The Sawtooth Society
A Guide to the records of Bethine Church, President, 1996-2004 MSS 225 |
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| A scene in the northern Sawtooths, ca. 1972. Frank Church collection, Scenic-26 |
This collection consists of the records of Bethine Church in her capacity as acting president and president of the Sawtooth Society during the organization’s formation and early development. The records include correspondence, minutes, reports, fundraising records, publications, clippings and other papers, either created or received by Mrs. Church, reflecting both internal and external operations of the society. She organized her records chronologically, by year, as reflected in the folder list below. Altogether, the collection comprises two linear feet of records. Other persons besides Mrs. Church represented prominently in these records include Robert B. Hayes, the society’s executive director.
The Sawtooth Society was founded to protect the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA). Its website (2007) defines its mission as threefold: serving as an advocate for the SNRA, preserving open space in the SNRA, and enhancing recreation facilities and services in the SNRA, an area of 756,000 acres of public and private land in the rugged Sawtooth Mountains of Central Idaho.
Congress designated this area a national recreation area in 1972 after decades of debate over the future of the region. Many in Idaho advocated the creation of a national park in the Sawtooth Mountains, but the park proposal met opposition from numerous landowners, recreationists, and ranchers in the region. National recreation area status was viewed as a compromise. Since then the area has been managed and regulated by the U.S. Forest Service.
The approaching 25th anniversary of the SNRA in 1997 brought a great deal of attention to the area. Many of the private lands within its bounds and adjacent were being developed in ways that were considered by some to be unsightly and contrary to the purposes of the SNRA. Congress had not authorized funds for the purchase of scenic easements since the 1980s and facilities within the SNRA were not being improved. The Sawtooth Society was founded in 1997 to remedy these problems, and these records reflect that mission. Much of the collection consists of records pertaining to fundraising through Congress and the public for funds to purchase easements, preserve open space, and to enhance facilities. Many of the founding members of the Sawtooth Society were major proponents for the creation of the SNRA in 1972.
Bethine Church of Boise is the widow of U.S. Senator Frank Church. Born in 1923 into a politically active family (her father was later Governor of Idaho), she spent much of her childhood at the family ranch at Robinson Bar, Idaho, now at the edge of the SNRA. She married Frank Church at the ranch in 1947. In order to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, she and Senator Church sold the ranch when he was sponsoring legislation to create the SNRA. Bethine Church was joined in founding the society by former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus (D), former U.S. Senator Jim McClure (R), and former Representative Orval Hansen (R), reflecting the bipartisan nature of the organization.
This collection was a gift of Bethine Church, who retired as society president in 2005.
Collection number: MSS 225
Inclusive dates: 1996-2004
Size of collection: 2 ft.
Processed by Amy Vecchione, 2007
Folder list
Box 1: Sawtooth Society: Records of Bethine Church, president
Folder 1 Sawtooth Society Advocate [moved to Special Collections periodicals]
2 SNRA Easement News: 1996-1997
3 What you should know about land ownership (Brochure, 2002)
4 Minutes of Annual Meetings (1998-2002)
5 Articles of Incorporation (1997)
6 Mission, Bylaws, Board of Directors (1997, 2000)
7 Bylaws draft
8 1996 : Correspondence
9 1996 : Clippings
10 1996–1997 : SNRA Clippings
11 1996–1997 : SNRA Clippings
12 1997 : Correspondence : Jan.–Jul.
13 1997 : Correspondence : August
14 1997 : Correspondence : Sept.–Oct.
15 1997 : Correspondence : Nov.–Dec.
16 1997 : Board Matters
17 1997 : Agendas
18 1997 : Founding Board Organization and Correspondence
19 1997 : First Brochure
20 1997 : 25th Anniversary of the SNRA : August 22, 1997
21 1997 : December fundraiser
22 1997 : National Forest Foundation
23 1997 : Notes
24 1997 : Miscellaneous
25 1997 : Clippings : Wood River Journal
26 1997 : Clippings : Post Register, Idaho Falls
27 1997 : Clippings : Idaho Statesman, Boise
28 1997 : Clippings : Challis Messenger
29 1997 : Clippings : Times News : Twin Falls, ID
30 1997 : Clippings : Mountain Express
31 1997 : Clippings : Miscellaneous
32 1998 : Correspondence : January
33 1998 : Correspondence : February
34 1998 : Correspondence : March
35 1998 : Correspondence : April
36 1998 : Correspondence : May
37 1998 : Correspondence : June
38 1998 : Correspondence : July
39 1998 : Correspondence : August
40 1998 : Correspondence : September
41 1998 : Correspondence : October
42 1998 : Trademark Applications : October
43 1998 : Correspondence : November
44 1998 : Correspondence : December
45 1998 : Board Matters
46 1998 : Annual Meeting : August
47 1998 : Next Meeting
48 1998 : Donations
49 1998 : License Plate
50 1998 : Issues and Building Standards
Box 2 : Sawtooth Society: Records of Bethine Church, president
Folder 1 1998 : Miscellaneous
2 1998 : Clippings
3 1999 : Correspondence : January
4 1999 : Correspondence : February
5 1999 : Correspondence : March
6 1999 : Correspondence : April
7 1999 : Correspondence : May
8 1999 : Correspondence : June
9 1999 : Correspondence : July
10 1999 : Correspondence : August
11 1999 : Correspondence : September
12 1999 : Correspondence : October
13 1999 : Correspondence : November
14 1999 : Correspondence : December
15 1999 : Board Matters
16 1999 : Board Resumes
17 1999 : Clippings
18 2000 : Correspondence : Jan.–Apr.
19 2000 : Correspondence : May–Sept.
20 2000 : Correspondence : Oct.–Dec.
21 2000 : The Advocate draft : Fall
22 2000 : Board Matters
23 2000 : Clippings
24 2000 : Legal brief: Wilderness Reserved Claims (Idaho Supreme Court)
25 2001 : Correspondence
26 2001 : Clippings
27 2002 : Correspondence : Jan.–Mar.
28 2002 : Correspondence : Apr.–July
29 2002 : Correspondence : Aug.–Dec.
30 2002 : Miscellaneous
31 2002 : Clippings
32 2003 : Correspondence
33 2003 : Annual Meeting : August 1-4, 2003
34 2003: Annual Meeting: Sawtooth Society Development Plan, 2003-2008
35 2004: Miscellaneous
36 National Forest Foundation Membership
37 Photo of Ernest Hemingway in the Sawtooths [source unknown; not public domain]
Two videos, also in Box 2
Video (VHS): "Sawtooth Society, Protecting Saawtooth National Recreation Area"
Video (VHS): "Sawtooth National Recreation Area...25th Anniversary Celebration" (1997)