Utah State University Logan Canyon Land Use Management oral history collection, 2008-2009

Beginning in 2008, Randy Williams, Bradford Cole and Robert Parson (Utah State University's Special Collections and Archives), Elaine Thatcher (the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies) and Barbara Middleton (the College of Natural Resources' Department of Environment and Society) collaborated to collect the oral histories of key land use managers and users of Logan Canyon [Utah]. Randy Williams, Elaine Thatcher and Barbara Middleton trained interviewers from the Logan Canyon Land Use Management Project gathered oral histories of people who have worked in or enjoyed the Canyon during the last century. In these interviews, available in audio and transcript form, people talk about what Logan Canyon meant to them. The stories of ranchers, recreationists, scientists, activists, scholars, foresters and sheepherders adds cultural depth to the work of scientists, engineers and academics. This growing collection of oral histories and personal papers from those who have worked in Logan Canyon is fast becoming a major resource for others interested in rehabilitation, land management and policy. These oral recollections form a basis for understanding policy in one area. Principles from them can be applied to broader land areas.