ML Archives and Special Collections

Archives and Special Collections has recently made available the papers of Clifton R. Merritt, an environmental activist from the Helena Valley in Montana.  Merritt was instrumental in the preservation of public lands throughout the United States as well as in his home state of Montana.

 

Merritt helped found the Montana Wilderness Association in 1957 and also served in various positions for the Montana Wildlife Federation from 1950 to 1964. With these organizations, Merritt was a leader in getting the Montana Stream Preservation Act adopted and halting the establishment of the Spruce Park and Glacier View dams on the Flathead River, as well as spearheading the movement to get the 15,000 acre Jewel Basin Hiking Area established.   

 

 Map of Proposed Jewel Basin Hiking Area, undated, Clifton R. Merritt Papers

 

In 1966, Clifton Merritt established and oversaw The Wilderness Society’s regional office in Denver, Colorado.  Through the efforts of Merritt and his 15-person staff, working closely with local groups, millions of acres were added to the National Wilderness Preservation System.  Among those added were the Scapegoat, Absaroka-Beartooth, and River of No Return Wildernesses in Montana.

 

 Map of Proposed Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Montana Wilderness Association/The Wilderness Society, 1974, Clifton R. Merritt Papers

 

After leaving The Wilderness Society, Merritt co-founded the American Wilderness Alliance (known after 1983 as American Wildlands) in 1979.  The organization worked with conservation groups throughout the Rocky Mountain West to preserve public lands for wildlife habitat and recreation. American Wildlands was instrumental in getting the 161,000 acre Elkhorn Wildlife Management Unit established in Montana.

 

  On the Wild Side Newsletter, American Wildlands, Clifton R. Merritt Papers

 

 In 1990, Clifton Merritt began the Corridors of Life Program. The program would use Geographic Information Systems to map wildlife migration corridors between roadless areas and established wilderness areas. As of 2009, American Wildlands’ Corridors of Life Program continues to work to restore and maintain wildlife corridors.

 

 Proposed wildlife corridor from Yellowstone to the Yukon.  From an American Wildlands Corridors of Life Program member mailer, Clifton R. Merritt Papers

 

Merritt continued to assist in local conservation efforts until his death in August of 2008. 

 

Posted by Amy Casamassa