Guide to the Philip H. Zalesky Papers
1953-2002

Biographical Note

Philip Zalesky, an Everett, Washington, conservationist, has played an active role in Pacific Northwest conservation groups. He was president of Olympic Park Associates from 1966 to 1972, secretary during the 1990s, and a board member through at least 2002. Olympic Park Associates is a citizens group, founded in 1948, that is dedicated to the preservation of Olympic National Park. The group's projects included removing dams from the Elwah River and removing non-native goats from the Olympic Peninsula. Members also collaborated with other organizations in attempts to reintroduce native wolf species to the Olympic Peninsula.

Zalesky was a founder, in 1957, and the first president of the North Cascades Conservation Council. The council, whose mission is "to protect and preserve the North Cascades' scenic, scientific, recreational, educational, and wilderness values," led the successful campaign to create the North Cascades National Park complex.

Zalesky initiated a climbing course based in Everett in 1953, when he was elected president of the Everett chapter of the Mountaineers Society. As a member of the Mountaineers Conservation Committee, he chaired the Subcommittee on Mountain Goats, 1954-1955, which supported legislation to ban hunting of mountain goats in Washington State. Zalesky also served as Washington vice president of the Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs in 1956.

In 1989 Zalesky became president of the Snohomish County Land Trust. The trust, which helped property owners in Snohomish County, Washington, to preserve their land from development, subsequently merged with land conservancies in King and Pierce Counties to form the Cascade Land Conservancy.

Scope and Content

The bulk of the papers concern Zalesky's activities in various conservation campaigns and organizations, such as the Mountaineers Society Conservation Division, the North Cascades Conservation Council, Olympic Park Associates, and the Snohomish County Land Trust. Major correspondents include Polly Dyer, Brock Evans, Patrick D. Goldsworthy, Harvey Manning, and Grant McConnell.

The papers include correspondence, minutes, writings, ephemera, newsletters, reports, clippings, sound recordings, hearings, and subject files.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in two accessions:

• Accession No. 3773-001, Philip H. Zalesky papers, 1953-1984
• Accession No. 3773-004, Philip H. Zalesky papers, 1968-2002

Restrictions on Use

Literary rights have been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Restrictions on Access

The papers are open to all users.

Preferred Citation

Philip H. Zalesky Papers. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, Washington.

Acquisition Info

Accession No. 3773-001 was donated by Philip H. Zalesky in 1986. Accession No. 3773-004 is a merger of papers donated by Zalesky in 1990 and 2002.

Processing Info

Processing of the papers was completed by Emily Inlow in 2005.

Within the accessions, the papers were grouped by organization. Subject matter was consolidated within each organization Zalesky represented despite the fact that certain issues, such as the Glacier Peak wilderness and mountain goats legislation, involved other organizations to which Zalesky belonged. Accession Nos. 3773-002 and 3773-003 were combined to form 3773-004. Materials that Zalesky organized by subject were maintained as subject series.

Inventory