G. M. Brandborg Papers, 1909-1977

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Brandborg, G. M., (Guy M.) 1893-1977
Title
G. M. Brandborg Papers
Dates
1909-1977 (inclusive)
Quantity
14.5 linear feet
Collection Number
Mss 691
Summary
Papers of Guy M. "Brandy" Brandborg, long-time employee of the U. S. Forest Service, and Forest Supervisor of the Bitterroot National Forest from 1935-1955. The collection includes files related to Brandborg's interest in and activities related to wilderness, conservation, and watershed protection efforts in Montana, and two memorial scrapbooks documenting his activities in favor of sustainable timber harvesting and against extensive clearcutting.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Guy M. "Brandy" Brandborg was born in Henning, Minnesota on March 3, 1893. In the summer of 1913, Brandborg came to Montana to work in Glacier National Park. That fall, he attended Forest Ranger School in Missoula, Montana and worked for the Forest Service during his summers. His first summer with the Forest Service was spent at the Earl Mountain Ranger Station near Choteau, Montana. After graduation in 1915, Brandborg worked on the Flathead National Forest.

After returning from Army duties during World War I, Brandborg moved to Idaho in 1924 to begin his professional career as a ranger in the Forest Service. He worked on the Nez Perce National Forest for ten years and was promoted from Ranger to Assistant Supervisor. Brandborg returned to Montana in 1935 and served as Forest Supervisor of the Bitterroot National Forest until his retirement in 1955.

Brandborg was active in education in his community throughout and following his tenure as Forest Supervisor. In addition to serving on the State Board of Education for eleven years, Brandborg assisted in developing a program for teaching conservation at Montana State University (now The University of Montana) in Missoula, and Montana State College (now Montana State University) in Bozeman. The program was run through the Montana Fish and Game Commission and the Montana University Extension Service. In 1958, he helped to organize the Montana Conservation Council, which provided a public forum for discussion of Montana’s natural resources and their sustainable use as well as conservation education in schools.

After his retirement, Brandborg witnessed excessive clearcutting and other land abuses on public forests and grazing land. He campaigned for a sustainable harvest of timber through letters to Montana congressmen, testifying before the United States House and Senate, letter campaigns and contributing to the formation of conservation organizations. In 1958, he helped organize the Montana Wilderness Association which was instrumental in the 1964 passage of the Federal Wilderness Act. In 1963, Brandborg and Doris Milner formed the Save the Selway Committee which, through legislation sponsored by Senators Frank Church and Lee Metcalf, helped establish two of the largest wilderness areas in the United States. Throughout the rest of his life, Brandborg and his wife Ruth worked tirelessly towards protecting wilderness and a policy of the sustainable harvesting of timber on public lands. Brandborg died in Missoula in 1977 at the age of 84.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection has been organized into two series. Series I: Subject Files (1909-1977) includes subject files that have been arranged alphabetically, and then chronologically, largely reflecting the order in which they were maintained by Brandborg. Subject files typically consist of correspondence, memos, clippings, and/or notes. A few of the files contain photographs.

Although the collection reflects the variety of Brandborg’s activities and interests, many of the subject files document G. M. Brandborg’s work as Forest Supervisor on the Bitterroot National Forest and include internal newsletters and correspondence, information regarding fire policy, management plans, and financial data. Of particular interest are notes and a journal from Brandborg’s days at the Forest Ranger School in Missoula, Montana, from 1913-1915, and experimental cutting photographs on Lick Creek on the Bitterroot National Forest. In addition, the collection contains files related to the clearcutting crisis on the Bitterroot National Forest and Brandborg’s role in drawing attention to unsustainable logging practices. Materials are comprised of correspondence to various governmental agencies, House and Senate testimony from Brandborg and others, congressional correspondence with Montana Senators, logging reports and data, correspondence with various environmental groups, and clippings and articles.

Series II: Scrapbooks (1956-1977) includes two scrapbooks of clippings, created in memorial for Brandborg, related to clearcutting issues on the Bitterroot National Forest.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Non-exclusive copyright tranferred to The University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

[Name of document or photograph number], G. M. Brandborg Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The files in this collection have been arranged into two series:

Series I: Subject Files, 1909-1977, 12 linear feet

Series II: Scrapbooks, 1956-1977, 2.5 linear feet

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated to Archives and Special Collections by Stewart Brandborg, son of G. M. Brandborg, on June 28, 2005.

