Its goals include conservation education and lobbying for environmental protection. Division activities include conservation, outdoor recreation, and parks. Collection contains correspondence; membership lists; minutes of meetings and conventions; newspaper clippings; financial records; reports and resolutions; speeches and addresses; news releases; newsletters; printed materials; materials related to writing the history of the Iowa Division of the Izaak Walton League, The First 50; and photographs.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
JOHNSON-GROH, CINDY LEE. Papers, 1981, 1983-1984.
Extent: 1.3 linear feet.
Number: MS-353.
Description: Research data compiled by Cindy Lee Johnson-Groh and used in her master's thesis, "The Vegetation of Ledges State Park, Boone County, Iowa" (Iowa State University, 1983). Johnson-Groh surveyed the vegetation of the park to provide baseline information needed to develop effective management practices for the preservation of the park's varied flora. Collection includes results of the survey, photographs, topographic maps, and a copy of Johnson-Groh's thesis.
Status: Unprocessed.
Finding Aid: Online.
KEHE, LUVERN W. (1909- ). Papers, 1970-1972.
Extent: 0.42 linear foot.
Number: MS-043.
Description: Iowa legislator and conservationist. Luvern W. Kehe was born in Black Hawk County, Iowa, in 1909. He received a B.S. from the University of Iowa in 1931. Kehe was an engineer and officer for the Corps of Engineers (1933-1946) and was owner and manager of Kehe Construction Company and Cedar Valley Engineering Company in Waverly, Iowa, beginning in 1946. Kehe served two terms as an Iowa state representative (1969-1972) and was chair of the Environmental Preservation Committee. The collection deals with this committee and with the Standing [Joint] Committee on Environmental Preservation. Collection contains correspondence, statements, minutes, and printed materials.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
LAMP, GEORGE E., SR. (1903-1964). Papers, ca. 1940-1965.
Extent: 0.42 linear foot.
Number: RS 21/07/63.
Description: Conservationist. George E. Lamp attended Iowa State University for four years, then worked for the U.S. Bureau of Standards, several construction firms, and the Iowa Highway Commission. His career in soil and water conservation started with the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, and he began working with the Soil Conservation Service the same year. He served as area conservationist for the SCS in a nine-county area in northwest Iowa with headquarters in Sioux City. In 1946, he initiated the Little Sioux Flood Prevention Project, one of eleven original watershed projects in the United States. Collection includes personnel records, carbon copies of work-related documents, news clippings, and some correspondence.
Status: Container listed.
Finding Aid: Available in Special Collections.
LEOPOLD, FREDERIC (1895-1989). Papers, 1885-1988, undated.
Extent: 6.76 linear feet.
Number: MS-113.
Description: Naturalist. Frederic Leopold was born in 1895 and received his education at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and at the University of Wisconsin. After serving in World War I from 1917-1919, he entered the family office furniture business in Burlington, Iowa. Leopold was known for his studies and records of the nesting habits of wood ducks over a period of thirty-five years. Leopold wrote: [my] "beginnings as a naturalist go back to boyhood when Father would take us out in the field and teach us how to see what nature was doing." He received encouragement in his early efforts from his illustrious older brother, Aldo Leopold, who taught him to keep a journal. Frederic Leopold received an honorary doctor of science degree from Iowa Wesleyan College; the Iowa Wildlife Conservation Award in 1966; the Iowa Academy of Science Centennial Citation in 1975; and the Ducks Unlimited Conservation Service Award in 1981. Collection includes correspondence, news clippings, publications, trip journals and reminiscences, and a videotape of an interview with Frederic Leopold broadcast on Iowa Public Television in January 1986.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
LITTLE SIOUX WATERSHED. Records, 1943-1975.
Extent: 0.42 linear foot.
Number: MS-106.
Description: Organization of district commissioners of participating soil conservation districts. The Little Sioux Watershed Project was authorized by the 1936 Flood Control Act and subsequent legislation. Federal funds were made available to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in late 1945 to assist farmers and others in planning and applying watershed measures to minimize flood damages. Areas authorized for assistance included all the uplands of the Little Sioux Watershed. One of the first such projects authorized by Congress, it was considered a pilot watershed project. Most of the collection deals with the Monona-Harrison Drainage District and its efforts to develop a flood control plan for the Little Sioux River. Collection contains correspondence, legal documents, maps, newspaper clippings, reports, and surveys. Correspondents include Robbins W. Fischer, Ben F. Jensen, and Patrick J. Morrow.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
MACDONALD, G. B. (1883-1960). Papers, 1910-1919, 1936-1967.
