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Norman L. Winn papers, 1968-2004

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Winn, Norman L., 1939-
Title
Norman L. Winn papers
Dates
1968-2004 (inclusive)
Quantity
21.23 cubic feet (18 boxes)
Collection Number
1944 (Accession No. 1944-025)
Summary
Papers of a lawyer and conservationist of Seattle, Washington. Much of the material relates to Winn's chairmanship of the Mountaineers' Conservation Division
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Born in 1939, Norman L. Winn was a Harvard Law graduate who relocated to Seattle, WA to practice law and environmentalism. He was a managing partner of Smith, Brucker, Winn and Elhert from 1974 to1994 and was affiliated with numerous conservation groups in the Pacific Northwest from 1968 to 2004, including Young Lawyers (1968-1973), Washington Wilderness Coalition (1990-1993), Forest Practices Advisory Committee (1971-1976), Washington Water Trails Association (1990-1995), and the Washington Environmental Alliance for Voter Education (1994-1997). He was a frequent correspondent and worked with several other environmental agencies, such as the Audubon Society, Federation of Outdoor Clubs (FWOC), and Washington Wild. Most notable of Winn’s affiliations with conservation groups was his long tenure as member of the Mountaineers. In addition to membership, Winn held numerous positions over his time as a member, including Mountaineers Trustee (1985-1986), Mountaineers President (1975-1978), and Chair of both the Outdoor Division (1971-1974) and the Conservation Committee (1982-1987, 1998-2001). He was heavily involved in the drafting of proposals and correspondence on behalf of the Mountaineers as well as in their publications (The Mountaineer, Mountaineers Books publications, Conservation News, and others) during the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. An activist for several widely recognized conservation efforts in the Pacific Northwest, Winn legally represented many of these environmental groups, particularly the Mountaineers, in negotiations of conservation. These include the Nisqually Delta zoning efforts in the 1970s, the Washington Wilderness campaign of the late 1980s, and negotiations with the Plum Creek Timber Company in land exchanges with the Forest Service in the 1990s. Norman was married to Karyl Winn, a long-time member of the University of Washington Special Collections staff as librarian, archivist, and Curator of Manuscripts for the Pacific Northwest collections, until her death in 2017.

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Content Description

Winn’s collection consists primarily of correspondence, legislation, position papers, internal organization information, and other records of environmental advocacy organizations of the Pacific Northwest. These organizations campaigned for the protection of Washington wilderness. The bulk of the collection relates to Winn’s membership of the Mountaineers and include records of the group’s participation in widely publicized conservation efforts, such as the Washington Wilderness Act of 1984, the Ancient Forest Act of 1991, and Nisqually Delta conservation in the early 1970s, among others.

Series 1: Young Lawyers, 1968-1973. Winn's volunteer work on behalf of the Young Lawyers division of the King County Bar Association. This includes his advocacy on legislation such as the Washington River Basin Act, Forest Practices Act, the Shoreline Management Act, and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1971.

Series 2. Haugland and Sherrow, 1968-1972. Winn's work on behalf of the Haugland and Sherrow law firm. Includes documents from the Thompson vs. Thurston County lawsuit on behalf of Nisqually Delta Association to challenge a Thurston County zoning ordinance which would have allowed the establishment of a deep-water port in Nisqually Flats.

Series 3. Forest Practices Advisory Committee, 1971-1989. Winn’s member and volunteer work as part of the Forest Practices Advisory Committee to propose and amend the Forest Practices Bill to best preserve forests/mitigate harmful forestry and land management practices on the west coast of the United States, particularly in the Pacific Northwest region.

Series 4. Audubon Society, 1976-1980. Litigation work on behalf of Fayette Krause and Washington State Parks and Recreation to attempt to close sections of Washington beaches and coastline to vehicular use.

Series 5. Mountaineers’ Outdoor Division, 1971-1974. Reflects Winn’s chairmanship of the Outdoor Division, where he was involved in issues such as the restriction of party sizes in hiking and rock climbing groups in wilderness areas as well as the internal Mountaineers issue of proper accident reporting on Mountaineers’ sponsored climbing outings.

Series 6. Mountaineers Trustee, Bulk 1984-1986. Winn was a member of the Mountaineers’ Board of Trustees from 1985-1986, during which time he collected documentation from various Mountaineers members regarding a myriad of conservation issues addressed by the Mountaineers in the mid-1980s. During his time as a board member, Winn helped to organize and address several internal issues of the Mountaineers organization, including the procuring of a new Mountaineers clubroom and assigning members to write position reports on environmental issues.

