The Cutler collection consists of personal papers and memorabilia documenting the life and career of M. Rupert Cutler as an educator and environmentalist. In addition to his publications, the collection includes some correspondence, personal memorabilia, educational materials, and collected materials relating to his career and the environmental movement. The files have been retained in the order received with the descriptions provided by the donor. As requested, the collection only includes material from the period of time when M. Rupert Cutler was in Michigan. Most of the materials from 1962 to 1969 were retained by the donor.
M. Rupert Cutler, an environmentalist and conservation journalist, was born in Detroit, Michigan. He received his undergraduate degree in wildlife management from the University of Michigan and his master's and doctor of philosophy degrees from the Department of Resource Development of Michigan State University.
Following his graduation from the University of Michigan in 1955, Cutler was briefly employed as an instruction book writer for Argus Cameras in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1956, he moved to Arizona where he edited a weekly newspaper, the Winslow Mail. In 1957, he accepted the post of executive secretary of Wildlife Conservation Incorporated in Boston and in 1958 he was hired by the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries to be associate editor of Virginia Wildlife, the Virginia Game Department's magazine. In 1961, Cutler was promoted to Chief, Education Division, Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries. During the years 1962-1969, Cutler was in Washington D.C. serving as editor of publications of the National Wildlife Federation and then as assistant executive director of The Wilderness Society. He was also senior vice president of the National Audubon Society, executive director of Population-Environment Balance, and president of Defenders of Wildlife.
In 1969, Cutler returned to Michigan to study for his doctorate at Michigan State University and to work as a Graduate Research Assistant in MSU's Department of Resource Development. With his degree, he became assistant professor of resource development and the state's extension specialist in natural resources policy. In 1977 he was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve as assistant secretary of agriculture for conservation, research, and education. From 1977 to 1980 he provided policy direction to the U.S. Forest Service, the Soil Conservation Service, and USDA's research, extension, and library agencies.
Since January of 1991, M. Rupert Cutler has resided in Roanoke, Virginia. From 1991 to February of 1997, he was the executive director of Virginia's Explore Park, a 1,000-acre outdoor living history museum and environmental education center on the Roanoke River in Roanoke and Bedford counties. In March of 1997, M. Rupert Cutler became the founding executive director of the Western Virginia Land Trust, a new, private, nonprofit association created to help preserve the natural, scenic, and cultural heritage of western Virginia on private land, using conservation easements.
