Papers of a journalist who worked in Oregon and Washington state and specialized in environmental reporting. The collection includes personal information, early student essays, travel essays, poetry, articles published in newspapers and magazines, and material for three books. Included are background sources and notes to support articles and books.

William L. Finley (1876-1953) was a naturalist and photographer. He was instrumental in the conservation movement and establishment of the Tule Lake-Lower Klamath and Malheur Bird Refuges. Collection consists of a scrapbook and letters regarding personal matters, the Izaak Walton League, and conservation.

Reminiscences of landscape architect and planner Jurgen A. Hess (born 1941) about implementation of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act, as well as materials relating to opposition to the act, including a document by Lex Loeb. Hess worked for the U.S. Forest Service for more than 30 years, and was the service's planning director for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

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."

Oral history interview with Gertrude Glutsch Jensen conducted by Roberta Watts from December 7, 1977, to January 17, 1978. Jensen was active in the campaign to preserve the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon and Washington.

Official copies and drafts of speeches, statements, and other remarks made by Tom McCall (1913-1983) from March 1974 to July 1976, along with related correspondence, clippings, and other documents. McCall was governor of Oregon from 1967 to 1975, and his governorship was notable for its activism in environmental and conservation causes.

History by Ron Eber of the campaign to prevent mining at Rock Mesa in the Three Sisters Wilderness. From 1963 to 1983, environmental activists and organizations including Friends of Three Sisters, the Sierra Club, the Oregon Environmental Council, and the Oregon Wildlife Federation lobbied the U.S. government to invalidate mining permits that the U.S. Forest Service had granted in 1961 for pumice rock mining at Rock Mesa. In July 1983, the Forest Service purchased all the mining claims.

Records and correspondence of the Scenic Preservation Association of Oregon, including letters from Oregon Governor Ben Olcott, newspaper clippings, bylaws, and a copy of a bill to prohibit unauthorized billboards on state highways.

Donald Waggoner was president of the Oregon Environmental Council and was active in researching and lobbying for the Oregon Minimum Deposit Act (Bottle Bill), which went into effect in October 1972. Collection includes correspondence, articles, reports and testimony regarding state and national minimum deposit container legislation.

Collection includes correspondence, speeches, reports, and pamphlets regarding Leona Weatherford's involvement in the conservation movement and women's clubs in Oregon. Weatherford was president of the Oregon Federation of Women's Clubs and chair of the Conservation of Natural Resources Department of the General Federation of Women's Clubs.