Series 7. Mountaineers Conservation Division, 1977-1981. Winn's work in the Conservation Committee in the Mountaineers during the period of 1977-1981, including his work as conservation chair. Includes correspondence and materials regarding proposed land management plans of the Mt. Saint Helens area, Olympic National Park, and the Alpine Lakes wilderness, the Alaska Lands D-2 issue, and state-owned timber harvests/sales.

Series 8. Mountaineers Accident Reports, 1969-1978. Winn was entrusted with the documents and photographs of two separate and fatal climbing accidents on outings sponsored by the Mountaineers. These incidents motivated the Mountaineers to reconsider their accident reporting policies as well as establish the Accident Reporting Committee, which Winn chaired after the occurrence of the second fatal accident.

Series 9. Mountaineers Kitsap Property, bulk from 1983-1985. Government documents and applications as well as correspondence and member meeting minutes regarding the purchase and maintenance of the Mountaineers-owned property in Kitsap County, Washington. Winn was involved in the legal work required to file, correspond, and ensure proper documentation of the purchase agreements.

Series 10. Washington Wilderness, 1979-1985. Winn and the Mountaineers were heavily invested in the Washington Wilderness Act of 1984 which ensured the protection of more than a million acres of wilderness and forest lands in the Pacific Northwest. These included large areas of wilderness surrounding Mount Baker, the Glacier Peak wilderness, Olympic National Park, and areas of Mount Rainier National Park. Winn compiled correspondence, clippings, testimonies, and maps from the efforts to enact the Washington Wilderness Act of 1984.

Series 11. Washington Wilderness Coalition (WWC), 1990-1993. Winn was involved in the Washington Wilderness Coalition, an environmental organization that works to protect public lands and wilderness in Washington state, as President and Director from 1990-1993. His involvement included WWC’s efforts in issues such as hydropower projects in Washington rivers, salmon and river conservation, and protection of ancient forests. He also worked to solve internal and personnel issues within the organization until his resignation in 1993.

Series 12. Mountaineers Forest Conservation, 1975-2004. Documents Winn’s work alongside other members of the Mountaineers Conservation Division on forest conversation issues spanning mainly from 1986-2004. Issues addressed include the Two Million Acres of Stumps lawsuit, forest land management of national forests, timber and salvage sales, and fire recovery efforts.

Series 13. Mountaineers Ancient Forest Conservation, 1989-2002. Winn’s work in the Mountaineers Conservation Division along with other conservation groups multi-year advocation to protect ancient forest growth in the Pacific Northwest. Documents several public advocacy events such as the Earth Day and Ancient Forest Rallies.

Series 14. Mountaineers Wildlife Conservation, 1989-2004. Winn’s work in the Conservation Division from 1989-2004 to campaign for wildlife protection in the Pacific Northwest. The bulk is correspondence discussing advocacy for issues such as protection of the Spotted Owl in ancient forest legislation, salmon in the Elwha River and Dam areas of the Olympic Peninsula, nesting birds in areas of high activity climbing areas of wilderness, and protections efforts for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Series 15. Mountaineers Water Conservation, 1985-2004. Winn's work with the Conservation Division as well as other conservation groups to protect wetlands and wild and scenic rivers in the Pacific Northwest. Includes both opposing and supporting efforts to utilize hydropower in various locations as well as conservation of local wetlands and watersheds.

Series 16. Mountaineers Environmental Conservation, 1980-2004. Conservation work done by Winn and others in the Conservation Division that focuses on various environmental issues such as air and water pollution, oil drilling and spills off the coasts of Washington and Alaska, the growing population in the King County area, mining efforts, and the World Trade Organization. Also included are various document and letters to and from political leaders about different environmental bills and issues.

Series 17: Mountaineers Park Conservation, 1976-2004. Outlines Winn and the Mountaineers Conservation Division's work on protecting National and State Parks in the Pacific Northwest. Includes issues such as timber fall in the San Juan Island Parks, boundary lines of Washington state parks, and land acquisition policies, land exchanges the Plumb Creek Land Exchange, and the Mount Rainer National Park Centennial Event. Also included are documents relating to issues about park functions, such as roads and road closures, climbing regulations, and user fees.

Series 18: Mountaineers Trails Conservation, 1976-2003. Work by Winn and others in the Conservation Division to maintain existing hiking and climbing trails, propose or oppose new trails such as the Pacific Northwest Trail in Washington State and the Burke-Gilman trail in Seattle, and advocate for better recreation funding for hikers in the Pacific Northwest. See Also: Series 21, Washington Water Trails Association.