Extent: 4.83 linear feet.
Number: RS 09/14/11.
Description: Forester and conservationist. Gilmour Beyers MacDonald received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Nebraska in 1907 and 1914. From 1907 to 1910, he was with the U.S. Forest Service in the Northern Rocky Mountain region. He came to Iowa State University to teach forestry (then part of the Department of Horticulture) in 1910, and became the first head of the Forestry Department in 1946, retiring from administrative duties in 1948. MacDonald served as deputy state forester from 1912 to 1933 and as state forester from 1933 to 1955. He was director of the Iowa Emergency Conservation Program, part of the Civilian Conservation Corps, from 1934 to 1938. He also served as president of the Iowa Forestry and Conservation Association (later the Iowa Conservation Association), which was instrumental in spearheading the state park movement in Iowa. Collection includes biographical information, correspondence, news clippings, publications, family scrapbooks, and typescript reports on mining claims in the national forests (1950-1951) and on access road construction in the national forests (1952).
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
MASTER SAMPLE OF AGRICULTURE. ZONE 3, 1938-1944. Records.
Extent: 71.85 linear feet.
Number: RS 13/24/05.
Description: Joint project of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and the Iowa State University Statistical Laboratory in which a national area sample of agriculture was developed. Initiated in 1938, the project continued through 1944, in preparation for the 1945 census of agriculture. The project made extensive use of aerial photographs and county highway maps, and its innovations set standards for private and public area sampling. Collection includes county maps, count units giving their size measures, and statistical data sheets. Data covers 60,400 area units in Zone 3 (open country). Zone 1 (urban places) and Zone 2 (rural places) are not included. The collection also includes an article by Wayne A. Fuller giving the background of the project.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online. (pdf file)
MCNURLEN, KEITH A. (1919-1973). Papers, 1958-1971.
Extent: 0.42 linear foot.
Number: MS-028.
Description: Dentist and conservationist. Keith A. McNurlen was born in 1919 in Dana, Iowa. He attended the Des Moines College of Pharmacy, Drake University, and the University of Minnesota. McNurlen received B.S. (1942) and D.D.S. (1950) degrees from the University of Iowa. Beginning in 1950, McNurlen practiced dentistry in Ames, Iowa. He was president of the Izaak Walton League of America (Iowa Division) in 1964 and was chair of the Iowa Conservation Commission in 1969-1970. McNurlen was a member of the national board of directors for the Izaak Walton League from 1961 to 1968. Collection contains correspondence, speeches, notes, printed materials, photographs, and newspaper clippings.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CONSERVATION DISTRICTS. Records, 1936-1990.
Extent: 98 linear feet.
Number: MS-460.
Description: Organization of soil conservation districts. These districts were first organized in the 1930s to combat soil erosion on the local level; each district had a plan that outlined the best use of the district's land and included long-term goals for preserving it. By February 1947, E. C. McArthur, supervisor and chair of a South Carolina conservation district, organized the National Association of Conservation Districts to provide better service to all districts. The organization coordinates the efforts of soil conservationists, farmers, and communities to provide ongoing conservation and development of soil, water, and related natural resources. Collection includes a history of the organization, legislation, correspondence, photographs, speeches, manuscripts, convention and conference programs, newspaper clippings, and committee minutes. Photographs depict erosion, tillage, harvest, soils, cropping, flood control, drainage, and terracing. Correspondents include Hugh H. Bennett, Ezra T. Benson, Charles F. Brannan, T. S. Buie, Earl Butz, Sam Chinn, F. Earl Coke, Waters Davis, Orville Freeman, Nolan J. Fugua, Clifford Hardin, William J. Horvath, Walter C. Lowdermilk, True D. Morse, R. Neil Samson, and Gladwin E. Young. Corporate and organizational correspondents include Caterpillar Tractor Company, Firestone, John Deere, the National Farmers Union, and the Izaak Walton League of America.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online. (pdf file)
NELSON, REV. LAURENCE N. (1908-1970). Papers, 1965-1969, n.d.
Extent: 0.21 linear foot.
