The records are valuable for tracing the organizational history and activities of a grass roots organization. The collection is arranged in four series: Correspondence, Mississippi River Subject File, St. Croix River Subject File, and Miscellaneous Materials.
The CORRESPONDENCE AND RELATED MATERIALS file is arranged by the type of activity with which it is concerned, and is sparse. Most of what exists deals with Task Force organizational matters, with some letters from other interested parties.
The SUBJECT FILES are divided by geographic area involved, the MISSISSIPPI RIVER and the ST. CROIX RIVER, and thereunder by specific activity. Included are reports, studies, surveys, minutes, memoranda, meeting notices, and pamphlets of the Task Force and other groups. Among the latter represented are the Izaak Walton League, Audubon Society, L—15 Levee Opposition Coalition, Army Corps of Engineers, Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Minnesota-Wisconsin Boundary Area Commission, National Water Commission, and Upper Mississippi Waterway Association (representing barge and towboat owners, and terminal and commodity operators). Of particular interest are the records and reports which show the little-known railroad-environmentalist cooperative effort to force re-examination of the Corps of Engineers' plans to rebuild and expand locks and dam #26 at Alton, Illinois. Also of interest is the Task Force's “Proposal for Revising H.R. 10529” accompanied by its drafts and revisions.
Filed with MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS at the end of the collection are a study of the Fox River Basin, newsclippings pertaining to environmental issues in the Mississippi River area, and discharge permit applications received by Patrick Nolan from the Army Corps of Engineers Office, St. Paul, Minnesota.
