Lee Wilson Papers
Special Collections Department
Robert E. Kennedy Library
1 Grand Avenue
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0605
Phone: (805) 756-2305
Fax: (805) 756-5770
URL: http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/specialcollections/
Email: archives@calpoly.edu
© 1992, 2007
Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Lee Wilson Papers
Special Collections Department
Robert E. Kennedy Library
1 Grand Avenue
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407–0605
Contact Information
- Special Collections Department
- Robert E. Kennedy Library
- 1 Grand Avenue
- California Polytechnic State University
- San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0605
- Phone: (805) 756-2305
- Fax: (805) 756-5770
- Email: archives@calpoly.edu
- URL: http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/specialcollections/
- Processed by:
- Nancy E. Loe
- Date Completed:
- 2003
- Date Completed:
- 2007
- Encoded by:
- Byte Managers, 2007; Carina Love 2008; Marisa Ramirez, 2009
© 1992, 2007 Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Lee Wilson Collection
Date (inclusive): 1956-1989
Date (bulk): (bulk 1961-1972)
Collection number: MS 113
Creator:
Wilson, Lee, 1904-1989
Extent:
3 Paige containers (13 linear feet)
Repository:
Special Collections, Robert E. Kennedy Library
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California 93407-0605
On deposit from:
The Environmental Archives of San Luis Obispo County
PO Box 8106
San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-8106
Abstract: Papers of San Luis Obispo environmental activist Lee Wilson, including correspondence, research notes and materials, and photographs,
primarily relating to the founding and early years of Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club, the creation of the Santa Lucia
Wilderness Area, and other watchdog efforts in San Luis Obispo County, California, donated by the family to The Environmental
Archives of San Luis Obispo County in 1994.
Provenance
Donated by his family, Lee Wilson's papers are part of The Environmental Archives of San Luis Obispo County, which was founded
at Cuesta College in the summer of 1992 by local environmental activist Harold Miossi. The collection is housed in and administered
by Special Collections at Cal Poly under the terms of a depository agreement.
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open to qualified researchers by appointment only. For more information on access policies and to obtain a copy
of the Researcher Registration form, please visit the Special Collections Access page.
Collection stored remotely. Advance notice for use required.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
In order to reproduce, publish, broadcast, exhibit, and/or quote from this material, researchers must submit a written request
and obtain formal permission from Cuesta College as the owner of the physical collection. Researchers should also consult
with an appropriate staff member regarding literary or other intellectual property rights pertaining to this collection.
Photocopying of material is permitted at staff discretion and provided on a fee basis. Photocopies are not to be used for
any purpose other than for private study, scholarship, or research. Special Collections staff reserves the right to limit
photocopying and deny access or reproduction in cases when, in the opinion of staff, the original materials would be harmed.
Preferred Citation
Lee Wilson Papers, San Luis Obispo County Environmental Archives, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo,
Calif.
Biography
A founding member and first president of the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club, Lee Wilson was a lifelong environmental
activist and conservationist. His papers document his efforts on environmental causes in San Luis Obispo County, primarily
in the 1960s and 1970s. Wilson was particularly active in leading grassroots efforts to influence local and federal environmental
policy.
Frank and Emma Wilson's son Lee was born in Rangely, Colorado, on June 18, 1904. The Wilson family made their living as farmers
and instilled a love of the land and open spaces in their son. In 1914, the family moved to Arizona, where Lee attended Mesa
High School. Because of his father's asthma, the family moved to California in 1921. Lee was an Eagle Scout, graduated from
high school in Lindsey, California, and attended the University of California at UCLA. Wilson and his brother started an electrical
contracting business. He Lee and Lillian Wilson were married in 1928. During World War II he taught electrical engineering
at UCLA and served as an air raid warden.
He became a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club in 1948. For many years, Lee and Lillian Wilson led a group
of Sierra Club members who hiked Mount Whitney every Labor Day weekend. Lee and Lillian hiked the entire John Muir Trail in
the Sierra.
The Wilsons had three children: Jeannette Wilson Armstrong, Marian Wilson Sacco, and Lee Jr., who shared their parents' love
of the outdoors. In 1958, Wilson moved the family business, Lee Wilson Electric Co., to Arroyo Grande so they could be near
their children and live in a small community.
Wilson was an active member of the Native Plant Society of San Luis Obispo County. He researched and photographed native plants
of the county with Cal Poly social sciences professor Robert F. Hoover for many years. Photographs from these trips helped
illustrate Hoover's
Color Supplement to the Vascular Plants of San Luis Obispo County, California (San Luis Obispo, Calif.: [no publisher], 1974).
