Tag Archives: conservation

Farm Organizations Oral History Project

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Project description: Interviews discuss federal farm agencies, especially the Production and Marketing Administration and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service as well as farm organizations, including the Farm Bureau.

Regulatory significance: This collection likely addresses a broad range of agricultural regulation. A fuller appraisal is required to determine the regulatory significance of this collection. Please leave a comment below if you have used this collection.

Repository: University of Kentucky

Digital access: Only brief abstracts available online.

Physical access: For access to transcripts and audio, visit the Special Collections Library at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

Link: http://www.kentuckyoralhistory.org/series/18823/farm-organizations-oral-history-project

Tobacco Production Technology and Policy Oral History Project

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Project description: This project contains 55 interviews concerning the production of tobacco in Kentucky. Topics include tobacco farming practices, tobacco marketing, commercial farming, subsistence farming, farm mechanization, agricultural technology, government programs, division of farm labor, raising livestock, farm specializations, land use, family histories, education, and health issues.

Repository: University of Kentucky

Digital access: No online access

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit the Special Collections Library at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

Link: http://www.kentuckyoralhistory.org/series/18828/tobacco-production-technology-and-policy-oral-history-proJect%20%0d

Everglades Oral History Collection

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Project description: This project documents issues involved in the restoration of the Everglades. Discussion topics center on influence of and coordination between environmental groups, lobbying by environmental groups, pesticides and mercury levels, water conservation, growth management, relationship between National Park Service and Army Corps of Engineers, Everglades Forever Act, Save Our Everglades, use of aquatic crops, drought and flood conditions, role of scientists in restoration, obstacles to restoration, sugar industry, various taxes, comprehensive plans and task forces, public education, aquifer storage and recovery, and lessons learned. [Description from finding aid]

Regulatory significance: This collection provides rich insight into environmental regulation, particularly the regulation of water, chemicals, and run-off from agriculture and land development.

Repository: University of Florida

Interview dates: 2001 – 2002

Digital access: Transcripts are available online. Audio for at least one interview is as well.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit Pugh Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohevg

Florida Water Management

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Project description: The St. John’s River Project interviews focus on “ranching families in the greater Orlando area.” However, a broader, ongoing project has grown out of this to “conduct oral history interviews relating to the history of Florida’s water management districts.”

Regulatory significance: This collection sheds light on the creation and operation of water management districts in Florida. According to the Florida Department of State, water management districts “are authorized to administer flood protection programs and to perform technical investigations into water resources. The districts are also authorized to develop water management plans for water shortages in times of drought and to acquire and manage lands for water management purposes under the Save Our Rivers program. Regulatory programs delegated to the districts include programs to manage the consumptive use of water, aquifer recharge, well construction and surface water management.”

Repository: University of Florida

Interview dates: 2003 – 2006

Digital access: Transcripts are available online for 17 interviews on water management.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit Pugh Hall at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/ohfwm/all

Ronald Reagan Gubernatorial Era

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Project description: This is the catch all for interviews housed at the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) at UC – Berkeley related to Ronald Reagan’s gubernatorial administration from 1967 – 1975. ROHO also lists relevant interviews housed at other California repositories.

Regulatory significance: Interviews cover a variety of regulatory topics, including consumer affairs, financial regulation, health care, and farm labor conditions.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 1980 – 1989

Digital access: Transcripts for interviews housed at ROHO are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley, California.

Link: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/subjectarea/pol_gov/reagan.html

Interviews on California Water Resources

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Project description: This is the catch all for interviews housed at the Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) at UC – Berkeley related to water resources in California. Most of the interviews are with government officials, politicians, conservationists, and academics.

Regulatory significance: These interviews deal in depth with regulatory strategies to conserve water and improve water quality across the 20th century. Interviewees include managers of the Metropolitan Water District, the Department of Water Resources, and various policy entrepreneurs.

Repository: University of California – Berkeley

Interview dates: 1957 – present

Digital access: Transcripts for these interviews are available online.

Physical access: For access to all transcripts and audio, visit the Bancroft Library at UC-Berkeley, California.

Link: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/subjectarea/natres/ca_water.html

Soil Conservation Service Oral History Collection

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Project description: These interviews were conducted in 1981 by the official historian of the Soil Conservation Service, Douglas Helms. The interviews were with “long-time employees,” some of which joined the SCS at its inception in 1935. Employees worked across the country, ranging from Oregon to Alabama.

Regulatory significance: Topics include: National Environmental Policy Act, watershed management, the work of the office of the administrator of the Soil Conservation Service, soil classification system, ways of achieving farmer participation in conservation programs, Civilian Conservation Corps, Great Plains Conservation Program, Strip Mine Commission, forest management, and relationships between SCS and Congress and state governments.

Repository: Iowa State University

Interview dates: 1981

Digital access: No online transcripts or audio.

Physical access: For transcripts and audio, visit the special collections department at Iowa State University.

Link: http://www.add.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/manuscripts/MS198.html

Forest History Society Oral History Collection

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Repository description: The Forest History Society’s oral history collection includes over 250 interviews with individuals involved in forest management and timber industries. Interviews were first recorded in the 1940s and the project is on-going.

Regulatory significance: At least 16 of these interviews directly address topics of forestry regulation and the impact of other environmental regulations on the practice of forest management by the Forest Service. The impact of the 1911 Mills Act and the 1960 Multiple-Use Forestry Act receives particular attention in multiple interviews. Other topics include public regulation of privately owned forests, uses of public land and timber, and the effects of the Clean Air Act, the clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species act on the activities of the Forest Service. Also of interest is the process through which interest groups, such as the Sierra Club and Chambers of Commerce participate in the policy making process.

Location: Durham, North Carolina

Dates: 1940s – Present

Digital access: Some transcripts available online, some only summarized, and interview compilations available for purchase

URL:  http://foresthistory.org/Research/ohiguide.html

Southern Agriculture Oral History Project

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Project description: This project interviewed 159 farmers across the South, focusing on changes in rural communities, technological change, and the financial challenges of farming.

Regulatory significance: At least some interviews from Mississippi include discussion of soil conservation programs. Some interviews likely include discussion of other commodity programs.

Repository: National Museum of American History

Interview dates: 1986-1991

Digital access: Only a handful of pictures are available online. No transcripts or audio.

Physical access: Holdings are available to researchers at the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History, in Washington, DC.

Link: http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/d9773.htm

Houston Mayor Bill White Collection

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Description: Collection consists of approximately 100 interviews, commissioned by Houston mayor Bill White and conducted circa 2007. Users can browse interviews by subject, and relevant subjects include: community development, conservation of the environment, environment, legislators, oil and gas industry, and politics and government. Historians at the University of Texas, Texas Southern University, and Rice University advised on the project, but many interviews were not conducted by historians but by community volunteers. The focus of the series is on exploring how Houston has changed from the 1950s to the present.

Regulatory significance: These interviews are particularly rich regarding local regulation (including the lack thereof) of urban growth, real estate development, and historic building preservation. Some address the oil industry, environmental regulation, and the relationship between banking and real estate development.

Dates: Most interviews were conducted from 2007-2008

Repository: Houston Library

Digital access: Yes. Video and transcripts available on-line through links in the finding aid.

Physical access: Material housed at the Houston Library.

Notable interviews: On environmental regulation, Terry Hershey; on real estate development and building preservation, Bob Eury, Gerald Hines, George Mitchell, and Betty Chapman; on bank and financial regulation, Marc Shapiro.

Link: http://digital.houstonlibrary.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/oralhistory