Number: MS-025.
Description: Presbyterian minister and conservationist. Laurence N. Nelson was born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1908. He came to Bellevue, Iowa, in 1938, and was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church there for 31 years. Nelson was a member of the Iowa State Conservation Commission from 1963 to 1969, serving as its chair in 1967-1968. He wrote and lectured widely on conservation isssues. Collection contains sermons, lectures, talks, and color slides of the Mississippi River flood in 1965.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
NEW ALCHEMY INSTITUTE. Records, 1970-1991.
Extent: 16.8 linear feet.
Number: MS-254.
Description: Environmental organization. The New Alchemy Institute was founded in 1969 by John Todd, Nancy Jack Todd, and William McLarney. John Todd and William McLarney, both marine biologists, first met as graduate students at the University of Michigan. They were later colleagues at San Diego State University where the institute was founded. The New Alchemy Institute was incorporated in 1970. Its goals included engaging in scientific research in the public interest on ecologically and behaviorally planned agricultural systems and rural land-based communities; providing educational information and instruction to the public on methods to reduce environmental contamination and to restore natural waters and landscapes; and educating the public on the significance of human alteration of the earth's biosphere and on the means to correct this trend. The institute's work was begun on a small ranch in California. In 1970, when both John Todd and William McLarney took positions at the Woods Hole [Massachusetts] Oceanographic Institution, the New Alchemy Institute moved with them. A permanent site was established near East Falmouth, Massachusetts, in the Cape Cod area. In its early years, the focus of the institute was on ecological design. William McLarney said in 1975, "What we want to do now is design and test balanced ecosystems; maximizing production will come later." The first efforts resulted in a self-sufficient food-producing unit, or "bioshelter," incorporating wind power, solar power, greenhouses, and fishponds. After 1984, New Alchemy's approach moved toward practical application of research results. Research reports were created to make the institute's findings available in an affordable format. Institute staff began working with farmers, greenhouse operators, local governments, and schools. The "Green Classroom" program, a garden-based science curriculum, was implemented in area grade schools. "Education Semester," a program which offered college credit for a semester of work and classes at the institute, was established in 1984. Though the 1980s were a productive period for the New Alchemy Institute, by 1990 a combination of factors threatened its continued existence. A regional economic downturn resulted in decreased availability of foundation grant moneys, historically the main source of the institute's operating expenses. Increased interest in environmental issues resulted in greater competition for these already dwindling funds. Despite program cutbacks, layoffs, and a public appeal for donations, the institute could not continue, and by 1992 it had dissolved. The collection is arranged in the categories created by New Alchemy Institute staff and alphabetically and chronologically thereunder. These categories are as follows: administration, audio/visual, education, Education Semester, foundations, news articles, publications, research, and special events. Records include correspondence, board of directors' minutes, financial records, grant applications, and publications.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
PARKER, LOUISE L. Papers, 1944-1972.
Extent: 0.21 linear foot.
Number: MS-014.
Description: Conservationist and librarian. Louise Lange was born in Muskegon, Michigan, and graduated from the University of Illinois in liberal arts and library science. After graduation, she became assistant librarian at the Armour Institute in Chicago, Illinois. In 1910 she went to Des Moines, Iowa, to become a member of the staff of the Iowa Library Commission. On June 22, 1912, she married Addison Parker, a Des Moines attorney. Louise Parker was appointed to the Iowa Conservation Commission in April 1937 and served until June 1949. She was then appointed to serve on the Iowa Natural Resources Council for a four-year term. She was also president of the Des Moines Garden Club and a member of the Iowa Academy of Science, the Grassland Foundation, and the Ecological Society of America. As a member of the Iowa Conservation Commission, Parker's principal interests were conservation education, prairie preserves, and Indian mounds. Parker returned to librarianship in 1951, working as librarian of the Des Moines Art Center Library until her retirement in 1968. Collection contains correspondence; writings, including letters to editors, speeches, reports, and articles; printed materials; and photocopied newspaper clippings.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
POLK COUNTY [IOWA] CONSERVATION BOARD. Records, 1957-1973.
Extent: 2.1 linear feet.
Number: MS-053.
Description: The Polk County Conservation Board deals with environmental control, land development, and wildlife management. Collection includes annual reports, financial records, legislation, bylaws, rules and regulations, correspondence, monthly newsletters, printed materials, and maps.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
SAVE THE LEDGES COALITION. Records, 1949-1977.