Processing Note

Materials were organized by the creator by subject rather than date or period in the creator’s life. The original order was retained as were the original folder titles. Some materials were duplicated by the creator and copies were filed in different folders. These duplicates were retained.

Related Materials

Archives & Special Collections also holds the papers of G. M. Brandborg's son, Stewart Brandborg.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I:  Subject Files, 1909-1977Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
1939 Pollinger Report on Forest Service Management Program
1971
1/2-3
A National Forest Economy (2 folders)
1939-1972
1/4
Aldrich, Don, Executive Secretary of the Montana Wildlife Federation
1967-1975
1/5
All-terrain Vehicle Uses
1973-1976
1/6
American Forestry Association
1953-1954
1/7
Analysis: State Land Departments
1948-1959
1/8
Background Notes for Interview
1977
1/9
Baucus, Max, Correspondence
1975-1976
1/10
Bell, J. Fredrick, Letters
1976
1/11
Birth of Yellowstone National Park, Bert Hanson
1963
1/12
Bitterroot Lawsuit and the Organic Act
1976
1/13
Bitterroot Management Direction
1969-1973
2/1
Bitterroot Multi-use Environmental Plans
1970-1973
2/2
Bitterroot National Forest Management Plans
1941-1943
2/3
Bitterroot National Forest Multiple Use Plan
1940
2/4
Bitterroot National Forest Multiple Use Plan
1972
2/5
Bitterroot Road Plan
1976
2/6-7
Bitterroot Task Force Study Team (2 folders)
1959-1970
2/8
Boesch, Mark and Brigham, Morton
1973-1974
2/9
Bolle Report
1971-1975
2/10
Brandborg, Guy M., Notes From Ranger School
undated
3/1
Brandborg, Guy M., Statements to the Environmental Protection Agency
1973-1976
3/2
Brandborg, Guy M., Talks Notes
1947-1953
3/3
Brant, Irving; Hainsworth, Brad; Irion, Clyde
1970-1976
3/4
Bureau of Land Management
1964-1975
3/5-6
Burk, Dale A. (2 folders)
1965-1976
3/7
Burk, Dale A., American Motor Conservation Award
1970-1972
3/8
Burnt Fork Planning Unit
1973
3/9
Camp Tolin
1972-1973
3/10
Carter, Jimmy Clippings and Articles
1976
3/11
Church and McGovern
1970-1975
3/12
Citizen Responsibility in Conservation
1950-1954
3/13
Civilian Conservation Corps
1972
3/14
Civilian Conservation Corps
1975
3/15
Clark, Will
1964-1967
4/1
Clauser, Don
1963-1964
4/2
Clearcutting
1972-1976
4/3
Clippings
1950-1958
4/4
Clippings, Miscellaneous
1974 and undated
4/5-6
Clippings, Miscellaneous (2 folders)
1975-1976
4/7
Coalition to Save our National Forests
1976
4/8
Colorado Wilderness Court Case
1967-1971
4/9
Committee for Better Forestry
1970-1971
4/10
Common Cause and John Gardner
1970-1972
4/11
Community and Resource Management
1968 and undated
4/12
Congressional Record, Appendix and Data
1963-1964
4/13
Conservation Articles
1963-1967
5/1
Conservation Education
1948-1959
5/2
Conservation Education
1951-1954
5/3
Conservation Education Committee, Montana State Legislature
1951-1954
5/4
Conservation and the Selway Wilderness
1958-1967
5/5
Conservation by Sportsmen Culbs
1957-1975
5/6
Controlled Burning on the Bitterroot
1966
5/7
Correspondence, Miscellaneous Controversy
1972-1974
5/8
Correspondence, Miscellaneous Politician
1972-1974
5/9
Correspondence, Montana Wildlife Federation
1952-1962
5/10
Correspondence, Personal
1972-1976
5/11
Correspondence, Politicians
1976-1977
5/12
Correspondence, National Forest Issues
1954-1975
5/13-14
Correspondence, Wildlife Management Institute, Educational Program
1949-1953
5/15
Edward Crafts and Philip Handler
1972
6/1-2
John Craighead, Grizzly Bear Study
