Summary Information

Title: Save Our Sylvania Action Committee Records
Inclusive Dates: 1964-1977

Creator:

• Save Our Sylvania Action Committee (Green Bay, Wis.)

Call Number: Green Bay Mss 180; PH 6498

Quantity: 1.8 c.f. (5 archives boxes) and 8 photographs

Repository:

Housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the 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)

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of the Save Our Sylvania Action Committee (SOSAC), an environmental organization formed in 1969 and incorporated in Green Bay, Wisconsin, by Jerome Gandt, whose mission was to prevent the development of the Sylvania tract in the Ottawa National Forest (near Watersmeet, Michigan) by the U.S. Forest Service. SOSAC went to court in 1969 seeking an injunction against further Forest Service development of the tract, which motion was denied. However, this action set a precedent in environmental law by ruling individuals could bring suit against governmental agencies for other reasons than alleged personal damages. After the court hearing, SOSAC shifted its focus to include broader national environmental issues and in December 1971, changed its name to Wilderness Watch, Inc. The bulk of the material includes correspondence between Gandt and various political figures, most notably Senator Gaylord Nelson and the Secretary of Agriculture, Clifford Hardin. The remaining materials include background material, court proceedings, news clippings, membership lists, and environmental newsletters. Also included are 8 photographs of the Sylvania wilderness area (circa 1969).

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0180