In addition to serving as leader of Boy Scout Troop 248, Wilson also worked on campaigns to preserve the Pismo Beach Dunes
and Oso Flaco Lake. In 1961, he was a founding member of the Santa Lucia Group, a local offshoot of the Santa Barbara-based
Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club. By 1968, the Santa Lucia Group became a formal chapter of the Sierra Club.
Wilson waged successful campaigns on a number of environmental issues, most notably designation and use of wilderness areas.
He worked to ban the use of off-road vehicles in local wilderness areas. The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs recommended
that the Forest Service permit off-road vehicles use in the Garcia and Machesna Mountain Wilderness Areas, stating, "Both
areas appear to have no timber or mineral values but receive substantial motorized recreation use."
Wilson and other local conservations, including Ian McMillan, knew both wilderness areas had once been home to a thriving
California condor population, located along the condor flyway, where they were a common sight before the increasing use of
off-road vehicles. As part of his letter-writing campaign in response to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs' recommendation,
Wilson in 1979 wrote to congressional representative Robert Lagomarsino: "I believe the elimination of the use of motor vehicles
of any kind...would encourage the condor to again use both Hi Mountain & Machesna nesting sites."
Wilson also worked closely with Harold Miossi on creation of the Santa Lucia Wilderness Area, a goal of the Sierra Club chapter
since the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Wilderness status was being thwarted by the district's congressional representative,
Burton Talcott, and by the U.S. Forest Service, which argued that only "experts and bureaucrats should determine what tracts
should be saved." When Alan Cranston was elected to the U.S. Senate from California in 1968, the plan regained momentum.
Wilson and Miossi drafted the legal description of the 22,250-acre tract, which Cranston introduced in December 1971. Wilson,
Miossi, and San Luis Obispo Mayor Ken Schwartz testified several times in Washington, D.C., for passage of the bill, but Talcott
continued to oppose it. Eventually, the proposed name was changed from "Lopez" to "Santa Lucia," but it was not until Leon
Panetta defeated Talcott for the district's congressional seat in 1976 that the SB 3027 succeeded. In 1978, Congress designated
the Santa Lucia in central California and the Rogue River in Oregon as the first Bureau of Land Management wilderness areas,
which President Jimmy Carter signed.
After the Santa Lucia Wilderness Area was finally created, Wilson believed that access to the area for hiking could be improved.
Wilson successfully petitioned the Forest Service to create a trail from Highway 101 to the new wilderness area. He talked
his son-in-law into donating 100 gallons of gas for the trucks to haul the volunteers up the mountains to break the trail.
A plaque commemorating this work is located at the trailhead.
In 1979, Lee Wilson was one of seven people honored nationally with Special Achievement Awards from the Sierra Club, for his
work on the Santa Lucia Wilderness Area. Established in 1966, Special Achievement are bestowed on individual Sierra Club members
or groups a particular action, campaign, or effort of singular importance to conservation or the Club.
In 1985, the San Luis Obispo
Telegram-Tribune honored him with a front-page picture entitled "Man of the Mountain" in the Focus weekend magazine. The Arroyo Grande Rotary
Club honored him with a Rotarian Fellow Award for his involvement in their many community projects. He was also recognized
for 25 years of perfect attendance. Lee Wilson was the subject of a posthumous resolution from the San Luis Obispo County
Board of Supervisors for his 18 years of service on the San Luis Obispo County Water Resources Advisory Committee.
In 1988, Lee and Lillian Wilson celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. On August 31, 1989, Lee Wilson died in Arroyo Grande,
California. His three children and seven grandchildren, who share his love of hiking and the outdoors, survived him.
Sources
Wilson family, 2003
Neiburger, Carl, "Man to Match the Mountain: An Album of Portraits of Lee Wilson Taken in the Wilderness He Helped Save,"
San Luis Obispo County (Calif.) Telegram-Tribune, 24 January 1981
Social Security Administration, Social Security Death Index, Master File. Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com, accessed 9
June 2007
Scope and Content Note
The Lee Wilson Collection contains the correspondence, publications, maps, and photographs of environmental activist Lee Wilson
of Arroyo Grande, California.
Family members gathered the papers in 1994 for the Environmental Archives of San Luis Obispo County, which were transferred
to the repository at Cal Poly by volunteers for the Environmental Archives. During processing, duplicates were recycled, which
reduced the collection size to 3.75 linear feet.
Where possible, the provenance, or original organization, of the papers has been preserved. However, in order to simplify
access to the collection for researchers, some materials in specific formats and topics were reorganized and refoldered to
more accurately reflect their contents.