1970-1975
6/3
County Education and Organization
1941-1951
6/4
Culver and Risser
1971-1972
6/5-6
William Cunningham, Thesis: The Magruder Corridor Controversy, a Case History (2 folders)
1968-1972
6/7
Cutting Reports Fact Sheet
1958-1971
6/8-9
Dakota Environmental Council Incorporated
1969-1973
6/10
Kenneth P.Davis, President of the Society of American Foresters
1970
6/11
Department of Agriculture Appraisal of the Forest Service
1955
6/12
Department of Agriculture Employee Handbook
circa 1940
6/13
Bernard DeVoto
1962-1973
6/14
Dirty Dozen Campaign
1976
6/15
Division of Range Research
1935-1954
6/16
Education Program
1958 and undated
7/1
Environmental Information Center
1973-1976
7/2
Environmental Program for the Future
1973-1976
7/3
Environmental Quality
1963-1970
7/4
Brock Evans, Northwest Representative for the Sierra Club
1970-1976
7/5
Extension Fish and Wildlife Specialist-Job Description
1958
7/6-7
Extension Reports
1954-1965
7/8
Extension Wildlife Educational Program, Joseph Severy
1949-1957
7/9
Farm Data
1969-1972
7/10
Federal Lands
1946-1953
7/11
Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs
1964-1977
7/12
Fish and Game Commissioners
1956-1957
8/1
Barry Fisher, Sierra Club
1973
8/2
Forest Financial Data
1951-1953
8/3
Forest History, Pinchot Material
1943-1963
8/4
Forest Program and Practices, "old"
1927-1948
8/5
Forest Service Fire Policy
1934-circa 1950
8/6
Forest Service Friday Newsletter
1976
8/7
Forest Service Regional Program Emphasis and Notes
1971-1977 and undated
8/8
Forest Supervisor Daniels
1972-1974
8/9
Forestry in the State of Montana
1953
8/10
Forestry Problems
undated
8/11
Forestry Seminar Panel in the Humanities
1973
8/12
Freedom of Access to Information Act
1954-1965
8/13
Friends of the Earth
1973-1975
8/14
Mike Fromme, Articles and Letters
1971
8/15
Gallatin National Forest Issues
1976
8/16
General Wildlife Articles
1936-1941
8/17
Glacier Peak Wilderness Area
1957-1958
8/18
Governor Judge
1954-1973
9/1
Grazing Data and Correspondence
1947-1952
9/2
Great Bear Wilderness
1972-1973
9/3
John Green, Environmental Protection Agency
1970-1975
9/4
Guthrie, Kenworthy, Stegner
1970-1975
9/5
Floyd Haskell, Senate Interior Committee Correspondence
1976
9/6
John Harris, Montana State University Extension Program
1964-1968
9/7
Hearing Statements
1970-1971
9/8
Laney Hicks, Report
1970
9/9
History of Conservation
1947 and undated
9/10-11
History of Montana Education Program
1952-1962
9/12
House Resolution 13832
1976
9/13
Blair Hutchinson and Thatcher Hubbard
1972
9/14
Idaho Forest Industry Council
1972-1975
10/1
Idaho State Federation Reports
1950-1952
10/2
Kauffman Report, Libby
1941-1948
10/3
Kelly Creek Fire, Nez Perce National Forest
1939
10/4
Kootenai National Forest
1974
10/5
Land Ethic
1967-1974
10/6
Land Law Policy Review Commission
1965-1968
10/7
Land Management Act
1975-1977
10/8-9
Land Use Bulletins
1935-1951
10/10
Land Use Planning
1940-1976
11/1
Law
1973-1974
11/2
League of Women Voters
1975-1976
11/3
John Leshy, Natural Resources Defense Council, Correspondence
1975-1976
11/4
Letters to Editor and Guy M. Brandborg Statements
1974-1976
11/5-8
Lick Creek Experimental Cutting Photographs and Notes (4 folders)
1909-1961
11/9
Lincoln Back Country
1968
11/10
List of Recommended Conservation Reading
1957-1965
12/1
Logging in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
1974
12/2
Russell G. Lynch, Conservation Journalist
1970
12/3
Magruder Corridor
1967-1971
12/4
Magruder Corridor, Save the Selway
1964-1965
