Mike Houck papers

Collection

Identifier: Coll 1040

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of the papers of Michael C. "Mike" Houck, an environmentalist from Portland, Oregon, who specializes in the conservation and management of urban parks and greenspaces. The collection includes planning documents, reports, and maps produced by Oregon Metro, the Columbia Region Association of Governments, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District, the Portland Audubon Society, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and Intertwine. It also includes records of the Open Spaces Program and the subsequent Metropolitan Greenspaces Program that Oregon Metro adopted; speeches and essays by Houck; and a book that Houck co-edited. Other materials consist of resolutions and proclamations relating to the establishment of the great blue heron as Portland's city bird; a reproduction of a 1903 report by John Charles Olmsted proposing a city-wide system of parks in Portland; and a program, collection of posters, and video footage from a 2003 symposium honoring Olmsted. The collection also includes a document written by Houck that explains the significance and historical context of materials in the collection.

Dates

1903-2023
Majority of material found within 1963-2023

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical Note

Michael C. "Mike" Houck is an environmentalist from Portland, Oregon, who has worked locally, nationally, and internationally in the conservation and management of urban parks and greenspaces. He was born in 1947 and grew up in Estacada, Oregon, and studied at Iowa State University and Portland State University. After teaching biology at the Oregon Episcopal School, he founded the Urban Naturalist Program at the Portland Audubon Society (now named the Bird Alliance of Oregon) in 1980. He also helped produce the Portland Audubon Society publication The Urban Naturalist. In 1986, he successfully encouraged Portland Mayor Bud Clark to make the great blue heron the city bird. He founded the Urban Greenspaces Institute in 1999, and he co-edited the books "Wild in the City: A Guide to Portland's Natural Areas," "Wild in the City: Exploring the Intertwine," and "The Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology."

Sources: Article in the Oregonian, "Birdman in the City," February 1, 1987; "Our UGI Team," Urban Greenspaces Institute, https://urbangreenspaces.org/who-we-are/team; collection materials; vital records via Ancestry.com.

Extent

3.3 Cubic Feet (1 record carton; 1 legal document case; 1 flat box (20x24); 1 oversize folder (24x36); 1 oversize folder (36x48); 7 videocassettes (VHS))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers of Mike Houck, an environmentalist from Portland, Oregon. The collection includes records and documents relating to the management and conservation of urban greenspaces in the Portland area, speeches and publications by Houck, materials relating to the adoption of the great blue heron as Portland's city bird, and materials relating to a symposium, "Olmsted Landscape Legacy 1903-2003."

Arrangement

Materials are arranged in the order that Houck listed in a document describing the collection's items. This document is in Box 1, Folder 1.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Due to preservation needs, videocassettes in the collection are not available for direct viewing by researchers; contact library staff to inquire about accessing digitized versions. Fees may apply.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gifts of Mike Houck in July and August 2023 (RL2023-041; RL2023-047).

Related Materials

The Oregon Historical Society Research Library also holds an audio recording, designated SR 396, of a speech by Houck, titled "Protecting our urban wild lands: a renewed vision."

Processing Information

The collection includes a document by Mike Houck that provides contextual information about the materials and assigns a number to each item in the collection. To support cross-referencing, the processing archivist included Houck's item numbers on the folder labels, and added the box and folder locations of the items to each entry in Houck's list.