By Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Nielsen.
Title: Spotted Owl Management, Policy, and Research Collection, 1969-1993
Predominant Dates: 1983-1993
ID: MSS SpottedOwl
Primary Creator: Meslow, E. Charles
Extent: 16.25 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The materials were arranged by the collector into the following groups (now series): I. Scientific Reports; II. Reference Materials; III. Proposals; IV; Theses; V. Proposal to List Owl; VI. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Status Review; VII. Management Plans; VIII. Committee Efforts; IX. Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Team; X. Litigation; XI. Newspaper Articles; XII. Silviulture; XIII. Timber Sale Plans; XIV. Protocol and Standard Procedure; XV. Miscellaneous; XVI. Maps; XVII. Original News Articles; XVIII. Spotted Owl Record Index; XIX. Meslow and Forsman Manuscripts and Publications; and X. Additional STOC Files.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Spotted Owl Management, Policy, and Research Collection consists of published and unpublished materials pertaining to the northern spotted owl controversy that were assembled by E. Charles Meslow. The materials address scientific research, policy development and litigation, media coverage of the controversy, and development of management plans.
The donor provided an item-level list of documents representing about 60% of the collection, which forms the bulk of the detailed listing below. The detailed list included subject keywords for each document, which are presented in all capitals below. The acronym STOC is used for Strix occidentalis and may refer to any of the three subspecies of spotted owl ( S. o. caurina, S.o. lucida); however the bulk of the materials refer to the northern spotted owl ( Strix occidentalis caurina).
E. Charles “Chuck” Meslow directed or worked for the Oregon Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit from 1971 until his retirement in 2001. Meslow’s research focused on the predation habits of hawks and owls, specifically the northern spotted owl. He served on the Interagency Scientific Committee charged with developing management options to address the conservation needs of the northern spotted owl. Meslow was awarded the prestigious Aldo Leopold Award by The Wildlife Society in 2005.
The Oregon Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit is a multi-agency collaborative program based in Oregon State University’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (later the U.S. Geological Survey), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Wildlife Management Institute and OSU.
The northern spotted owl primarily inhabits old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest (British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon) and northern California. Controversy regarding the northern spotted owl began in the mid-1980s and was centered on the issue of preservation of spotted owl habitat versus timber resource use. In 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the northern spotted owl as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and the Interagency Scientific Committee proposed a conservation strategy that included northern spotted owl habitat conservation areas (HCAs). Legal challenges continued through the early 1990s. President Bill Clinton convened a landmark Forest Conference in Portland, Oregon, in 1993 resulting in the Northwest Forest Plan which viewed forest management from a broad ecological perspective.
More Extent Information: 48 boxes and 2 map folders
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Related Materials: The Liz VanLeeuwen Spotted Owl Collection (MSS VanLeeuwen) consists of materials collected and generated by former Oregon State Representative Liz VanLeeuwen pertaining to the listing of the spotted owl as a protected endangered species in Oregon. The Fisheries and Wildlife Department Records (RG 190) include research records of the Oregon Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit.
Preferred Citation: Spotted Owl Management, Policy, and Research Collection (MSS SpottedOwl), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon
Meslow, E. Charles
Boyce, Mark S.
Carey, Andrew B.
Dwyer, William L.
Forsman, Eric D.
Gutierrez, Ralph J.
Marcot, Bruce G.
Oregon Cooperative Fishery and Wildlife Research Unit
Oregon Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit
Oregon State University. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
Robertson, F. Dale.
Thomas, Jack Ward
United States. Forest Service
United States. Interagency Scientific Committee
Endangered species--Northwest, Pacific.
Forest management--Northwest, Pacific.
Forests and forestry--Northwest, Pacific.
Natural Resources
Northwest Forest Plan (U.S.)
Spotted owl--Northwest, Pacific.
University History
Maps (documents)