The records of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs have been divided into the following series: Administration, Committees, Correspondence, District Organizations, Public Relations, Speech File, Topical Files, Publications, Visual Materials, People File, and Scrapbooks.
The Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) was formed November 9, 1937 in Owosso, Michigan. The organization was created to bring together into a federation various clubs in the state that were interested in conservation issues, particularly in regards to conservation legislation. Thirty-six clubs were represented at the first meeting. Harry Gaines of Grand Rapids was elected to serve as the group's first president. Dues were set at fifteen cents per capita on the membership of each member club.
The organization expanded rapidly, growing to 81 clubs during its first year, and to 143 by the beginning of the Second World War. During this period, some of the clubs disbanded as members were called into military service. By 1944 the number of affiliated clubs had leveled off at 128. It was also during this period that the MUCC formed a magazine committee which began publishing Michigan-Out-of-Doors in 1947. Today the MUCC is the largest statewide conservation organization in the nation.
Though conservation of Michigan's natural resources has always been the primary focus of MUCC's work, the organization has also involved itself in issues concerning outdoor recreation. In earlier years the term outdoor recreation referred mainly to activities such as swimming, camping, hiking, fishing, hunting and the like. In the past two decades the proliferation of vehicles such as motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATV's) and snowmobiles has added an entirely new dimension to the meaning of outdoor recreation. MUCC has taken a leading role in advising the state legislature on both of these matters and has striven to keep up with new trends throughout its fifty-year history.
The education committee is one of the most important of MUCC's standing committees, stemming from the organization's belief that ultimately the most effective method to resolve conservation/recreation issues is through education of the public. Teacher education (in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources), providing speakers to schools and public gatherings, and a one-week camping/conservation program at the MUCC Boy's Camp are some of the ways in which MUCC aims toward greater public understanding of conservation issues.
At MUCC's annual conventions, members gather to discuss amendments to the organization's bylaws, reports of committees (both standing and ad-hoc), and resolutions, which are then brought before the state legislature if adopted at the convention. Indeed, this is the origin of much of the conservation legislation passed by the Michigan legislature.
