The River of No Return Wilderness Council (RNRWC) was incorporated in 1973 to seek permanent wilderness status to 2.3 million-acres in central Idaho. Its primary goals were to protect the drainage of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and important game range from roads and logging. The River of No Return Wilderness combined the Idaho and Salmon River Breaks Primitive Areas, created in 1931 and 1936, respectively. The Incorporators of the RNRWC were Ernest E. Day (Boise); Ted Trueblood (Nampa); Mary Lou Reed (Coeur d’Alene); Gerald A. “Jerry” Jayne (Idaho Falls); and H. Tom Davis (Boise).
The records of the River of No Return Wilderness Council span the years 1973-1979. Included in the records are the files of RNRWC President Ted Trueblood, Boise Director Tom Davis and McCall Director Nelle Tobias. The RNRWC records also include records of the Friends of the River of No Return Wilderness, an informal coalition of supporting groups created in March 1979. The records of the RNRWC consist of correspondence, mailing lists, news clippings, publications, handouts, minutes of meetings, maps, transcript of the narration of a slide show, and media releases. There is also a videotape of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Symposium, "Visions of the Future," from March 1993, including Governor Andrus's historic background presentation from the symposium banquet. Among Ted Trueblood’s files there is a copy of the Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 95th Congress, second session, February 1978, dedicated to Ted Trueblood from Senator Frank Church.
The records of the RNRWC were in folders, but in no apparent order. The original titles of the folders were retained with the names of the creators of the files added inside brackets. The materials are arranged in three boxes.
The collection is open to the public. Researchers must use the collection in accordance with the policies of the University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with Copyright Laws (17 U.S.C.) and any other applicable statutes.
River of No Return Wilderness Council Records, MG 452, Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho
The records of the River of No Return Wilderness Council were in the possession of the Council members until transferred to the possession of Dennis Baird until time of donation.
The records of the River of No Return Wilderness Council were donated to the University of Idaho Library by Dennis Baird in June 2009 (Accession MA 2009-25).
This collection was processed using the Basic processing method. Some materials were refoldered. The collection was reduced by cubic feet.
Publications were removed and placed into a separate manuscript group Conservation Reports and Publications (MG 449).
H. Tom Davis Papers MG 435, Gerald A. Jayne Papers MG 443, Nelle Tobias Papers MG 439
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.