UMRCC collection
A page within Murphy Library
Agreement for organization of UMRCCThe Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee (UMRCC) approached Murphy Library in February 2017 to discuss a potential collaboration. The UMRCC was interested in locating an institution to permanently house its library of Mississippi River related materials, a collection that began in the early 1940s. Just as important as the physical storage, the UMRCC was also interested in the materials gaining an online presence, thereby further enhancing accessibility. After seeing the collection and better understanding the intellectual value and relevance to UWL and the Upper Mississippi Region, Murphy Library was pleased to receive 73 boxes of UMRCC materials in April 2018. Shortly thereafter, the UMRCC, along with the UWL Provost Office, Murphy Library Endowment Fund, UWL River Studies Center, and Indus International, combined efforts to purchase the Indus BookScanner 9000 in order to facilitate and expedite the collection's digitization. By the UMRCC's 75th annual meeting in March 2019, over 10,000 objects had been digitized, completing the first phase of this multi-year project.
Rosebud Island and proposed HREP site
The Upper Mississippi River Conservation Survey Committee was established in Dubuque, IA, in 1943, originally comprised of 22 biologists from Iowa and the surrounding states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri. The word Survey was later dropped from the Committee’s name and now the organization is called the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee. Upon its conception, the Committee was to be only a temporary organization that would be terminated after its completion of a three-year fish investigation. However, after that investigation began, those 22 biologists recognized the necessity and benefit of a permanent organization. Although the UMRCC formed mostly due to commercial fishing issues, there was an abundance of other conservation issues that could be more effectively tackled if the five states spoke as a unified voice. Since 1943, the UMRCC has grown to more than 200 resource managers working in multiple disciplines including fisheries, mussels, recreation, wildlife, water quality, vegetation, education, and law enforcement.
