For the past sixty years, The Nature Conservancy has fought to protect natural habitats and clean up our waterways.  Founded in 1950 as the Ecologists Union by a group of scientists, The Nature Conservancy has preserved 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of river throughout the world.  Today, this private, nonprofit organization is a leader in the field of conservation with more than one million members and offices in thirty countries.  The Archives and Rare Books Library holds the papers of Ray M. Culter, a former Vice President of the Nature Conservancy, which consists of 43 linear feet of material pertaining to his work with the Conservancy including correspondence, financial records, newsletters, brochures, and reports.  A new group of papers was recently added to this collection consisting of Culter’s papers from his work with both The Nature Conservancy and other conservation groups including American Rivers, The Potomac Conservancy, and the Center for Watershed Protection.

Ray M. Culter graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in Community Planning.  He served on the Hamilton County Planning Commission and as Executive Director of Little Miami Inc. before beginning work with The Nature Conservancy in 1973.  Before his retirement in 2009, Culter was Vice President and Director of Administration and Trade Lands Dispositions for The Nature Conservancy.  He also served on the Board of Directors of other environmental and conservation organizations including The Potomac Conservancy, The Center for Watershed Protection, and American Rivers.

Finding aids for 12 collections of the Ray M. Culter – The Nature Conservancy papers can be found on the OhioLINK Finding Aid Repository:

US-98-20, US-99-24, US-01-10a, US-01-39, US-02-01, US-03-04, US-04-04, US-05-02, US-06-02, US-07-03, US-09-02, US-10-02

A 1999 map shows the extent of the Nature Conservancy's Freshwater Initiative (Accession Number: US-99-24)- Click to see larger image