For information on library services, book checkout, and COVID-19 procedures see EOU Library Services Winter Term.
For information on library services, book checkout, and COVID-19 procedures see EOU Library Services Winter Term.
The collections are based on ecological work conducted by prominent scientists and managers working on the national forests of northeast Oregon. This was organized to highlight the important contributions by pioneers in rangeland sciences (Dr. Arthur Sampson; Dr. Elbert Reid), long-term plant ecologists (Dr.Gerald Strickler; Dr.Charles G. Johnson Jr.) and long-term rangeland managers (Wade Hall; Emory Clapp).
The materials are principally papers in folders that chronicle the long history of land management and scientific studies conducted on the three national forests of this northeast Oregon area (Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests). Also included is a rich series of photography containing over 4000 prints and 10,000 slides that document the changes on the national forest landscape over a century.
It was the hopes of the early scientists and managers above that these materials be preserved beyond their lifetimes and that future generations of scientists, managers, and the general public be able to access this information to understand the past so that they could better improve the lands in the future. Knowing this, they left these collected materials in my possession for safeguarding. It was my intent to seek a place of greater security for these materials that would be both local to the Blue and Wallowa Mountains and in an academic setting where secure archives would provide for safety and public access. To this end I am pleased that Eastern Oregon University has enthusiastically embraced these collections and demonstrated their resolve by securing, cataloging, and filing of the materials and completing the data base to attach to the Web site.
Dr. Charles G. Johnson Jr.
Baker City, Oregon
October 21, 2006
Instructor at University of California (Berkeley) with Arthur Sampson (Father of American Rangeland Management) – 1934.
Range Ecologist and Research Leader at Pacific Northwest Research Station (1937-1948)
Chief, Range and Wildlife Habitat Research (Ft. Collins, CO) (1953-1969).
First ecologist located in northeast Oregon (Pacific Northwest Range and Wildlife Lab in La Grande
Long-term rangeland manager on Wallowa-Whitman NF (1926-1972)–46 years! Then provided continuous assistance and counsel for 20 more years in retirement! Instrumental in return of Sampson and Reid to Wallowa Mtns. to relocate and monument their camera points and plot locations.
Key figure in the political outcome of free-flowing Snake River and the ultimate formation of Hells Canyon NRA.
Pioneer in use of 35mm cameras producing many slides of benchmark sites in Hells Canyon, rangelands of the Wallowa-Whitman NF, and following large restoration projects (Flagstaff Hill Watershed Rehab; Anthony Lakes Burn).
A longterm rangeland conservationist for the USFS in Pacific Northwest ending his career on the Malheur NF.
Safeguarded an incredibly valuable group of historic documents and photography.
First plant ecologist for the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman NF (1977) and spanning the years in that position through 2004 (27 years).