Extent: 0.84 linear foot.
Number: MS-075.
Description: Coalition formed in 1975 to prevent Ledges State Park in Boone County, Iowa, from being covered by water when the Saylorville Dam on the Des Moines River was closed. Groups involved in the coalition included the United Auto Workers of Iowa, the South Central Federation of Labor, the AFL-CIO, the Des Moines Education Association Executive Board, the Polk County Women's Political Caucus, the Communications Workers of America (Local 7102), the Iowa Wildlife Federation, the Citizens Alliance to Save the Ledges, and the Iowa Farmers Union. Collection includes correspondence, environmental statements, and public opinion surveys.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION SOCIETY. Records, 1931-1975.
Extent: 6.63 linear feet.
Number: MS-279.
Description: Organization founded as the Soil Conservation Society of America in 1945, in response to the need to protect the soil from erosion. It became known as the Soil and Water Conservation Society in 1987. The society, whose headquarters are in Ankeny, Iowa, seeks to promote soil and water conservation, and fosters research in the use, conservation, and management of natural resources. It sponsors internships, operates educational programs for children, and publishes Conservogram, Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, and technical monographs. The collection contains manuscripts written by a variety of soil and water conservationists, including Gladwin E. Young, C. A. Van Doren, Walter C. Lowdermilk, Walter H. Wischmeier, Austin L. Patrick, and William S. Chepil. It also contains speeches by Kenneth E. Grant and D. A. Williams.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
SPEAKER, EVERETT B. (1907-1971). Papers, 1934-1936, 1958-1970.
Extent: 0.84 linear foot.
Number: RS 21/07/43.
Description: Conservationist. Everett B. Speaker worked for the Iowa Conservation Commission for forty years, including five years as its director. He was born in Lake View, Iowa, and attended Iowa State University, where he majored in forestry but did not receive a degree. In 1931, Speaker joined the Iowa Conservation Commission, serving as a fish pathologist, fisheries supervisor, superintendent of fisheries, and superintendent of the biology section. In 1963, he was named the commission's director, a position he held through 1968. Speaker published numerous articles and essays on fish and wildlife, and co-authored a book, Iowa Fish and Fishing (1951), with James R. Harlan. Collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, writings, financial records, reports, and printed materials.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Available in Special Collections.
STEFFEN, ROBERT (1917-2006). Papers, 1970-1980.
Extent: 0.21 linear foot.
Number: MS-135.
Description: Conservationist. Robert Steffen was born and raised on a Cedar County, Nebraska, farm. He graduated from Creighton University in 1939 and attended the Bio Dynamic School of Agriculture in Kimberton, Pennsylvania, in 1942-1943. Steffen was farm superintendent for Boys Town in Nebraska from 1943 to 1977. Active in soil and water conservation and environmental control, Steffen was named outstanding conservationist of the year in 1974 by the Nebraska Wildlife Federation. He served on the board of directors of the Bio Dynamic Farming and Gardening Association of North America and of the Center for Rural Affairs in Walthill, Nebraska. Collection includes correspondence, articles, statements, speeches, and publications.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
STORY COUNTY (IOWA) AG-LAND PRESERVATION ASSOCIATION. Records, 1977-1981, undated.
Extent: 0.63 linear foot.
Number: MS-169.
Description: Organization of land owners opposed to the expansion of the Ames, Iowa, municipal airport. Collection includes correspondence, an airport operations survey, Iowa airport sufficiency ratings, meeting minutes, and news clippings.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
STORY COUNTY PHEASANTS FOREVER. Records, 1986-[ongoing].
Extent: 1.05 linear feet.
Number: MS-238.
Description: Pheasants Forever, Inc., is a national nonprofit conservation organization concerned with the restoration and development of wildlife habitat. The Story County Chapter was organized in 1986. Story County Pheasants Forever works with local and state agencies as well as other conservation groups to improve wildlife habitat through land acquisition and restoration projects. Story County Pheasants Forever also cooperates with private landowners to develop wildlife habitat and supports youth education of wildlife-friendly land management practices. The collection contains board minutes, annual banquet materials, correspondence, newsletters, promotional materials, news clippings, and materials related to land acquisitions and donations. The collection also contains a limited amount of printed materials from Iowa Pheasants Forever and other Iowa county chapters of Pheasants Forever.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
TEXAS SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS. Records, 1940-1949, [1950-1980].