12/5
Management Plan for the Bitterroot Working Circle
1940
12/6
Mike Mansfield, Correspondence
1969-1975
12/7
McCall Wilderness Hearing
1961
12/8
Michael McCloskey and the Sierra Club
1963
12/9
Gale McGee
1971-1973
12/10
William Meiners and Resource Management
1972-1976
12/11
Ernest Melby
1953-1972
12/12
John Melcher Correspondence
1976
12/13
Clifton Merritt Correspondence
1971-1975
13/1-3
Lee Metcalf
1965-1976
13/4
Lee Metcalf
1974-1975
13/5
Miles Romney and the Sidney Hillman Prize Awards
1965-1966
13/6
Tom Miller
1974-1975
13/7
Mission Montana: Selway and Lochsa
1969
13/8
Monongahela Decision
1974-1975
13/9
Monongahela Decision
1976
13/10-11
Montana Conservation Council
1958-1961
13/12
Montana Conservation Council
1959-1963
14/1
Montana Conservation Council History
1959
14/2
Montana Conservation Council Interviews
1959-1960
14/3
Montana Conservation Council and Land Use Planning
1941-1965
14/4
Montana Conservation Council Leadership Statement
1959-1963
14/5-6
Montana Council Grant Material
1949-1957
14/7
Montana Historical Society
1970
14/8
Montana League of Conservation Voters
1971-1975
14/9
Montana Outdoors Article, not Published
1976
14/10
Montana State Legislature
1949
14/11
Montana State University
1976
14/12-13
Montana State University Wildlife Extension Program
1951-1957
14/14
Montana State University Wildlife Extension Program History
1953-1968
14/15-16
Montana Study, early correspondence
1942-1952
15/1-3
Montana Wilderness Association
1962-1976
15/4
Montana Wilderness Association
1963-1968
15/5
Montana Wildlife Federation
1954-1960
15/6-8
Montana Wildlife Federation
1962-1967
16/1
Moose Creek Timber Sale Area
1971-1975
16/2
National Forest Land Management Practices
1968-1976
16/3-7
National Forest Management Act Conference Reports and Testimony
1975-1976
16/8
National Geographic Society
1975-1976
16/9
National Wilderness Waterway
1962
16/10
Nature Conservancy
1976
16/11
Nature Notes Newsletters
1937-1941
16/12
Newsletters and Booklets, Miscellaneous
1972-1976
16/13
Richard Nixon and Forest Practices Act
1972-1973
16/14
North American Wildlife Conference
1954
16/15
Northern Rockies Action Group
1976
17/1
Northwest Wilderness Conference
1970
17/2
Gus Norwood Address to Annual Montana Farmer Labor Institute
1961
17/3
Notes
undated
17/4
Oakes and Other Conservationists
1963-1967
17/5
Arnold Olsen Correspondence
1960-1970
17/6
Operation Grassroots Newsletters
1974
17/7
Outdoors Unlimited
1970
17/8
Dick Pattison Correspondence
1963-1964
17/9
Personnel Training
1941-1955
17/10
Pesticides
1963-1965
17/11
Photographs
undated
17/12
Pinchot, Lucas, Rahm, Correspondence
1970-1972
17/13
Pinchot-National Resources Defense Council
1972-1974
17/14
Plans Notes
undated
18/1
Pollution
1955-1960
18/2
Population and Wilderness Articles and Statements
1936-1970
18/3
Predator Control
1965
18/4
President’s Advisory Panel on Timber and the Environment
1971-1974
18/5
Proposed Back Country Policy
undated
18/6
Ravalli County Agricultural Resource Conservation Program
1950
18/7
Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association Educational Program
1951-1961
18/8
Ravalli County Hunting and Fishing
1958-1974
18/9
Ravalli County Timber Report
1953-1973
18/10
Reader’s Digest
1971-1975
18/11
Scott Reed
1969-1973
18/12
Region 1 Reports, Steve Yurich, Regional Forester
1971-1972
18/13
Reports of the Chief of the Forest Service
1933-1949
19/1
Resource Conservation and Development Program
1967-1974
19/2-4
Resource Management in Ravalli County
1940-1954