The provenance, or original organization, of the papers has been preserved for the most part. However, in the years after
1970, the growing volume of material and McMillan's overlapping involvement with different groups lobbying on similar issues
created numerous small files. In order to simplify access to the collection for researchers, most materials were refoldered
and adhere to McMillan's original subject categories, while some were shifted and renamed to more accurately reflect the contents.
The Lee Wilson Collection is divided into five series:
1. Non-Profit and Government Affiliations, 1963-1988
2. Watchdog and Advocacy Efforts, 1960s-1980s
3. Correspondence, 1956-1980s
4. Visual Media, 1960s-1970s
5. Research Materials, 1959-1985
The Lee Wilson Papers are housed in three Paige boxes, with Series 1– Non-Profit and Government Agency Affiliations and Series
2 – Watchdog and Lobbying Efforts, containing the most extensive and unique portions of the collection, each filling one container.
Funding
A generous gift from Harold Miossi funded the arrangement and description of this collection.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Wilson, Lee, 1904-1989
Environmental protection – California –- San Luis Obispo – Citizen participation
Land use – Environmental aspects – California – San Luis Obispo County – History
McMillan, Ian I., 1905–1991–Correspondence
Natural history – California – San Luis Obispo County
San Luis Obispo County (Calif.) – History
Santa Lucia Wilderness Area
Sierra Club - Santa Lucia Chapter
Genre and Forms of Materials
Correspondence
Newspaper Clippings
Maps
Photographs
Serials
Related Material
Related Collections
Special Collections, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo:
Enrico Bongio Papers, 1952-1993 (MS 124)
Kathleen Goddard Jones Papers, 1933-2001 (MS 119)
Harold Miossi Papers, 1942-1990 (MS 112)
Ian McMillan Papers, 1925-1990 (MS 111)
The Environmental Archives of San Luis Obispo County was founded in the summer of 1992 when environmental activist Harold
Miossi invited leaders in local environmental causes to gather and discuss how best to preserve "the letters, writings, photos,
publications, and thinking of ... prominent [local] conservationists for present students and for posterity." Miossi further
proposed that the archives be established at Cuesta College, as "a fitting repository since the College District embraces
all of San Luis Obispo County." Cuesta College president Grace Mitchell approved the project, stating, "Cuesta College is
proud to make this contribution to our county's future." The Cuesta College Foundation agreed to sponsor the project, and
Miossi contributed the first major gift to the Cuesta College Foundation for the new archives.
The principal mission of the Environmental Archives of San Luis Obispo County is as follows: "To collect, preserve and make
available for research the writings, documents, and photographs dealing with the history and development of the environmental
movement in San Luis Obispo County." The archives include the papers of five local activists: Harold Miossi, Ian McMillan,
Lee Wilson, Enrico Bongio, and Kathleen Goddard Jones.
1. Non-Profit and Government Affiliations
1963-1988
Scope and Content Note
Contains five subseries: A. Non-Profit Agencies; B. Los Padres Interpretive Association; C. Santa Lucia Chapter, Sierra Club;
D. Regional Conservation Committees, Sierra Club; and E. Government Agency Records.
A. Non-Profit Agencies
Scope and Content Note
Contains records and reports from non-profit agencies in which Lee Wilson was active, arranged alphabetically by agency, from
the 1960s-1970s. 4 folders.
Box 1, Folder 1
Conservation Committee, California Native Plant Society,
1970s
Box 1, Folder 2
Conservation Committee, California Native Plant Society,
1980s
Box 1, Folder 3
Reports, California Natural Areas Coordinating Council,
1970s
Box 1, Folder 4
Cuesta College Conservation Advisory Committee
1960s
B. Los Padres Interpretive Association
Scope and Content Note
Contains Lee Wilson's records and reports from Los Padres Interpretive Association, arranged alphabetically by record type,
1970s. 4 folders.
Box 1, Folder 5
Board Agendas, Minutes, Annual Reports, Los Padres Interpretive Association
1974-1976
Box 1, Folder 6
Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation, Los Padres Interpretive Association
Box 1, Folder 7
Newsletters, Los Padres Interpretive Association
1975-89
Box 1, Folder 8
Outings, Los Padres Interpretive Association,
1970s,
1980s
C. Santa Lucia Chapter, Sierra Club
Scope and Content Note
Contains records and publications of the local chapter of the Sierra Club. Includes materials related to the founding of the
Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club in San Luis Obispo County, 1963-1980. 11 folders.
