MTGMss691.xml Guide to the G. M. Brandborg Papers 1909-1977 G. M. Brandborg Papers Finding aid prepared by Amy Casamassa Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula © 2008
Missoula, MT 59812 406-243-2053 http://www.lib.umt.edu/asc library.archives@umontana.edu
Finding aid encoded by Donna McCrea 2008 Finding aid written in English. University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
The University of Montana—Missoula Missoula, MT 59812 406-243-2053 http://www.lib.umt.edu/asc library.archives@umontana.edu
Mss 691 Brandborg, G. M., (Guy M.) 1893-1977 G. M. Brandborg Papers 1909-1977 14.5 linear feet Papers of Guy M. "Brandy" Brandborg, long-time employee of the U. S. Forest Service, and Forest Supervisor of the Bitterroot National Forest from 1935-1955. The collection includes files related to Brandborg's interest in and activities related to wilderness, conservation, and watershed protection efforts in Montana, and two memorial scrapbooks documenting his activities in favor of sustainable timber harvesting and against extensive clearcutting. Materials are inEnglish Biographical Note

Guy M. "Brandy" Brandborg was born in Henning, Minnesota on March 3, 1893. In the summer of 1913, Brandborg came to Montana to work in Glacier National Park. That fall, he attended Forest Ranger School in Missoula, Montana and worked for the Forest Service during his summers. His first summer with the Forest Service was spent at the Earl Mountain Ranger Station near Choteau, Montana. After graduation in 1915, Brandborg worked on the Flathead National Forest.

After returning from Army duties during World War I, Brandborg moved to Idaho in 1924 to begin his professional career as a ranger in the Forest Service. He worked on the Nez Perce National Forest for ten years and was promoted from Ranger to Assistant Supervisor. Brandborg returned to Montana in 1935 and served as Forest Supervisor of the Bitterroot National Forest until his retirement in 1955.

Brandborg was active in education in his community throughout and following his tenure as Forest Supervisor. In addition to serving on the State Board of Education for eleven years, Brandborg assisted in developing a program for teaching conservation at Montana State University (now The University of Montana) in Missoula, and Montana State College (now Montana State University) in Bozeman. The program was run through the Montana Fish and Game Commission and the Montana University Extension Service. In 1958, he helped to organize the Montana Conservation Council, which provided a public forum for discussion of Montana’s natural resources and their sustainable use as well as conservation education in schools.

After his retirement, Brandborg witnessed excessive clearcutting and other land abuses on public forests and grazing land. He campaigned for a sustainable harvest of timber through letters to Montana congressmen, testifying before the United States House and Senate, letter campaigns and contributing to the formation of conservation organizations. In 1958, he helped organize the Montana Wilderness Association which was instrumental in the 1964 passage of the Federal Wilderness Act. In 1963, Brandborg and Doris Milner formed the Save the Selway Committee which, through legislation sponsored by Senators Frank Church and Lee Metcalf, helped establish two of the largest wilderness areas in the United States. Throughout the rest of his life, Brandborg and his wife Ruth worked tirelessly towards protecting wilderness and a policy of the sustainable harvesting of timber on public lands. Brandborg died in Missoula in 1977 at the age of 84.

The collection has been organized into two series. Series I: Subject Files (1909-1977) includes subject files that have been arranged alphabetically, and then chronologically, largely reflecting the order in which they were maintained by Brandborg. Subject files typically consist of correspondence, memos, clippings, and/or notes. A few of the files contain photographs.

Although the collection reflects the variety of Brandborg’s activities and interests, many of the subject files document G. M. Brandborg’s work as Forest Supervisor on the Bitterroot National Forest and include internal newsletters and correspondence, information regarding fire policy, management plans, and financial data. Of particular interest are notes and a journal from Brandborg’s days at the Forest Ranger School in Missoula, Montana, from 1913-1915, and experimental cutting photographs on Lick Creek on the Bitterroot National Forest. In addition, the collection contains files related to the clearcutting crisis on the Bitterroot National Forest and Brandborg’s role in drawing attention to unsustainable logging practices. Materials are comprised of correspondence to various governmental agencies, House and Senate testimony from Brandborg and others, congressional correspondence with Montana Senators, logging reports and data, correspondence with various environmental groups, and clippings and articles.

