Joseph L. Miller (1910- ), a native of Chicago, trained as a medical doctor. He moved to Oregon in 1940 with his wife, Amy, and he opened a medical practice in Portland, Or. In 1948, the family bought 94 acres near the Bull Run Reserve, in the vicinity of Marmot, Clackamas County, Oregon. There they built a small cabin, mostly for summer camping, and in 1975 established a permanent home on three acres. They donated the remaining 91 acres to the Portland Audubon Society in 1977.
In 1971, Miller discovered that the United States Forest Service (USFS) had, since 1958, allowed commercial logging in the watershed in spite of a 1904 Trespass Act and planned to open a 30,000-acre area for recreational purposes. Such strong opposition was expressed at a public meeting, which Miller attended, that the USFS and the Portland Water Bureau withdrew the plan. Miller then began a systematic effort to collect and disseminate information on the Bull Run Reserve to focus public attention on the need for watershed protection. In 1974, he organized the Bull Run Citizens' Advisory Committee, which evolved into the Bull Run Interest Group (BRIG) by 1975. BRIG was active at varying levels until about 1993. Miller was most concerned about the secrecy and lack of public information and input that he believed characterized the activities of the USFS and Portland Water Bureau, which managed the Bull Run Watershed.
In 1975, Miller and two co-plaintiffs initiated a class-action lawsuit against the USFS for allowing public access and logging in violation of the Trespass Act and won their case. However, in 1977 Congress nullified the act, and new legislation, introduced by Rep. Robert Duncan and Sen. Mark Hatfield of Oregon, specified that the Bull Run Reserve could be managed by the Forest Service according to prevailing multiple-use principles. Use of the watershed need not be confined to water production, though that use should be primary.
Miller's crusade to restore the protections of the Trespass Act continued after 1977, and, with the public scrutiny that he inspired, serious degradation of the watershed diminished. His efforts included further litigation and stays to stop what he considered to be dubious timber sales after “blowdowns.”
Images document Joseph L. Miller's crusade to protect the Bull Run Reserve and watershed from logging and recreation damage and to expand public awareness of the threat to its famed pristine water through formation of the Bull Run Interest Group (BRIG) and lawsuits he initiated against the U.S. Forest Service. Bull Run is the main source of water for Portland, Or., and other smaller communities in the area. Photographs showing the impact of logging on the Bull Run Watershed make up the bulk of the collection. Primary formats represented are black-and-white and color photographic prints, ranging from snapshot size to 8x10 (some with negatives), black-and-white and color aerial photographs, and 35 mm color slides. Some prints are attached to two posters, and the collection also includes two color postcards and related papers.
Miller made some of the photographs himself and obtained the remainder from other photographers and sources, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Forest Service. Many of the black-and-white and color images were used to illustrate publications produced by BRIG and by Miller personally, and two groups are marked as exhibits in class action lawsuits that Miller and others brought against the U.S. Forest Service.
The photographs are organized into the following series :
The collection is open to the public.
The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Joseph L. Miller photographs collection, Org. Lot 1021, Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Joseph L. Miller gave his photographs and papers to the Oregon Historical Society in two parts, 1997 and 1998, with annotations added for clarification shortly before his final donation.
Library accession nos. 23189 and 23563.
Manuscript materials were separated to the Joseph L. Miller Papers, Mss 6022, in the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Manuscripts Collection. Copies of the
Bull Run Interest Group and Miller, Joseph L., comp.
Harmon, Rick. "The Bull Run Watershed: Portland's Enduring Jewel."
Miller, Joseph L., Jr.
Miller, Joseph L. and John Eliot Allen.
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.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Includes black-and-white and color photographic prints.
Black-and-white mages by Jeanne Fromuth and Alberta Gerould
35mm slides by Brad Yazzolino. People pictured in addition at Miller are Bob Robinson, Doug Christie, and Alberta [?]
Includes photographic prints, aerial photographs, and slides that are part of Joseph Miller’s version of the BRIG Open File of background materials established at the Multnomah County Library, where they were indexed and are available to the public. Miller’s idea was that the Open File would be “a live, growing source of information on all sides of Bull Run issues. The file is open for anyone to add information or views; for anyone to help seek and index new material; for anyone to study.” The primary version of the file remains available in the Multnomah County Central Library (Portland, Or.) Government Documents Room (2004).
The series is arranged numerically by the BRIG Open File numbers the photographs are drawn from (see Joseph L. Miller Papers, Mss 6022). It also includes a small poster with prints, showing the card index to the Open File, and some photographic reproductions and photocopies of maps used in various files.
Includes two color prints on 8-in. x 8-in. cardboard, advertising availability of the Open File at the Multnomah County Central Library (Portland, Or)
Color images by Spencer Beebe, printed four to an 8 x 10-in. sheet, with captions. Includes some duplicates.
One slide only, no slide show. Color slide No. 2 shows Bull Run Reserve boundaries. File includes related correspondence and notes. Location of the slide show is unknown. It is not with the BRIG Open File at the Multnomah County Central Library.
Color prints and list, including images of Goodfellow Lakes and Little Sandy River Watershed.
Color prints and list, including images of Goodfellow Lakes and Little Sandy River Watershed.
Some annotated with boundaries in plastic tape and felt tip marker
Color prints by Douglas Larson. Includes notation that Joseph L. Miller sent copies of the photographs to the mayor of Portland in 1985.
Nanny Creek Blowdown timber sale.
Nanny Creek Blowdown timber sale.
Color photographic reproductions of hand annotated maps.
Photographic reproductions and photocopies.
Includes color and black-and-white photographic prints marked as exhibits for two class action lawsuits that Joseph L. Miller and others initiated against U.S. Forest Service management practices on the Mount Hood National Forest. This included Miller vs. Mallory, charging the U.S. Forest Service was in violation of the Trespass Act, and Miller vs. Robertson, asking a U.S. District Court Judge to halt several "blowdown" timber sales offered by the Forest Service. Dates listed for folders are dates the photographs were made, if known, or dates they were entered as exhibits.
Color prints of helicopter logging in Bull Run Watershed, made by Spencer Beebe (see also folder 1/6 in this collection). Includes photocopy of Beebe's brief diary of the trip and list of images he made.
Color prints showing logging impacts on the Bull Run Watershed.
Includes color prints (some assembled as glued-up composites to form panoramas) and black-and-white photographic prints. Removed from Miller Papers, Mss 6022, 31/6.
Consists primarily of color prints and slides illustrating the impacts of logging on the Bull Run and Little Sandy River watersheds. One 1927 black-and-white image shows the site of a dam built on the Bull Run River to create the reservoir from which Portland draws its water supply.
Black-and-white print by David B. Charlton.
Color prints of notice tacked to trees that cites the 1904 Trespass Act.
Notation indicates copies of these were sent to "Charley" [Charles Merten, attorney in class action lawsuits].
Includes copies of two color prints by Spencer Beebe, Aug. 29, 1974--see 1/6 for originals.
By U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Two color prints on two-sided bulletin paste-up used for photocopying.
Two black-and-white prints on two-sided paste-up used for photocopying
Four color prints on paste-up used for photocopying.
See Joseph L. Miller Papers, Mss 6022, 50/6 and 7.