Box 1, Folder 9
Banquets, Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
Box 1, Folder 10
Bulletins, Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
Scope and Content Note
[includes Bulletins transitioning into "Santa Lucia Chapter"]
Box 1, Folder 11
Bylaws and Procedural Manual, Santa Lucia Chapter, Sierra Club
1960s-1980s
Box 1, Folder 12
Correspondence, Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
1963-68
1980
Box 1, Folder 13
Events (Recreation Roundup), Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
Box 1, Folder 14
Events (Wildland Education Conference), Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
1963
Box 1, Folder 15
Finances, Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
1960s
Box 1, Folder 16
Founding, Santa Lucia Chapter, Sierra Club
1961
Box 1, Folder 17
Membership Committee, Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
Box 1, Folder 18
Program Committee, Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
Box 1, Folder 19
Publicity Committee, Santa Lucia Group, Sierra Club
D. Regional Conservation Committees, Sierra Club
Scope and Content Note
Contains Lee Wilson's records from regional committees of the Sierra Club, 1965-1980. 6 folders.
Box 1, Folder 20
Southern California Regional Conservation Committee, Sierra Club,
1965-68,
1970s
Box 1, Folder 21
Forest Practices Committee, Southern California Regional Conservation Committee, Sierra Club,
1970s
Box 1, Folder 22
Forest and Wilderness Committee, Southern California Regional Conservation Committee, Sierra Club,
1970s-1980s
Box 1, Folder 23
Joint Northern and Southern California Regional Conservation Committee, Sierra Club
Box 1, Folder 24
Outing Impact Study Team, Southern California Regional Conservation Committee, Sierra Club,
1970s
Box 1, Folder 25
Wilderness Act Workshop, Sierra Club,
1960s-1970s
E. Government Agency Records
Scope and Content Note
Contains Lee Wilson's correspondence and records for government agencies, arranged by agency name, 1969-1988. 3 folders.
Box 1, Folder 26
Bureau of Land Management Correspondence,
1970-1988
Box 1, Folder 27
San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission,
1969-1986
Box 1, Folder 28
Water Resources Advisory Committee, San Luis Obispo County,
1960s-1970s
2. Watchdog and Advocacy Efforts
1960s-1980s
Scope and Content Note
Contains two subseries: A. San Luis Obispo County Advocacy Efforts and B. California (minus San Luis Obispo County) Advocacy
Efforts.
A. San Luis Obispo County Activism
Scope and Content Note
Contains correspondence and records relating to Wilson's efforts to research, educate, and effect legislative change on specific
issues affecting San Luis Obispo County, including his efforts to secure federal wilderness area protection for Lopez Canyon
area, arranged alphabetically by issue, 1960s-1980s. 1 box.
Box 2, Folder 1
Black Mountain Wildlife Project
Box 2, Folder 2
Caliente Mountain Access Trail
Box 2, Folder 5
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Opposition
Box 2, Folder 7
Garcia Mountain Wilderness Study
Box 2, Folder 8
Hearst Ranch Development, San Simeon
1960s
Box 2, Folder 10
Land Conservancy Act in San Luis Obispo County
Box 2, Folder 11
Lopez Canyon (Santa Lucia Wilderness Area) Folder 1 of 5
Box 2, Folder 12
Lopez Canyon (Santa Lucia Wilderness Area) Folder 2 of 5
Box 2, Folder 13
Lopez Canyon (became Santa Lucia Wilderness Area) 3 of 5
Box 2, Folder 14
Lopez Canyon (became Santa Lucia Wilderness Area) 4 of 5
Box 2, Folder 15
Lopez Canyon (became Santa Lucia Wilderness Area) 5 of 5
Box 2, Folder 16
Lopez Canyon (became Santa Lucia Wilderness Area) Statements before Public Hearings
Box 2, Folder 17
Los Padres National Forest
Box 2, Folder 18
Los Padres National Forest, Cobblestone Mountain Wilderness Area
Box 2, Folder 19
Los Padres National Forest, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Process/Replies
1981-84
Box 2, Folder 20
Los Padres National Forest Trails
Box 2, Folder 21
Montaña de Oro State Park
1963-1984
Box 2, Folder 24
Nipomo Dunes, Collier Carbon and Chemical Corporation
Box 2, Folder 26
Peregrine Falcon Preserve
Box 2, Folder 29
Sargent Cypress Grove, Cuesta Ridge, SLO County
Box 2, Folder 30
Santa Lucia Wilderness Area
B. California ex-SLO Advocacy
Scope and Content Note
Contains correspondence and records relating to Wilson's efforts to research, educate, and effect legislative change on specific
issues affecting various areas in California, excluding San Luis Obispo County, 1960s-1980s. 1 box.