Series II: Scrapbooks (1956-1977) includes two scrapbooks of clippings, created in memorial for Brandborg, related to clearcutting issues on the Bitterroot National Forest.

The files in this collection have been arranged into two series:

Series I: Subject Files, 1909-1977, 12 linear feet

Series II: Scrapbooks, 1956-1977, 2.5 linear feet

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Non-exclusive copyright tranferred to The University of Montana.

[Name of document or photograph number], G. M. Brandborg Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

This collection was donated to Archives and Special Collections by Stewart Brandborg, son of G. M. Brandborg, on June 28, 2005.

Materials were organized by the creator by subject rather than date or period in the creator’s life. The original order was retained as were the original folder titles. Some materials were duplicated by the creator and copies were filed in different folders. These duplicates were retained.

Archives & Special Collections also holds the papers of G. M. Brandborg's son, Stewart Brandborg.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

United States. Forest Service--Officials and employees Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho) Clearcutting--Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho) Forest conservation--Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho) Forest management--Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho) Logging--Environmental aspects--Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho) Scrapbooks Environmental Activism Environmental Conditions Forestry and Forestry Products Logging Montana Conservationists--Northwest, Pacific. Forest rangers--United States. Series I Subject Files 1909-1977 1/1 1939 Pollinger Report on Forest Service Management Program 1971 1/2-3 A National Forest Economy (2 folders) 1939-1972 1/4 Aldrich, Don, Executive Secretary of the Montana Wildlife Federation 1967-1975 1/5 All-terrain Vehicle Uses 1973-1976 1/6 American Forestry Association 1953-1954 1/7 Analysis: State Land Departments 1948-1959 1/8 Background Notes for Interview 1977 1/9 Baucus, Max, Correspondence 1975-1976 1/10 Bell, J. Fredrick, Letters 1976 1/11 Birth of Yellowstone National Park, Bert Hanson 1963 1/12 Bitterroot Lawsuit and the Organic Act 1976 1/13 Bitterroot Management Direction 1969-1973 2/1 Bitterroot Multi-use Environmental Plans 1970-1973 2/2 Bitterroot National Forest Management Plans 1941-1943 2/3 Bitterroot National Forest Multiple Use Plan 1940 2/4 Bitterroot National Forest Multiple Use Plan 1972 2/5 Bitterroot Road Plan 1976 2/6-7 Bitterroot Task Force Study Team (2 folders) 1959-1970 2/8 Boesch, Mark and Brigham, Morton 1973-1974 2/9 Bolle Report 1971-1975 2/10 Brandborg, Guy M., Notes From Ranger School undated 3/1 Brandborg, Guy M., Statements to the Environmental Protection Agency 1973-1976 3/2 Brandborg, Guy M., Talks Notes 1947-1953 3/3 Brant, Irving; Hainsworth, Brad; Irion, Clyde 1970-1976 3/4 Bureau of Land Management 1964-1975 3/5-6 Burk, Dale A. (2 folders) 1965-1976 3/7 Burk, Dale A., American Motor Conservation Award 1970-1972 3/8 Burnt Fork Planning Unit 1973 3/9 Camp Tolin 1972-1973 3/10 Carter, Jimmy Clippings and Articles 1976 3/11 Church and McGovern 1970-1975 3/12 Citizen Responsibility in Conservation 1950-1954 3/13 Civilian Conservation Corps 1972 3/14 Civilian Conservation Corps 1975 3/15 Clark, Will 1964-1967 4/1 Clauser, Don 1963-1964 4/2 Clearcutting 1972-1976 4/3 Clippings 1950-1958 4/4 Clippings, Miscellaneous 1974 and undated 4/5-6 Clippings, Miscellaneous (2 folders) 