Inventory of the Texas Committee on Natural Resources v. Butz Hearing Proceedings, 1976

Descriptive Summary

Abstract: In response to a plan devised by the United States Forest Service to clearcut a large portion of Texas national forest for timber production, the Texas Committee on Natural Resources perceived the failure of the Forest Service to designate substantial wilderness areas in Texas to be a violation of the Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act and thus instituted the case against defendants Earl L. Butz (United States Secretary of Agriculture), John R. McGuire (Chief, United States Forest Service), and John Courtenay (Forest Supervisor, Sam Houston National Forest). The court ruled that because the Forest Service failed to conduct a thorough environmental impact study before devising their clearcut policy, there was just cause warranting a preliminary injunction against the defendants until full conclusions could be made by the court at a later date.

The collection includes ten bound volumes of the proceedings of the oral hearing on Texas Committee on Natural Resources v. Butz.

Title: Texas Committee on Natural Resources v. Butz Hearing Proceedings, 1976

Repository: Forest History Society Library and Archives

Call Number: 3962

Language of Material: Material in English

Extent: 1.5 linear feet (10 volumes in 1 record carton)

Historical Note

In response to a plan devised by the United States Forest Service to clearcut a large portion of Texas national forest for timber production, the Texas Committee on Natural Resources perceived the failure of the Forest Service to designate substantial wilderness areas in Texas to be a violation of the Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act and thus instituted the case against defendants Earl L. Butz (United States Secretary of Agriculture), John R. McGuire (Chief, United States Forest Service), and John Courtenay (Forest Supervisor, Sam Houston National Forest). The court ruled that because the Forest Service failed to conduct a thorough environmental impact study before devising their clearcut policy, there was just cause warranting a preliminary injunction against the defendants until full conclusions could be made by the court at a later date.

Plaintiff

Texas Committee on Natural Resources

Defendants

EARL L. BUTZ, Secretary of Agriculture of the United States; JOHN R. McGUIRE, Chief, Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture; JOHN COURTENAY, Forest Supervisor, Sam Houston National Forest, Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture

Facts of the Hearing

Prior to the hearing, the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture had devised a plan to clear cut a large portion of Texas national forest for timber production. The Texas Committee on Natural Resources perceived the failure of the Forest Service to designate substantial wilderness areas in Texas to be a violation of the Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act, which requires a forest to be managed in such a way as to provide a sustained yield of all its resources. At the hearing, the plaintiff asked the Court for a permanent injunction enjoining the further implementation of the plan to clear cut timber until the Forest Service submitted a revised plan giving adequate consideration to other uses of the land. The Court decided that the Forest Service plan constituted a major federal action which could significantly affect the environment, and as such, it should have been covered by an environmental impact statement. At the time of the hearing, the Forest Service apparently had not conducted a thorough study of the impacts its plan might have on the environment; therefore, the Court ruled that there was just cause warranting a preliminary injunction against the defendants until full conclusions could be made by the Court at a later date.

Collection Overview

The collection includes ten bound volumes of the proceedings of the oral hearing on Texas Committee on Natural Resources v. Butz.

Collection Arrangement

1. Testimony from the Hearing, 1976

Subject Headings

• Baker, Robert D.
• Blair, W. Frank
• Butz, Earl L. (Earl Lauer), 1909-2008
• Clearcutting -- Texas
• Conn, Paul
• Courtenay, John
• Dugger, Bill
• Duffield, John W.
• Forest policy -- United States -- 20th century
• Fritz, Edward C.
• Frome, Michael
• Gulf States
• Hilliard, John Roy, Jr.
• Jackson, Jerome A.
• Lipscomb, Barney L., 1950-
• McGuire, John R.
• Nelson, Kenneth
• Oates, David G.
• Perkins, Carroll J. (Carroll Jennings), 1913-
• Peterson, R. Max
• Robinson, Gordon
• Shaffner, Paul
• Smith, Earl
• Southern States
• Texas
• Texas. Committee on Natural Resources
• United States. Forest Service
• United States. Forest Service -- Trials, litigation, etc
• Walker, Daniel W. Lay
• Wood, John R.

Detailed Description of the Collection

1. Testimony from the Hearing, 1976.

• Volume 1
  Indices and Testimony from the First Day of the Hearing
  • Includes testimony presented by plaintiff: John Courtenay, John Walker, Charles H. Stoddard, Pete Walker, Woodrow Roberson, Pete Brittan, Burton Jones, and Gordon P. Robinson. Pages 1-288.
• Volume 2
  Testimony from the Second Day of the Hearing
  • Includes testimony presented by plaintiff: Gordon P. Robinson, Don Gardner, Orrin Bonney, Dr. W. Frank Blair, Dr. Bill Dugger, John Walker, Daniel W. Lay, and Earl Smith. Pages 289-564.
• Volume 3
  Testimony from the Third Day of the Hearing
  • Includes testimony presented by plaintiff: Michael Frome, Jerome A. Jackson, Dr. John Roy Hilliard, Jr., Barney Lipscomb, and Edward C. Fritz. Pages 565-816.
• Volume 4
  Testimony from the Fourth Day of the Hearing
  • Includes testimony presented by plaintiff: Edward C. Fritz. Pages 817-1049.
• Volume 5
  Testimony from the Fifth Day of the Hearing
  • Includes testimony presented by plaintiff: Edward C. Fritz. Testimony presented by defendant: John H. Courtenay. Pages 1050-1278.
• Volume 6
  Testimony from the Sixth Day of the Hearing.
  • Includes testimony presented by defendant: John H. Courtenay, Dr. Paul Conn, Max Peterson, and David G. Oates. Pages 1279-1538.
• Volume 7
  Testimony from the Seventh Day of the Hearing
  • Includes testimony presented by defendant: David G. Oates, John W. Duffield, and Carroll J. Perkins. Pages 1539-1789.
• Volume 8
  Testimony from the Eighth Day of the Hearing
  • Includes testimony presented by defendant: Robert D. Baker, Earl L. Stone, Herman L. Holbrook, and Larry D. Hedrick. Testimony presented by defendant intervenors: J. B. Wadsworth, Joe Ned Dean, Emmett Roach, and Oliver Bass. Pages 1790-2075.
• Volume 9
  Testimony from the Ninth Day of the Hearing
  • Includes testimony presented by defendant intervenors: Nolan G. Atchley and Cleo Johnson. Rebuttal testimony presented by plaintiff: Paul Shaffner and Gordon P. Robinson. Pages 2076-2322.
• Volume 10
  Testimony from the Tenth Day of the Hearing
  • Includes rebuttal testimony presented by plaintiff: Gordon Robinson, Kenneth Nelson, and John R. Wood. Pages 2323-2585.

Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Texas Committee on Natural Resources v. Butz Hearing Proceedings, Library and Archives, Forest History Society, Durham, NC, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Received from the National Forest Products Association in February 1982.

Processing Information

Processed by Michele Justice, June 1990

Encoded by Amanda Ross, October 2008

Funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission supported the encoding of this finding aid. Support for digitization and outreach provided by the Alvin J. Huss Endowment.