Box 3, Folder 2
Endangered American Wilderness Act
1970s
Box 3, Folder 3
Energy Policies and Statements
Box 3, Folder 6
Off-road Vehicle Use in State Parks
1970s
Box 3, Folder 8
Pinnacles National Monument
Box 3, Folder 9
San Gorgonio Wilderness Area
Box 3, Folder 10
San Joaquin Wilderness Area
Box 3, Folder 11
San Rafael Wilderness Area
3. Correspondence
1956-1980s
Scope and Content Note
Contains one subseries: A. Correspondence with Local Activists.
A. Correspondence with Local Activists
Scope and Content Note
Contains Wilson's correspondence with a variety of local activists, including Kathleen Goddard Jones and Ian McMillan, arranged
alphabetically by correspondent name. 7 folders.
Box 3, Folder 15
Jackson [Goddard Jones], Kathleen
Box 3, Folder 17
Miscellaneous Correspondence
Box 3, Folder 18
Re Kathleen Jackson [Goddard Jones] Dispute
1956-1971
Box 3, Folder 19
Re Appointment of Walter Hickel as Secretary of the Interior,
1969
4. Visual Media
1960s - 1970s
Scope and Content Note
Contains two subseries: A. Negatives and B. Photographic Prints.
A. Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Contains negatives of local areas Wilson made for documentation purposes related to watchdog efforts. 2 folders.
Box 3, Folder 20
Oaks on Highway 101, Atascadero, To Be Cut Down by Road Dept.
November 1970
Box 3, Folder 21
Jada Cove, Pinnacles National Monument
B. Photographic Prints
Scope and Content Note
Contains photographs of local areas Wilson made for documentation purposes related to watchdog efforts. Also includes few
prints of Sierra Club outings in the 1960s and 1970s. 6 folders.
Box 3, Folder 22
Eucalyptus Trees, Pismo Beach State Park
Box 3, Folder 23
Santa Lucia (Lopez) Canyon Wilderness Area
Box 3, Folder 24
Santa Lucia (Lopez) Canyon Wilderness Area
Box 3, Folder 26
Outings, Santa Lucia Chapter, Sierra Club,
1960s and 1970s
Box 3, Folder 27
Sargent Cypress Grove, Cuesta Ridge
5. Research Materials
1959-1985
Scope and Content Note
Contains one subseries: A. Serial Publications.
A. Serial Publications
Scope and Content Note
Contains research resources Wilson used in the course of his advocacy, arranged alphabetically by author/title. Subject areas
include local government documents, nuclear power, resource management, PG&E in-house publications, and a broken run of the
Sierra Club Bulletin from 1959 through 1963. 1 box.
Box 3, Folder 28
Davis, Betty S. "The Southern Sea Otter Revisited." Reprinted from Pacific Discovery, 30:2,
March-April, 1977
Scope and Content Note
pp. 1-13.
Box 3, Folder 29
"Historic and Primary Trail Classification: Concluding Report to the Planning Commission From the November 20, 1986 Public
Hearing." [San Luis Obispo, CA]: Resource Management Department and Parks Department,
January 1987
Box 3, Folder 30
Laven, John Eugene, "Conservation Conflict, Ombudsman Alternative," unpublished master's thesis [re Sargent Cypress grove],
1970
Box 3, Folder 31
"National Forest Trails: Neglected and Disappearing." Bainbridge Island, WA: National Trails Council
June 1985
Box 3, Folder 32
"Nuclear Safeguards Initiative," unpublished manuscript, Los Angeles: Californians for Nuclear Safeguards
October 1974
Box 3, Folder 33
PG&E Progress,
April 1963 – December 1964
Box 3, Folder 34
PG&E Progress,
April 1965 – August 1967
Box 3, Folder 35
PG&E Progress,
September 1968-December 1969
Box 3, Folder 36
PG&E Progress,
January 1970-October 1971
Box 3, Folder 37
PG&E Progress,
May 1972-October 1981
Box 3, Folder 38
Sierra Club Bulletin,
October 1959
Box 3, Folder 39
Sierra Club Bulletin,
December 1960
Box 3, Folder 40
Sierra Club Bulletin,
December 1962
Box 3, Folder 41
Sierra Club Bulletin,
December 1963
Box 3, Folder 42
Starr, Walter A., "From Yosemite to Kings Rivers Canyon, unpublished manuscript,
undated
Box 3, Folder 43
Steiner, Wesley E., "San Luis Obispo County Tomorrow and Related Matters of Interest," 1966. Unpublished ms. presented before
the SLO Regional Planning Conference
February 1966
Box 3, Folder 44
Walcott, Francis J., et. al., "Report to the Sierra Club Foundation, the Sierra Club Board of Directors, and the Sierra Club
Conservation Department from the Wilderness Classification Study Committee,
December, 1967