Dallas Eklund was born on March 3, 1914. Eklund was an avid angler and advocate for the conservation of resources in and around Flathead Lake. He was active in the movement to create the Great Bear Wilderness. He was also concerned with the impact of dams and levees on trout populations, particularly bull trout (also known as Dolly Varden) and cutthroat trout. Eklund was particularly active in the Flathead Lake Wildlife Association, which was later known as Flathead Lake Wildlife, Incorporated. Eklund and Clifton Merritt served as officers of the organization during the 1950s, with Eklund serving as President and Merritt serving as Secretary. In the late-1980s and early-1990s, Eklund participated in the drafting of Fisheries Management Plan for the South Fork Flathead River Drainage written by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Dallas Eklund passed away on June 7, 1996 and was survived by his wife, Fay, and his children Brian Eklund, Martha Elletsun, Rita Ullman, and Dona Keller.
The Dallas Eklund Papers relate to a number of environmental issues relevant to western Montana from the 1950s through the early 1990s. The collection contains correspondence, reports, notes, clippings and maps about a number of environmental issues pertinent to Montana in which Eklund was involved. This includes the creation of the Great Bear Wilderness, the construction of dams near Flathead Lake, and the management of land near Flathead Lake by state and federal government agencies.
The Dallas Eklund Papers are arranged in alphabetical order by folder title.
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. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.
[Name of document or photograph number], Dallas Eklund Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
The Dallas Eklund Papers were originally contained within Clifton
Merritt's papers at Merritt's home. They were separated out from Merritt's
papers and compiled by Robert Baker in the course of his research for his
thesis
The Dallas Eklund Papers were acquired as part of the Clifton R. Merritt Papers in 2008.
The collection was processed by Steven Bingo in 2011. Unannotated published materials, including reports and maps, were not retained with this collection. Materials not retained also include a mass distributed set of slides and audio cassette by the National Wildlife Federation titled "We Care About Oceans" and "We Care About Eagles." While the folders were rearranged in alphabetical order by the archivist, the materials within individual folders reflect Robert Baker's organization of the collection as noted in the section of this guide titled "Custodial History." One folder titled "Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness" was transferred to the Clifton R. Merritt Papers (Mss 700) as the folder was believed to be Merritt's and mistakenly transferred to the Mansfield Library as part of the Dallas Eklund Papers.
Three maps were separated from the collection and are filed in the Archives and Special Collections' general map collection. The maps are listed below:
Great Bear Wilderness, by U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1976.
Forest Plan, Management Area Map, Flathead National Forest, by United States Forest Service, 1985.
Untitled map of an addition to Bob Marshall Wilderness, by unknown author, undated.
Related materials may be found in the Clifton R. Merritt Papers (Mss 700) at the Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections. Of particular note are materials related to Flathead Lake and the Flathead Lake Wilderness Association.
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.
Map titled Sportsman's Guide to the Pothole Lakes, Flathead County, Montana
Contains clippings about Eklund and wilderness issues related to the region surrounding Flathead Lake