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The Glen Sheppard Papers document the research and writing undertaken by Sheppard during his 40-year tenure as editor, publisher, and writer for the North Woods Call, a small conservation newspaper dedicated to the stewardship and protection of Northern Michigan's natural resources. The collection's three series contain Sheppard's articles and writings, press releases and newspaper articles written by others, government reports and publications, audio and visual materials.

The Glen Sheppard Papers comprises materials collected and maintained by Glen Sheppard over the course of his career as editor and writer for the North Woods Call. The collection is divided into three series entitled Topical Files (First Alphabet), Topical Files (Second Alphabet), and Visual Materials. The Topical Files (First Alphabet) series contains materials on a greater array of topics than the Second Alphabet, though the latter is the larger of the two series. The two Topical files have been kept separate in accordance with Sheppard's own filing system. Materials within topical headings have likewise been maintained largely as Sheppard had organized them. Photographs are found interspersed with other materials in various topical files throughout the collection. The Visual Materials series comprises photographs, negatives, and maps that have been filed separately from the rest of the collection. A large proportion of the photographs in this series are alphabetized according to topic. Such topics include wildlife (namely birds, fish, and game animals), hunting and fishing, people (mainly politicians and important figures involved in Michigan conservation), and landscape photographs.

The Topical Files are primarily composed of various drafts of articles, press releases and newspaper articles written by other environmental journalists, research materials and notes, correspondence (mainly faxes), and photographs. The collection also contains a great deal of material pertaining to various government agencies, including bills and acts of legislation, memoranda, interoffice communications, reports and research studies, and pamphlets and other literature published and distributed by said agencies. These agencies include government bodies devoted to conservation issues, chief among which is the DNR (Department of Natural Resources). Other government agencies represented in this collection include the NRC (Natural Resources Commission) and the DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality). The collection also contains selected clippings from the North Woods Call along with logistical papers pertaining to the Call's operation.

The collection features materials on a broad array of topics of environmental import for the state of Michigan. The First Alphabet and Second Alphabet series feature articles, reports, environmental impact statements, and resource management plans pertaining to environmental issues impacting particular Michigan towns and counties. Such issues include the impact of corporations, factories, oil and gas resource exploitation, and pollution. The collection also includes files on the topics of land use management, water resource management, fisheries management, and Native American rights to Michigan's natural resources. The collection contains Sheppard's researches on Michigan flora and fauna (concentrated in the Second Alphabet series), with particular emphasis on deer, wolves, bears, and various species of fish. Sheppard's researches also include coverage of endangered wildlife, invasive species, and zoological diseases. The collection contains articles and research materials concerning hunting, fishing, tourism, and outdoorsmanship. Michigan's islands, rivers, lakes (particularly the Great Lakes), national and state parks, nature preserves and conservancies, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges are all well represented in the collection (mainly in the Second Alphabet series). The collection also includes papers pertaining to the administrations of Michigan governors John Engler and Jennifer Granholm.

Detroit Free Press outdoor writer and later faculty member in the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources. Files of Detroit Free Press outdoor pages and conservation articles, clippings, and photographs, correspondence, and notes on Michigan conservation history, pesticides, pollution, plants and animals, hunting and fishing, parks, rivers and lakes, conservation writing, and ecology; also manuscript of history of conservation in Michigan with background information; and materials gathered for intended biographical study of Michigan conservationists.

As a long-time observer of the Michigan conservation scene, Van Coevering collected a wide range of materials to document the history of hunting, fishing, and wildlife management, the development of state parks and forests, political development of the Department of Conservation and Conservation Commission, concerns about pollution and pesticide poisoning, and other conservation and environmental matters in Michigan. This collection is made up of his writings and background materials on all these topics.

The collection contains only a part of Van Coevering's papers. His "personal" papers were destroyed by his widow after his death. Included here are "historical" papers collected in the course of his work as an outdoor writer. The papers include press releases, clippings, memoranda, reports, and other documents collected by Van Coevering as well as correspondence. Van Coevering's outgoing correspondence is generally of the information-seeking type, and provides little insight into his ideas.

The collection is divided into five major series: Publications, Reference file, School of Natural Resources file, Michigan conservation history file, and Photographs. There is also a small folder of obituaries and other personal information in Box 1. In 1996, the library received an addition to the collection. This 1996 accession from Frank Angelo includes the manuscript of "A Brief History of Conservation in Michigan," and the accompanying research as well as background research for a proposed history of prominent Michigan conservationists.

State Audubon society established in 1904; records include historical and background information; files of annual meetings of executive committee and board of directors; files relating society's activities, to its nature centers and bird sanctuaries, and to the operation and activities of local chapters within the state; also correspondence and scattered photographs.

The Michigan Audubon Society records document the development and management of the organization, its conservation activities, including development of nature centers and sanctuaries, and the society's relations with local chapters. The record group is divided into the following series: History and Background; Meetings and Meeting Minutes; Activities; Nature Centers and Sanctuaries; Local Chapters; Correspondence; and Photographs.

Web collection of websites created by various organizations whose service is to natural resources of the State of Michigan, archived by the Bentley Historical Library using the California Digital Library Web Archiving Service crawler from 2010-2015 and the Archive-It web archiving service beginning in 2015.

The Web Archive of Michigan's Natural Resources collection contains archived websites created by various organizations and movements concerned with preservation of natural resources in the State of Michigan. The websites have been archived by the Bentley Historical Library, using the California Digital Library Web Archiving Service crawler from 2010-2015 and the Archive-It web archiving service beginning in 2015. Access to all websites archived by the Bentley Historical Library is available at: https://archive-it.org/organizations/934.

Web Archives include websites of conservation groups, environmental organizations and nature associations who call the state of Michigan home. The collection is especially strong in documenting conservation initiatives and environmental protection in Michigan.

The year that appears next to the website title in the contents list indicates the date that the website was first archived. Archived versions of the site from later dates may also be available.