Series 19. Mountaineers Conservation Division, 1987-2004. Papers relating to the Conservation Division of the Mountaineers mainly between 1987-2004. Includes member rosters, meeting minutes and notes, Division and personal correspondence, and correspondence and information regarding several Mountaineers publications.

Series 20. Conservation Groups, 1976-2004. Fliers, correspondence, and surveys to/from environmental organizations with which Winn was affiliated during 1985-2004, such as WEC, Timber/Fish/Wildlife group, the Law Offices of Smith, Brucker, Winn & Ehlert, and the Olympic Park Associates. Includes advocacy for John Spellman in the Conservationists for Spellman group and documents from Winn's presidency of the Mountaineers in 1977.

Series 21. Washington Water Trails Association, 1992-1995. Washington Water Trails Association (WWTA) was founded in 1990 as a nonprofit with the goal of developing a marine trail system to provide camping sites accessible to the users of small boats and education of marine trail users and the public. Norm Winn contributed to the group as a member of the board of directors and WWTA fundraising committee. He resigned from the Board June 29, 1995.

Series 22. WEAVE, 1993-2001. The Washington Environmental Alliance for Voter Education (WEAVE) was founded in 1994 to raise the level of awareness and concern for environmental issues in the electoral process. Norm Winn was the Founding President of WEAVE and resigned in 1997.

Series 23. Transportation Advocacy, 1993-2004. Materials that Winn collected about his work about transportation and transit. Winn worked on issues about the Regional Transit Authority (RTA), Citizens Opposed to Sitting in Traffic (COST), the Transportation Discussion Group, the Sound Transit system.

Series 24. Unaffiliated Advocacy Work, 1980-2004. Advocacy work not found to be associated with a particular group. Includes correspondence, news clippings, and other items by or relating to Norm Winn but are not associated with a particular group or subject.

Series 25. Wild Sky Committee, 2001-2004. The Wild Sky Committee series mainly includes correspondence, along with meeting materials and news clippings, relating to the team’s work to conserve the Wild Sky, Skykomish, and Snohomish wilderness areas from 2001-2004. Norm Winn joined the team in 2001 and undertook a variety of duties, mainly consisting of communicating with relevant legislators, conservationists, and reporters.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in 25 series.

  • Series 1, Young Lawyers, 1968-1973
  • Series 2, Haugland and Sherrow, 1968-1972
  • Series 3, Forest Practices Advisory Committee, 1971 - 1989
  • Series 4, Audubon Society
  • Series 5, Mountaineers Outdoor Division, 1971-1974
  • Series 6, Mountaineers Trustee, 1984-1986
  • Series 7, Mountaineers Conservation Division 1977-1981, 1977-1981
  • Series 8, Mountaineers Accident Reports, 1969-1978
  • Series 9, Kitsap Property, 1983-1985
  • Series 10, Washington Wilderness, 1979-1985
  • series 11, Washington Wilderness Coalition, 1990-1993
  • Series 12, Mountaineers - Forest Conservation, 1975-2004
  • series 13, Mountaineers Ancient Forest Conservation, 1989-2002
  • series 14, Mountaineers Wildlife Conservation, 1989-2004
  • series 15, Mountaineers Water Conservation, 1985-2004
  • Series 16, Mountaineers Environmental Conservation, 1980-2004
  • Series 17, Mountaineers - Park Conservation, 1976-2004
  • series 18, Mountaineers Trails Conservation, 1976-2003
  • Series 19, Mountaineers Conservation Division 1988-2004, 1987-2004
  • Series 20, Conservation Groups, 1976-2004
  • Series 21, Washington Water Trails Association, 1992-1995
  • Series 22, WEAVE, 1993-2001
  • Series 23, Transportation Advocacy, 1993-2004
  • Series 24, Unaffiliated Advocacy Work, 1980-2004
  • Series 25, Wild Sky Committee, 2001-2004

Acquisition Information

Norman and Karyl Winn donated the entire collection to UW between the years 1972 and 2016.

Processing Note

Accessions 1944-001, 1944-002, 1944-004, 1944-006, 1944-007, 1944-008, 1944-009, 1944-010, 1944-011, 1944-012, 1944-013, 1944-014, 1944-015, 1944-016, 1944-017, 1944-018, 1944-019, 1944-020, 1944-021, 1944-022, 1944-023, and 1944-024 were merged into one accession (1944-025) and described together by Melissa Seaburg and Challen Wright, 2019-2021.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 


2008 (Last modified: 11/14/2024)

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