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Detroit Free Press outdoor writer and later faculty member in the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources. Files of Detroit Free Press outdoor pages and conservation articles, clippings, and photographs, correspondence, and notes on Michigan conservation history, pesticides, pollution, plants and animals, hunting and fishing, parks, rivers and lakes, conservation writing, and ecology; also manuscript of history of conservation in Michigan with background information; and materials gathered for intended biographical study of Michigan conservationists.

As a long-time observer of the Michigan conservation scene, Van Coevering collected a wide range of materials to document the history of hunting, fishing, and wildlife management, the development of state parks and forests, political development of the Department of Conservation and Conservation Commission, concerns about pollution and pesticide poisoning, and other conservation and environmental matters in Michigan. This collection is made up of his writings and background materials on all these topics.

The collection contains only a part of Van Coevering's papers. His "personal" papers were destroyed by his widow after his death. Included here are "historical" papers collected in the course of his work as an outdoor writer. The papers include press releases, clippings, memoranda, reports, and other documents collected by Van Coevering as well as correspondence. Van Coevering's outgoing correspondence is generally of the information-seeking type, and provides little insight into his ideas.

The collection is divided into five major series: Publications, Reference file, School of Natural Resources file, Michigan conservation history file, and Photographs. There is also a small folder of obituaries and other personal information in Box 1. In 1996, the library received an addition to the collection. This 1996 accession from Frank Angelo includes the manuscript of "A Brief History of Conservation in Michigan," and the accompanying research as well as background research for a proposed history of prominent Michigan conservationists.

The Michigan Natural Areas Council papers document environmental advocacy activities in Michigan from the mid 1940s through 2006. The record group includes numerous reports and articles on natural areas in Michigan, legislative proceedings regarding those areas, photos, slides, correspondence between Michigan's myriad environmental groups, data collected on the natural areas, and maps.

The MNAC records are organized into three series: Administrative Files, Natural Areas Files, and Site Files. The record group documents the Michigan Natural Areas Council's activities and structure from 1934 to 2006, including some materials relating to the MNAC's administration and organization. The bulk of the files relate to the group's efforts to identify and dedicate natural areas in the state of Michigan. There is also some information relating to other Michigan naturalist groups that worked with MNAC members.