Skip to main content

Transitions Journal collection

 Collection
Identifier: MG 661

Content Description

Multiple copies of Transitions Journal, other related newsletters, and documentation regarding articles used in Transitions. Transitions content includes newspaper stories (some from microfilm scans), photographs, original writing, and political cartoons. Each issue was hand-compiled by editor and publisher John Osborn which, up until about 1994, involved using scalpels, glue sticks, a light table, and a photocopier at Kinko’s. All together, the journal contains roughly 4,000 pages.

Digital copies of the covers and information about articles that can be found in each issue can be found on the Transitions Journal Digital Collection.

Dates

  • Creation: 1986-2004

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

A majority of the collection is open for research.

Folder 16 is restricted due to financial information which can be found on some of the materials. Please contact Special Collections staff for further guidance.

Conditions Governing Use

Folder 16 is restricted due to financial information which can be found on some of the materials. Please contact Special Collections staff for further guidance.

Biographical / Historical

Transitions was a journal published by John Osborn and the Inland Empire Public Lands Council. It focuses on the transition from resource extraction to sustainability for communities and the environment in the Pacific Northwest.

John Osborn worked for the U.S. Forest Service during summers from 1974 until 1980, was an Interregional firefighting crew member for the Boise, Sawtooth, and Payette National Forests in southern Idaho, became a medical doctor at the Spokane Veterans Hospital, and was an active environmental activist in the Idaho and eastern Washington areas. Osborn served as the north Idaho regional representative for the Idaho Conservation League, conservation chair for the Northern Rockies Sierra Club, board member for the Idaho Wildlife Federation and the Washington Wilderness Coalition, and was the founder and president of the Spokane-based Inland Empire Public Lands Council. Organized by doctors who wanted to preserve the beauty of the country, the Inland Empire Public Lands Council is an affiliation of sporting and environmental organizations that links the two main regions of the Northwest: the Northern Rockies and the Cascades and is dedicated to the transition of the Greater Columbia River Ecosystem from resource extraction to long term community and biological sustainability.

Extent

1 Cubic Feet (2 document boxes.)

Language of Materials

English

Condition Description

Transition newsletters and documentation along with other environmental newsletters.

Arrangement

Issues of Transitions were placed into folders based upon publication year. The remaining material was

Existence and Location of Copies

Digital copies of Transitions can be found on the CDIL side of the Archive Drive (file path - Z:\digital-collections\Collections\In Progress\transitions).

Related Materials

Related materials can be found in the MG 433 John Osborn Papers.

Processing Information

Transitions was separated from a larger donation by John and Rachael Osborn do to the possible specific interest of researchers. The remainder of the collection will be turned into a separate collection.

Duplicate materials and mockups except for a sampling were removed during processing.

Title
Guide to Transitions Journal collection
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Kelley Moulton.
Date
2025
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository