Title: Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council Records
Inclusive Dates: 1962-1968

Creator:

• Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council

Call Number: Mss 753; Tape 394A; Tape 1205A

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 15 tape recordings

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Records of a Wisconsin conservation lobbying group (1963-1968) including minutes of meetings, conference proceedings, press releases, correspondence exchanged with Wisconsin political leaders such as Gaylord Nelson and William Proxmire, position papers, speeches, an incomplete run of the WRCC newsletter (Resource Report), and topical files on specific environmental issues with which the council was concerned such as the Ice Age Preserve and Trail and the St. Croix River.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00753

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On October 10, 1962, Wisconsin Governor Gaylord Nelson issued a call for a “People's Lobby” to coordinate and unify the efforts of the state's many conservation groups. As a result of Nelson's remarks, leaders of several local clubs met and on February 2, 1963, organized the Wisconsin Council for Resource Development and Conservation. Their purpose, as expressed in their constitution, was to “promote sound planning and action in the development and use of the natural resources of Wisconsin by banding together those organizations which have an expressed interest in these resources.” In 1964 the group changed its name to the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council.

From its inception, the council was a statewide organization, but its letterhead indicated that it had no central office. Martin Hansen of Mellen was elected its first president, with Paul Romig of Green Bay as vice-president and John Franson of Fond du Lac as secretary. In 1966 Hansen was replaced by Dr. C.R. Rumsey of Milwaukee.

At its height in 1966, WRCC represented more than fifty local organizations including such diverse environmental groups as hunters, bird watchers, club women, lake shore property owners, and paper mill executives. The membership consisted of a representative from each of the constituent organizations and an elected chairman from each of the state senate districts. WRCC's activities primarily consisted of lobbying and letter writing campaigns. They also sponsored meetings and conferences to study a wide range of environmental issues of concern to Wisconsin and the Upper Great Lakes region.

In 1968 Secretary John Franson resigned from his post and most of the organization's activity, which seems to have revolved around him, came to an end. Although WRCC is known to have been in existence at least until 1970, it apparently disbanded during the following decade, for it is not included in a list of environmental organizations in Wisconsin published by the State Extension Service in 1979.

The records of the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council held by the Historical Society attest to the strong environmental interests of John L. Franson, who also donated the records of the Fond du Lac County Conservation Alliance and his own personal papers to the Historical Society. Indeed, the collection actually represents his files as secretary of the organization rather than the official files of the council. The division between the collections donated by Franson is not strict, and the researcher will find some additional information pertaining to the council within his personal collection.

Because of this provenance, the papers document only the period of Franson's involvement with WRCC -- 1962 through 1967. The collection also is limited in that it primarily relates to positions taken by the WRCC on various environmental issues rather than the internal organization of the group itself.

The collection reflects the meticulous organization which Franson imposed upon the papers prior to donation, a division into two broad areas -- administrative records and subject files. The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, which are arranged functionally and thereunder in chronological order, record the beginning of the WRCC and include a transcript of Gaylord Nelson's speech calling for a People's Lobby, the WRCC constitution and periodic revisions, and organizational minutes. Later files pertain to executive and general membership meetings and contain planning correspondence, minutes and summaries, and other pertinent printed material.

Other administrative records include financial reports, bulletins on pending environmental legislation, miscellaneous printed material, and an incomplete run of the WRCC newsletter, Resource Report. Of special interest is a transcript of a speech given by Governor Warren Knowles in 1964, a paper written in 1965 on the University of Wisconsin's involvement with natural resources, and a file (and recorded proceedings) of a 1966 WRCC conference, “Implementing Our Natural Resources.”

The SUBJECT FILES, which are arranged alphabetically, address major issues with which the WRCC was involved. The files contain reports, position papers, press releases, statements and transcripts, and correspondence, much of it with senators Nelson and William Proxmire, members of the House of Representatives, and various state legislators and local officials. The coverage is very uneven, with the files on the St. Croix River and the Ice Age Preserve and Trail being most extensive and those on the Apostle Island comprising only a few position papers.

Acquisition Information

Presented by John L. Franson, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 1965-1968. Accession Number: M65-413, M66-465, M68-207

Processing Information

Processed by Mark Davis (Intern), 1988.

	Series: Administrative Files
Mss 753 Box   1 Folder   1	Constitution and revisions, 1962-1964
Box   1 Folder   2-9	Minutes and meeting materials, 1962-1966, 1968
	Conference on implementing natural resources policy, March 12-13, 1966
Tape 1205A No.   1-2	Proceedings, March 13, 1966
Tape 394A No.   1-13	Workshop sessions and dinner meeting, March 12, 1966, and workshop summaries, , March 13, 1966 Note: Topics and participants are noted on the reel boxes. These were recorded by Robert Sherman for the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Mss 753 Box   1 Folder   10-13	General correspondence, 1962-1966
Box   1 Folder   14	Financial reports, 1963-1966
Box   1 Folder   15	Legislative bulletin, 1963-1966
Box   1 Folder   16	Ballots on environmental resolutions, 1963-1966
Box   1 Folder   17	Miscellaneous printed material, 1963-1965
Box   1 Folder   18	Newsletters, 1963-1968
	Series: Subject Files	⇧
Box   2 Folder   1	Apostle Islands, 1965-1966
Box   2 Folder   2	Ashwaubenon case, 1963-1965
Box   2 Folder   3	Boat toilet law, 1963-1964
	Boundary Water Canoe Area
Box   2 Folder   4	Reports and statements, 1964-1966
Box   2 Folder   5	Correspondence, 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   6	Detergent laws, 1963
	Ice Age Preserve and Trail
Box   2 Folder   7	Reports and statements, 1964
Box   2 Folder   8	Correspondence, 1963-1965
Box   2 Folder   9	Lake and stream improvement projects coordinator, 1963-1965
	Outdoor Recreation Act Program
Box   2 Folder   10	Reports and statements, 1961-1966
Box   2 Folder   11	Correspondence, 1961-1966
	St. Croix River
Box   2 Folder   12	Senate Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution hearing in Stillwater, Minn., 1964
Box   2 Folder   13	Save the St. Croix Committee, 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   14	Correspondence, 1964-1965
Box   2 Folder   15	Miscellaneous material, 1964-1966
Box   2 Folder   16	Sylvania Recreation Area, 1965
Box   2 Folder   17	Wolf River Dam, 1963