Joy Belsky papers

The collection is made up of articles published in scientific journals, newsletters, newspaper articles, government publications, manuscripts, and correspondence with Belsky's notes and comments inserted throughout as she worked. Materials she used in her talks, such as overhead projection transparencies are included.

The subject files are published articles and manuscripts on ecological topics with Belsky's notes and comments inserted, correspondence regarding, and reviews of these manuscripts and publications. Her papers and testimony to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) congressional hearings, work with the Endangered Species Recovery Act, the conservation of Siberian forests and importation of Russian logs, and environmental impact studies of Forest Service proposals and practices are some of the ecological materials. The impact of grazing on rangeland and forest was an area of concentration. Also included is Belsky's publication on her lawsuit for sex discrimination in hiring against the Bureau of Land Management and material on a campaign to include qualified women speakers at science conferences. Materials for the seminars and talks she presented are in the collection.

The ecology of range management is a significant area of concentration. Topics include weed management theory, weed invasions, study of relict communities, legislation on management, and range restoration. Belsky’s heading of “Terrible Legislation” includes the appeal filed with the Bureau of Land Management regarding the use of herbicides to control weeds and the directives and findings of the BLM.

Materials on the stellar sea lion lawsuit, marbled murrelet lawsuit, and Oregon’s list of threatened or endangered species are included in the endangered species section. Some of the more interesting of Belsky’s file folder headings for the section on the Endangered Species Act include: “ESA and Economics”, “ESA: Truth and Lies”, and “ESA Uses and Abuses”. Her work to protest the Kempthorne ESA bill is also in this section.

The sections on timber and forest health look at the ecology of and management of forests, including materials on wild and prescribed fire, grazing, salvage logging, theft, biodiversity, Oregon’s eastside forests, old growth forests, timber imports and various methods of treating imports for pest infestation, and conservation of Siberian forests.

The materials that were at hand and appear to have been in use at Belsky’s death are filed under the heading Active Reference Material. Much of this material is about the holistic management theory that cattle grazing can improve rangelands. Belsky was working on a paper refuting this theory and Allan Savory’s support of it. Also included here are materials on the Internal Columbia Basin Environmental Management Plan, her sex discrimination law suit and related publications, Belsky’s ecological publications, her work calendars, diaries, and contact lists.

E-mail correspondence for 2001 is available. Outgoing is filed chronologically and incoming is filed by correspondent’s last name.

Series VI: Video and Audio tapes, data disks.