19/5
Resource Planning Act
1975-1976
19/6
Roadless Areas Road Program
1972-1973
19/7
Rock Creek Controversy
1971
19/8
Miles Romney
1974-1976
19/9
Theodore Roosevelt and Resource Conservation
1958
19/10
Salmon River and Idaho Primitive Areas
1973
19/11
Earl Sanvig Correspondence
1947-1976
20/1
Earl Sanvig Correspondence
1947-1976
20/2
Save the Selway
1964-1967
20/3
School of Administrative Leadership
1969-1970
20/4
Don Schwennesen
1975-1976
20/5
Scotchman's Peak Wilderness Study Area
1976
20/6
Selway
1959-1970
20/7
Selway
1962-1969
20/8-9
Selway
1963-1967
21/1-3
Selway
1964-1967
21/4
Senate Bill 393
1975
21/5
Senate Bill 1734
1970-1971
21/6
Senate Hearing Statements
1959-1963
21/7
Senate Statement
1971
21/8
Senator Dale Bumpers and Governor Jimmy Carter
1976
21/9
Shoop, Melcher
1971-1973
21/10-11
Sierra Club Staff Forester Gordon Robinson Letters
1954-1976
21/12
Henry Skranak, Libby, Montana
1973-1975
22/1
Society of American Foresters
1971-1975 and 1929
22/2
Sociology and Forest Management
1968-1975
22/3
Soil Conservation Service
1975-1976
22/4
Soil Interpretations for Use in Planning
1959-1971
22/5
Soils Lecture by the United States Department of Agriculture
1948
22/6
Sounding Board
1968
22/7
State Forestry
1972-1973
22/8
Students and Politics
1971 and undated
22/9
Subcommittee on Public Lands
1970-1976
22/10-12
Submitted Hearing Statements
1970-1971
22/13
Talks
1954 and undated
23/1
Talks, Guy M. Brandborg Notes
1968-1970
23/2-3
Talks, Notes, and Speeches
1934-1942 and undated
23/4
Talk at the University
1971
23/5
Talks, Wildlife
1946-1954
23/6
Talks, Wildlife Conservation
1935-1955
23/7
Taxation and the Forest Service
1939-1954
23/8
Otto Teller
1965-1979
23/9
Timber Analysis
1941-1968
23/10
Timber Fact Sheets
1951-1953
23/11
Timber Harvest Data
1966-1975
23/12
Timber Salvage in Montana-John McGuire
1974
24/1
Timber Supply Act
1969
24/2
Timber Supply Bill
1969-1970
24/3
Timber Tax Committee
1941-1956
24/4
United States Department of Agriculture Council Plan for Ravalli County
1952-1953
24/5
University of Montana School of Forestry Study on Forestry Practices on the Flathead National Forest
1974
24/6
University of Montana Wildlife Extension Program
1976 and undated
24/7
University People
1972
24/8
Vessey Correspondence
1967
24/9
Wambach's Study
1972-1975
24/10
Water
1962-1969
24/11
Water in the Bitterroot Valley
1965-1978
24/12
Martin Weeks
1975-1976
24/13
Western Regional Conference for Wilderness Issues
1974
24/14
Wheat Farm Domestic Allotment
1972-1974
24/15
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
1969-1973
24/16
Wild Missouri
1969
24/17
Wild Rivers Bill
1965
24/18-19
Wildlife Educational Program
1954-1959
24/20
Yale Press Material
1945-1952

Series II:  Scrapbooks, 1956-1977Return to Top

Description Dates
25: Scrapbook
1956-1977
26: Scrapbook
1956-1977

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Clearcutting--Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho)
  • Forest conservation--Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho)
  • Forest management--Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho)
  • Logging--Environmental aspects--Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho)

Corporate Names

  • United States. Forest Service--Officials and employees

Geographical Names

  • Bitterroot National Forest (Mont. and Idaho)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Scrapbooks

Occupations

  • Conservationists--Northwest, Pacific.
  • Forest rangers--United States.