1975-1976 4/7 Coalition to Save our National Forests 1976 4/8 Colorado Wilderness Court Case 1967-1971 4/9 Committee for Better Forestry 1970-1971 4/10 Common Cause and John Gardner 1970-1972 4/11 Community and Resource Management 1968 and undated 4/12 Congressional Record, Appendix and Data 1963-1964 4/13 Conservation Articles 1963-1967 5/1 Conservation Education 1948-1959 5/2 Conservation Education 1951-1954 5/3 Conservation Education Committee, Montana State Legislature 1951-1954 5/4 Conservation and the Selway Wilderness 1958-1967 5/5 Conservation by Sportsmen Culbs 1957-1975 5/6 Controlled Burning on the Bitterroot 1966 5/7 Correspondence, Miscellaneous Controversy 1972-1974 5/8 Correspondence, Miscellaneous Politician 1972-1974 5/9 Correspondence, Montana Wildlife Federation 1952-1962 5/10 Correspondence, Personal 1972-1976 5/11 Correspondence, Politicians 1976-1977 5/12 Correspondence, National Forest Issues 1954-1975 5/13-14 Correspondence, Wildlife Management Institute, Educational Program 1949-1953 5/15 Edward Crafts and Philip Handler 1972 6/1-2 John Craighead, Grizzly Bear Study 1970-1975 6/3 County Education and Organization 1941-1951 6/4 Culver and Risser 1971-1972 6/5-6 William Cunningham, Thesis: The Magruder Corridor Controversy, a Case History (2 folders) 1968-1972 6/7 Cutting Reports Fact Sheet 1958-1971 6/8-9 Dakota Environmental Council Incorporated 1969-1973 6/10 Kenneth P.Davis, President of the Society of American Foresters 1970 6/11 Department of Agriculture Appraisal of the Forest Service 1955 6/12 Department of Agriculture Employee Handbook circa 1940 6/13 Bernard DeVoto 1962-1973 6/14 Dirty Dozen Campaign 1976 6/15 Division of Range Research 1935-1954 6/16 Education Program 1958 and undated 7/1 Environmental Information Center 1973-1976 7/2 Environmental Program for the Future 1973-1976 7/3 Environmental Quality 1963-1970 7/4 Brock Evans, Northwest Representative for the Sierra Club 1970-1976 7/5 Extension Fish and Wildlife Specialist-Job Description 1958 7/6-7 Extension Reports 1954-1965 7/8 Extension Wildlife Educational Program, Joseph Severy 1949-1957 7/9 Farm Data 1969-1972 7/10 Federal Lands 1946-1953 7/11 Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs 1964-1977 7/12 Fish and Game Commissioners 1956-1957 8/1 Barry Fisher, Sierra Club 1973 8/2 Forest Financial Data 1951-1953 8/3 Forest History, Pinchot Material 1943-1963 8/4 Forest Program and Practices, "old" 1927-1948 8/5 Forest Service Fire Policy 1934-circa 1950 8/6 Forest Service Friday Newsletter 1976 8/7 Forest Service Regional Program Emphasis and Notes 1971-1977 and undated 8/8 Forest Supervisor Daniels 1972-1974 8/9 Forestry in the State of Montana 1953 8/10 Forestry Problems undated 8/11 Forestry Seminar Panel in the Humanities 1973 8/12 Freedom of Access to Information Act 1954-1965 8/13 Friends of the Earth 1973-1975 8/14 Mike Fromme, Articles and Letters 1971 8/15 Gallatin National Forest Issues 1976 8/16 General Wildlife Articles 1936-1941 8/17 Glacier Peak Wilderness Area 1957-1958 8/18 Governor Judge 1954-1973 9/1 Grazing Data and Correspondence 1947-1952 9/2 Great Bear Wilderness 1972-1973 9/3 John Green, Environmental Protection Agency 1970-1975 9/4 Guthrie, Kenworthy, Stegner 1970-1975 9/5 Floyd Haskell, Senate Interior Committee Correspondence 1976 9/6 John Harris, Montana State University Extension Program 1964-1968 9/7 Hearing Statements 1970-1971 9/8 Laney Hicks, Report 1970 9/9 History of Conservation 1947 and undated 9/10-11 History of Montana Education Program 1952-1962 9/12 House Resolution 13832 1976 9/13 Blair Hutchinson and Thatcher Hubbard 1972 9/14 