GILBERT N. HUNTER PAPERS
SCOPE AND CONTENT
Records from 1929 to 1956 comprise the collection with most material dating from 1939 to 1949. Pittman-Robertson project field notes predominate, with administrative records from the Colorado State Game and Fish Department making up the balance.
Departmental bulletins, correspondence, manuscripts and reports comprise the series. Bulletins include press releases and regulatory announcements arranged alphabetically by subject. Hunter's official correspondence includes administrative letters and memos. Also included are letters written by Hunter for C.N. Feast (director). Correspondence is arranged chronologically. Fourteen manuscripts authored by Hunter, one manuscript authored by Orson W. Huntsman and two manuscripts of unknown authorship are arranged alphabetically by manuscript title. Reports include game population surveys, hunting and licensing statistics, grazing and range surveys and economic assesments. Also included are copies of approximately 80 photographs and descriptions from a survey report of Green River through Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Reports are arranged alphabetically by report title or subject.
The Pittman-Robertson Act, sponsored by Nevada Senator Key Pittman and Virginia Representative A. Willis Robertson, applied an excise tax to the sales of several classes of hunting weapons and supplies. Passed by Congress September 2, 1937, the law took effect July 1, 1938. Taxes collected under this act were set aside specifically to restore and improve wildlife habitats, to conduct wildlife management research and to distribute the knowledge gained though a series of Pittman-Robertson projects. One hundred twenty-one Pittman-Robertson notebooks comprise the series. Field notes document game observations, game population studies, habitat surveys, and game postmortems. Also included are field diaries compiled by Pittman-Robertson researchers. Notebooks are arranged alphabetically by subject.
One Life magazine article, one The Denver Post newspaper clipping and one memo written by Gilbert Hunter comprise the series. All items relate to the first large-scale capture and relocation of Bighorn Sheep, which occurred near Grants, Colorado.
Black and white photographs of big game animals including elk, deer, bighorn sheep and mountain goats comprise the bulk of the series. Additional photographs record wildlife management activities.
Dates
- 1929-1956
ACCESS:
The collection is open for research.
OWNERSHIP:
Gilbert N. Hunter Papers are the physical property of the Denver Public Library.
PUBLICATION RIGHTS:
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Gilbert N. Hunter was born January 24, 1900 in Salina, Kansas. He attended East High School in Denver and the University of Colorado at Boulder. During World War I, Hunter served with the United States Marines aboard the battleship USS California. He received his military discharge in February 1919.
In May 1919, Hunter began working with the U.S. Department of the Interior General Land Office, and became a forest ranger in 1921. In 1924, Hunter left government service, working from 1925 to 1934 as a credit manager for General Motors Corporation. He returned to the U.S. Forest Service in 1935, serving as senior forest ranger at the Medicine Bow National Forest in Wyoming. He again resigned from Federal service in April 1939.
In 1940, Hunter began his twenty-seven year career with the State of Colorado when Arthur H. Carhart hired him as a zoologist with the Colorado State Game and Fish Department. In this capacity, Hunter conducted a big game population census and later supervised Colorado's Pittman-Robertson projects. In 1942, Hunter was promoted to State Game and Fish Manager, the only person to hold this position. A 1948 reorganization split the fish and game activities between different departments, with Hunter becoming State Game Manager.
During his tenure, Hunter authored a number of influential publications dealing with game management issues. He was among the first to use aircraft to conduct a census of big game animals. Hunter also pioneered in the use of hunter surveys and interviews for data collection, and in the use of computers for cataloging game statistics. Although Hunter's innovations often met resistance from ranchers and the general public, the game management philosophies and techniques he developed in Colorado have become standard practice in many western states. Hunter continued as State Game Manager until his retirement in 1968. Following his retirement Hunter received the General Motors Conservation Award.
Extent
4 boxes (4 linear feet)
1 OVFF
1 Photo OVBox
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
PROVENANCE:
Gilbert N. Hunter donated most of the material in this collection in 1968. Additional records were donated by Arthur H. Carhart in 1971.
SEPARATED MATERIAL
One box of field notes identified as the logs of: John T. Chapman, John E. Fall, Sherman E. Hall and Les Remington, with dates ranging from 1947 to 1955 was transferred to the Colorado State Archives.
SIZE:
Number of Boxes: 4
Oversize: 1 OVFF
Photoboxes: 1 OVBox
LOCATION:
CONS40
PROCESSED AND ENCODED BY:
Dennis Hagen
March 2006
REVISED AND ENCODED BY:
Dennis Hagen
April 2007
PROJECT MANAGER:
Ellen Zazzarino
- Game and game-birds -- Colorado. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Wildlife management -- Colorado. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- GILBERT N. HUNTER PAPERS
- Date
- MARCH 2006
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
Repository Details
Part of the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Repository
