[Back to Formatted Version]

Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection, 1973-2004

By Finding aid prepared by Megan Guerre.

Collection Overview

Title: Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection, 1973-2004

Predominant Dates: 1983-1998

ID: MSS VanLeeuwen

Primary Creator: VanLeeuwen, Liz

Extent: 12.5 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection is arranged in five series: I. Numbered Files, 1983-2004; II. Environmental Impact Statements, 1985-1994; III. VanLeeuwen Organized Files, 1974-1998; IV. Sorted Files, 1973-2002; and V. Audiovisual Materials 1988-1993.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

The Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection consists of materials collected and generated by former State Representative Liz VanLeeuwen pertaining to the listing of the Northern Spotted Owl as a protected endangered species in Oregon and the effect this had on the state's timber industry. VanLeeuwen graduated from Oregon State College in 1947 and served in the Oregon Legislature as State Representative from 1981 to 1999.

Scope and Content Notes

The Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection describes the controversy surrounding the 1990 listing of the Northern Spotted Owl as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and the effect this listing had on the Oregon timber industry. Gathered from a variety of sources such as the federal government, the forest industry, environmental organizations, task forces/advisory boards, and local newspapers, the informational materials document attempts by VanLeeuwen and other governmental representatives to prevent the listing of the spotted owl and to have it "delisted" after being added to the endangered species list. The collection focuses mainly on the perspective of the timber industry during the spotted owl controversy but also includes materials related to discussions concerning the possible listing of the Marbled Murrelet, a North Pacific seabird. The collection includes correspondence and reports, publications, newspaper clippings, journal articles, note sheets, photographs, maps, audio cassettes, a VHS tape, and memorabilia and has been divided into five series.

Biographical / Historical Notes

Born in Lakeview, Oregon in 1925, Elizabeth Nelson VanLeeuwen graduated from Oregon State College in 1947 with a B.S. in Home Economics and went on to serve in the Oregon Legislature as State Representative for District 37 (Linn County) from 1981 to 1999. In her role as representative, VanLeeuwen campaigned actively against the listing of the spotted owl as an endangered species. In addition to her work in the legislature, VanLeeuwen has also been involved in a number of other advisory and governmental bodies, including the Western States Legislature Forestry Task Force, South Santiam Watershed Management Area Committee, and the Linn Soil and Water Conservation District.

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 87 photographs, 57 maps, 9 audiocassettes, and 1 videotape; 14 boxes, including 1 oversize box, and 2 map folders

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: The materials were transferred to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center by Liz VanLeeuwen in 2004.

Related Materials: The Special Collections & Archives Research Center's holdings include many collections documenting forestry and natural resources in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Collections with extensive materials pertaining to the spotted owl include the Spotted Owl Management, Policy, and Research Collection (MSS SpottedOwl) and the Bruce G. Marcot Spotted Owl Collection (MSS Marcot). Other materials produced and collected by Ben Stout and Bob Zybach can be found in the Benjamin B. Stout Papers (MSS Stout) and Bob Zybach Collection (MSS Zybach).

Preferred Citation: Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection (MSS VanLeeuwen), Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information:

Series I, Numbered Files, 1983-2004 was organized by Benjamin Stout and used as reference sources for his book "The Northern Spotted Owl: An Oregon View." An item level inventory was compiled by Stout for these materials. Series III, VanLeeuwen Organized Files, 1974-1998 were arranged in folders by VanLeeuwen and the folders were alphabetized during the processing of the collection. The remaining series possessed no previous arrangement and were organized by subject and material type.

We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online. SCARC describes the contents of its collections using the language and terminology of the collections themselves. Since culturally acceptable terminology shifts over time, some of the terms that appear in these materials are currently outdated or offensive. The term “gypsy” is considered derogatory by many Roma people. It comes from the word “Egyptian,” where many Europeans mistakenly believed the Romani came from. In 1971, at the First World Roma Congress, a majority of attendees voted to reject the use of the term “gypsy,” however some still use it to self-identify.

In this collection, the term “gypsy” refers to the “Asian gypsy moth” or “gypsy moth,” a group of invasive moth species that includes Lymantria dispar dispar, Lymantria dispar asiatica, L. d. japonica, L. albescens, L. umbrosa, and L. postalba. In 2021, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) voted to change the common names, and in 2022, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced new names for these species. Lymantria dispar dispar is now known as the “spongy moth,” and the rest are now the “flighted spongy moth complex.”

In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the original wording in the collection descriptions. We acknowledge the racism represented by the term “gypsy” and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein. For more information, please see our blog post.

[Date of Acknowledgement: November 2024]

Creators

VanLeeuwen, Liz
United States. Forest Service

People, Places, and Topics

Endangered species--Northwest, Pacific.
Forest management--Northwest, Pacific.
Forestry law and legislation.
Forests and forestry--Oregon.
Forests and forestry--Research--Northwest, Pacific.
Habitat conservation--Oregon.
Natural Resources
Northern spotted owl--Habitat--Oregon.
Northwest Forest Plan (U.S.)
Oregon State University. College of Forestry
Spotted owl--Northwest, Pacific.
University History
VanLeeuwen, Liz

Forms of Material

Audiocassettes.
Maps (documents)
Photographic prints.
Video recordings (physical artifacts)


Box and Folder Listing