Idaho Forest Industry Council 1972-1975 10/1 Idaho State Federation Reports 1950-1952 10/2 Kauffman Report, Libby 1941-1948 10/3 Kelly Creek Fire, Nez Perce National Forest 1939 10/4 Kootenai National Forest 1974 10/5 Land Ethic 1967-1974 10/6 Land Law Policy Review Commission 1965-1968 10/7 Land Management Act 1975-1977 10/8-9 Land Use Bulletins 1935-1951 10/10 Land Use Planning 1940-1976 11/1 Law 1973-1974 11/2 League of Women Voters 1975-1976 11/3 John Leshy, Natural Resources Defense Council, Correspondence 1975-1976 11/4 Letters to Editor and Guy M. Brandborg Statements 1974-1976 11/5-8 Lick Creek Experimental Cutting Photographs and Notes (4 folders) 1909-1961 11/9 Lincoln Back Country 1968 11/10 List of Recommended Conservation Reading 1957-1965 12/1 Logging in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 1974 12/2 Russell G. Lynch, Conservation Journalist 1970 12/3 Magruder Corridor 1967-1971 12/4 Magruder Corridor, Save the Selway 1964-1965 12/5 Management Plan for the Bitterroot Working Circle 1940 12/6 Mike Mansfield, Correspondence 1969-1975 12/7 McCall Wilderness Hearing 1961 12/8 Michael McCloskey and the Sierra Club 1963 12/9 Gale McGee 1971-1973 12/10 William Meiners and Resource Management 1972-1976 12/11 Ernest Melby 1953-1972 12/12 John Melcher Correspondence 1976 12/13 Clifton Merritt Correspondence 1971-1975 13/1-3 Lee Metcalf 1965-1976 13/4 Lee Metcalf 1974-1975 13/5 Miles Romney and the Sidney Hillman Prize Awards 1965-1966 13/6 Tom Miller 1974-1975 13/7 Mission Montana: Selway and Lochsa 1969 13/8 Monongahela Decision 1974-1975 13/9 Monongahela Decision 1976 13/10-11 Montana Conservation Council 1958-1961 13/12 Montana Conservation Council 1959-1963 14/1 Montana Conservation Council History 1959 14/2 Montana Conservation Council Interviews 1959-1960 14/3 Montana Conservation Council and Land Use Planning 1941-1965 14/4 Montana Conservation Council Leadership Statement 1959-1963 14/5-6 Montana Council Grant Material 1949-1957 14/7 Montana Historical Society 1970 14/8 Montana League of Conservation Voters 1971-1975 14/9 Montana Outdoors Article, not Published 1976 14/10 Montana State Legislature 1949 14/11 Montana State University 1976 14/12-13 Montana State University Wildlife Extension Program 1951-1957 14/14 Montana State University Wildlife Extension Program History 1953-1968 14/15-16 Montana Study, early correspondence 1942-1952 15/1-3 Montana Wilderness Association 1962-1976 15/4 Montana Wilderness Association 1963-1968 15/5 Montana Wildlife Federation 1954-1960 15/6-8 Montana Wildlife Federation 1962-1967 16/1 Moose Creek Timber Sale Area 1971-1975 16/2 National Forest Land Management Practices 1968-1976 16/3-7 National Forest Management Act Conference Reports and Testimony 1975-1976 16/8 National Geographic Society 1975-1976 16/9 National Wilderness Waterway 1962 16/10 Nature Conservancy 1976 16/11 Nature Notes Newsletters 1937-1941 16/12 Newsletters and Booklets, Miscellaneous 1972-1976 16/13 Richard Nixon and Forest Practices Act 1972-1973 16/14 North American Wildlife Conference 1954 16/15 Northern Rockies Action Group 1976 17/1 Northwest Wilderness Conference 1970 17/2 Gus Norwood Address to Annual Montana Farmer Labor Institute 1961 17/3 Notes undated 17/4 Oakes and Other Conservationists 1963-1967 17/5 Arnold Olsen Correspondence 1960-1970 17/6 Operation Grassroots Newsletters 1974 17/7 Outdoors Unlimited 1970 17/8 Dick Pattison Correspondence 1963-1964 17/9 Personnel Training 1941-1955 17/10 Pesticides 1963-1965 17/11 Photographs undated 17/12 Pinchot, Lucas, Rahm, Correspondence 1970-1972 17/13 Pinchot-National Resources