Manuscripts
Governmental
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Environmental
Manuscripts
This series (Boxes 1-63) contains materials gathered by Frank Wheat for his book, California Desert Miracle, chronicling the history of the California Desert Protection Act as well as materials from many environmental organizations on a wide assortment of environmental subjects beyond the realm of the book. The Government Series is divided into three sub-series: Environmental Activities, Non- environmental Activities and the Legal Profession. The Environmental and Non- Environmental sub-series break down into segments focused upon federal and state governments. Materials related to various executive departments are followed by correspondence with state and federal legislators and finally by files related to specific legislation. The Legal Profession section is divided into Organizations, Overview and Professional Engagements. The Overview portion consists primarily of forms and examples of legal documents. "Professional Engagements" includes documents concerning seminars, conferences and meetings where a topic of interest is featured, usually in the form of an address or speech by Wheat. All are arranged alphabetically by topic, organization or format. Organizations are arranged alphabetically by title.
mssWheat papers
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Legal Profession
Manuscripts
This subseries is composed of Legal Organizations, a general Overview of legal documents, and Professional Engagements. Records documenting legal organizations of interest to Wheat are arranged alphabetically (Boxes 109-115). Highlights include the Alliance for Children's Rights and the Center for Law in the Public Interest (CLIPI). Materials related to Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Wheat's law firm for many years, are located in eight folders within Box 114. The Los Angeles County Bar Association is represented in the first seven folders of Box 115. The Overview section (Boxes 116-117, folder 1) consists of many different documents, primarily examples of legal forms and articles about the profession, arranged alphabetically by format: Agreements (assorted) Articles Cases Corporation Guidelines Employee, forms - various Ethics policies Incorporation forms Lease Agreement examples Note agreement examples Personnel/Resumes Securities Regulations Professional Engagements (Boxes 117-123): Wheat's participation in various conferences and seminars often involved a speech by Wheat; thus the arrangement is alphabetical by subject of the speech or the subject parameters outlined by the conference materials. In dense areas such as "accounting," the folders are also arranged chronologically.
mssWheat papers
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Non-Environmental: Federal
Manuscripts
This subseries documents issues outside the scope of environmental matters, highlighted by Wheat's tenure as SEC commissioner as well as the struggle for campaign finance reform. The structure echoes the Environmental portion of the series, opening with files about executive departments and agencies (including SEC) followed by a Legislative section. From FW Box 91, Folder 4 through Box 93, for instance, the collection contains numerous speeches and related materials by Wheat which are arranged chronologically (by the date of the speech or event) within each venue, organization or institution. Thereafter, the collection tracks Wheat's forays into international securities during and after his SEC tenure. FW Boxes 94 and 95 (and the first folder in 96) are arranged alphabetically by country: Great Britain (London), Mexico, and South America (Argentina, Brazil) and also contain speeches and related materials. The remaining folders in FW Box 96 begin the legislative section of this sub-series. The first folder contains miscellaneous materials such as congressional directories, district profiles, followed by correspondence with representatives (arranged alphabetically), an excerpt from the Congressional Index that offers biographies on certain House and Senate members, directory listings for various House committee and sub-committee members, and Wheat's testimony on "Hostile Takeovers and Their Effects" before the Senate Banking Committee. These materials conclude with FW Box 97, folder 7. Various other resolutions and bills follow and then the last four folders discuss Federal campaign finance reform activities.
mssWheat papers
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Background/Issues
Manuscripts
Wheat researched many topics related to the environment, some of which were detailed in California Desert Miracle and others of which are included in the next 18 boxes. The mining section in this sub-series can be found in Boxes 52-61 and is broadly divided into three sections: General Research, Legal Resources, and the Imperial Project. Information regarding mining regulations, including the 1872 Mining Laws, can be found within the BLM section, Boxes 68-69, and mining legislative materials can be found in FW Boxes 84-85 (plus 2 folders in Box 86). The General Research section (Box 52) contains background information for mining law reform, beginning with publications on mining regulations such as excerpts from the Federal Register and U.S. Code, followed by materials addressing more specific topics such as reclamation, cyanide heap leaching, articles with related correspondence and notes, Mineral Policy Center correspondence, newsletters and reports that discuss primarily mine waste dumps on public lands. The General Research section is followed by Legal Resources which is alphabetically arranged by format: Articles, Correspondence, Court cases, and IBLA (Interior Board of Land Appeals, Department of the Interior) cases. The final section focuses upon the Imperial Project (aka Glamis Mine in Imperial County, California) which was the highlight of Wheat's pursuit to reform the Mining Laws of 1872. It also encompasses research regarding other mines in addition, which are listed alphabetically by mine at the beginning of the Imperial section. The arrangement reflects Wheat's, with the exception of the extensive correspondence previously housed in one folder and now divided into several. Within these folders, general correspondence is at the forefront, followed by separate folders of correspondence with individual recipients (such as Garamendi, Harmon, Flynn). Subsequent folders include Memos and Notes regarding the steps of the CEQA processes, such as the DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement), public comments and feedback, Final Environmental Impact Reports and then Wheat's research for possible litigation.
mssWheat papers
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Environmental: Federal
Manuscripts
The highlight of the Governmental Series is those files related to the activities of the Bureau of Land Management, an arm of the federal government's Department of the Interior (FW Boxes 64-70). They include documents regarding mining regulations (43 CFR 3809) as well as administrative materials, proposed legislation, BLM programs and issues related to the preservation of the California desert such as designated wilderness areas (WSAs), the FLPMA (Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976) and a California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA).BLM folders are arranged alphabetically by topic and in some areas, chronologically as well. Following the BLM, there are folders featuring the Government Accounting Office (GAO) with a report on hard rock mining damage. The next section of folders, the Legislative branch, contains correspondence with various Federal legislators including Anthony Beilenson, Alan Cranston and Dianne Feinstein to Bruce Vento, Timothy Wirth and Pete Wilson. The highlight of the legislative materials, of course, is the evolution of the California Desert Protection Act (FW Boxes 72-83). This section is divided into Early Efforts, Activism and Chronology of Bills. Early Efforts includes pivotal documents and early legislative efforts to protect the California desert. Activism contains Wheat's categories alphabetized by format or subject: Analysis, Arguments (pro & con), Background – "basic data," Contacts, Congressional districts, Hearings, Interim Management Policy (IMP), Lobbying (trips), Miscellaneous and Polls. The next six boxes (83 to 88) contain files dealing with environmental legislation arranged alphabetically by the following topics: Endangered Species, Forest, Grazing, Mining (for example, SMARA -- the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975), Wilderness Acts and Wilderness Studies Areas (WSAs).
mssWheat papers
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Personal Materials
Manuscripts
This series consists of materials Wheat segregated from the environmental and governmental materials, some of which are of a political nature but do not directly connect to legislation or government actions; some of which are philanthropic, some are simply "other interests," in addition to materials resulting from personal activities. The greatest concentration lies in the philanthropic organizations, particularly Human Rights Watch and the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, and the structure of the series is outlined below.
mssWheat papers