Extent: 6.09 linear feet.
Number: MS-206.
Description: Local soil conservation districts were established to combat the loss of soil to erosion in the 1930s. Each district had a program which detailed its conservation problems and a work plan which could correct these problems. This collection consists of documents from local soil conservation districts in Texas, including descriptions of district boundaries, maps, detailed reports on the conservation problems in districts, and reports on local economic situations. Work plans are also included, with reports on recommended conservation practices and plans for educational and informational programs.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Available in Special Collections.
TONSFELDT, WALLIS R. Papers, 1936, 1941-1984.
Extent: 7.37 linear feet.
Number: MS-558.
Description: Public official and soil conservationist. Wallis R. Tonsfeldt was the soil conservationist in Cherokee County, Iowa, in 1956-1957. He then moved to the Sioux City, Iowa, area office where he served as area soil conservationist from 1957 to 1965 and as area conservationist from 1965 until his retirement in 1984. Collection contains materials collected and created by Tonsfeldt, largely relating to the Little Sioux Watershed Project, authorized under the 1936 Flood Control Act and subsequent legislation. Collection includes conservation plans, correspondence, cost estimates, damage reports, design criteria, legal documents, minutes, photographs, and reports. Correspondents include George E. Lamp, Sr., L. J. Larson, and Frank H. Mendell.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
UNITED STATES. SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE HYDROLOGIC LABORATORY (SPARTANBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA). NURSERY AND RESEARCH ALBUM, 1937-2001.
Extent: 2.0 linear feet.
Number: MS-180.
Description: When it was founded in 1935, the Soil Conservation Service had little basic research information available regarding the action of water on land. One of the first projects in this area was the Hydrologic Laboratory established on the South Tyger River Project, near Tigerville in Greenville County, South Carolina. Data secured here was used throughout the Southeast and elsewhere in the design of water disposal areas for farms. The laboratory, under the direction of W. O. Ree, was later moved to Oklahoma. Many of the photographs in this album depict work done in the field laboratory about 1937. Others depict research and nursery activities on demonstration projects and experiment stations in North Carolina, Virginia, and Georgia.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
UNITED STATES. SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION, 1981.
Extent: 0.84 linear feet.
Number: MS-198.
Description: Collection consists of a series of oral history interviews conducted in 1981 by Douglas Helms, historian for the Soil Conservation Service (SCS). The interviewees were all long-time SCS employees. The collection includes biographical information and some photographs of interviewees.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
UNITED STATES. SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION. 1917-1949.
Extent: 4.62 linear feet.
Number: MS-179.
Description: Collection consists of photographs illustrating soil conservation methods, originally part of the Hugh Hammond Bennett papers. The collection contains 212 negatives and 309 prints, most of them taken in the 1930s and 1940s, depicting J. I. Case farm equipment. They are arranged by subject, then by project and date. The collection also includes artwork showing conservation practices.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
WILDLIFE PUBLICATION COLLECTION. 1941-1988, n.d.
Extent: 0.63 linear feet.
Number: MS-359.
Description: The collection contains Federal, state, university, and business publications relating to wildlife control and management. Topics include animal, bird, and weed control; insects; land management; and habitat.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.
WILDLIFE SOCIETY (IOWA CHAPTER). Records, 1961-1984.
Extent: 2.52 linear feet.
Number: MS-015.
Description: Chapter of the Wildlife Society organized in 1962. The objectives of the chapter are to advance the science and art of wildlife management; to promote and maintain high professional standards; to improve public understanding and support of scientific management of wildlife and related resources; to recognize and commend outstanding work in the profession; and to focus the objectives of the parent society on wildlife problems, issues, and events on the local scene. The chapter established the Iowa Conservation Award of Merit, which is restricted to living conservationists. It also created the Iowa Conservation Hall of Fame, honoring both national and local conservationists associated with Iowa at some time in their career. This award can be bestowed posthumously. Collection consists of correspondence, resolutions, public statements, minutes of meetings, local awards, and materials related to the National Wildlife Federation and the North Central Section of the Wildlife Society. It also includes materials on the Iowa Chapter's Hall of Fame.
Status: Processed.
Finding Aid: Online.