Defense Council 1972-1974 17/14 Plans Notes undated 18/1 Pollution 1955-1960 18/2 Population and Wilderness Articles and Statements 1936-1970 18/3 Predator Control 1965 18/4 President’s Advisory Panel on Timber and the Environment 1971-1974 18/5 Proposed Back Country Policy undated 18/6 Ravalli County Agricultural Resource Conservation Program 1950 18/7 Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association Educational Program 1951-1961 18/8 Ravalli County Hunting and Fishing 1958-1974 18/9 Ravalli County Timber Report 1953-1973 18/10 Reader’s Digest 1971-1975 18/11 Scott Reed 1969-1973 18/12 Region 1 Reports, Steve Yurich, Regional Forester 1971-1972 18/13 Reports of the Chief of the Forest Service 1933-1949 19/1 Resource Conservation and Development Program 1967-1974 19/2-4 Resource Management in Ravalli County 1940-1954 19/5 Resource Planning Act 1975-1976 19/6 Roadless Areas Road Program 1972-1973 19/7 Rock Creek Controversy 1971 19/8 Miles Romney 1974-1976 19/9 Theodore Roosevelt and Resource Conservation 1958 19/10 Salmon River and Idaho Primitive Areas 1973 19/11 Earl Sanvig Correspondence 1947-1976 20/1 Earl Sanvig Correspondence 1947-1976 20/2 Save the Selway 1964-1967 20/3 School of Administrative Leadership 1969-1970 20/4 Don Schwennesen 1975-1976 20/5 Scotchman's Peak Wilderness Study Area 1976 20/6 Selway 1959-1970 20/7 Selway 1962-1969 20/8-9 Selway 1963-1967 21/1-3 Selway 1964-1967 21/4 Senate Bill 393 1975 21/5 Senate Bill 1734 1970-1971 21/6 Senate Hearing Statements 1959-1963 21/7 Senate Statement 1971 21/8 Senator Dale Bumpers and Governor Jimmy Carter 1976 21/9 Shoop, Melcher 1971-1973 21/10-11 Sierra Club Staff Forester Gordon Robinson Letters 1954-1976 21/12 Henry Skranak, Libby, Montana 1973-1975 22/1 Society of American Foresters 1971-1975 and 1929 22/2 Sociology and Forest Management 1968-1975 22/3 Soil Conservation Service 1975-1976 22/4 Soil Interpretations for Use in Planning 1959-1971 22/5 Soils Lecture by the United States Department of Agriculture 1948 22/6 Sounding Board 1968 22/7 State Forestry 1972-1973 22/8 Students and Politics 1971 and undated 22/9 Subcommittee on Public Lands 1970-1976 22/10-12 Submitted Hearing Statements 1970-1971 22/13 Talks 1954 and undated 23/1 Talks, Guy M. Brandborg Notes 1968-1970 23/2-3 Talks, Notes, and Speeches 1934-1942 and undated 23/4 Talk at the University 1971 23/5 Talks, Wildlife 1946-1954 23/6 Talks, Wildlife Conservation 1935-1955 23/7 Taxation and the Forest Service 1939-1954 23/8 Otto Teller 1965-1979 23/9 Timber Analysis 1941-1968 23/10 Timber Fact Sheets 1951-1953 23/11 Timber Harvest Data 1966-1975 23/12 Timber Salvage in Montana-John McGuire 1974 24/1 Timber Supply Act 1969 24/2 Timber Supply Bill 1969-1970 24/3 Timber Tax Committee 1941-1956 24/4 United States Department of Agriculture Council Plan for Ravalli County 1952-1953 24/5 University of Montana School of Forestry Study on Forestry Practices on the Flathead National Forest 1974 24/6 University of Montana Wildlife Extension Program 1976 and undated 24/7 University People 1972 24/8 Vessey Correspondence 1967 24/9 Wambach's Study 1972-1975 24/10 Water 1962-1969 24/11 Water in the Bitterroot Valley 1965-1978 24/12 Martin Weeks 1975-1976 24/13 Western Regional Conference for Wilderness Issues 1974 24/14 Wheat Farm Domestic Allotment 1972-1974 24/15 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act 1969-1973 24/16 Wild Missouri 1969 24/17 Wild Rivers Bill 1965 24/18-19 Wildlife Educational Program 1954-1959 24/20 Yale Press Material 1945-1952 Series II Scrapbooks 1956-1977 25 Scrapbook 1956-1977 26 Scrapbook 1956-1977