Abstract
Citizen Alert is a Nevada-based environmental organization established in 1975 in response to Yucca Mountain being considered as the repository for the nation's nuclear waste. The records in the collection date from 1971-1999, with the bulk of the records from 1988-1996 and focused on issues of concern to Southern Nevada. The collection includes a large subject and administration file containing the organization’s mailings, fliers and newsletters regarding environmental issues and events, newsletters of other environmental organizations, press releases and brochures from a number of government agencies, and newspaper clippings on specific environmental topics. The collection also contains a number of environmental reports from federal, state, and local agencies as well as a number of conference and activist packets.
Finding Aid PDF
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Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Citizen Alert Records Collection contains materials that date from 1971-1999, but the bulk of the collection dates from 1988-1996. The Nevada-based environmental organization was established in 1975 in response to Nevada being considered as the storage site for the nation’s nuclear waste. Since its inception, the organization informed the public about the activities of the federal government in Nevada and advocated against the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site, for the banning of nuclear testing, cleaning up toxic and polluted areas of Nevada, managing urban growth, protecting air and water quality, supporting alternative energy sources, and defending Native American land rights. The collection includes a large subject file containing the organization’s mailings, fliers, and newsletters regarding environmental issues and events, newsletters of other environmental organizations, press releases and brochures from a number of government agencies, and newspaper clippings on specific environmental topics. The collection also contains a number of environmental reports from federal, state, and local agencies as well as a number of conference and activist packets.
Access Note
Collection is open for research, with the exception of materials that are restricted to protect personally identifiable information. Restrictions are noted at the box level of this inventory and will be open for research use January 1, 2063.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into four topics: subject and administration files, conference and activist packets, environmental reports, and restricted organizational records. Materials in each topic are arranged alphabetically.
Biographical / Historical Note
In 1975, Citizen Alert, a Nevada-based group began informing the public about the activities of the federal government in response to Nevada being considered as the storage site for the nation’s nuclear waste. Citizen Alert was established by Katherine Hale and Susan Orr, environmental activists who traveled the state to rally support against the federal governments plan to transport nuclear waste to Nevada. Maya Miller a Nevada philanthropist, was also a key figure in the organization and generously funded it. On May 24, 1989, Chris Brown assumed the position of Southern Nevada Coordinator of Citizen Alert. In that position he worked with other environmental groups and Native American communities to oppose Yucca Mountain from becoming the nation’s nuclear waste storage site, ensure the protection of water resources, clean up polluted areas of Nellis Air Force Base, promote renewable and alternative energy sources, manage growth and air quality issues in Las Vegas Valley, and prevent the further testing of nuclear weapons.
Sources:
Hulse, James W.
Preferred Citation
Citizen Alert Records, 1971-1999. MS-00415. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 2000 by Kaitland Backlund; accession number 2008-08.
Processing Note
Materials were inventoried by Hannah Robinson and Lindsay Oden in 2017. In 2018, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Chris Bruce rehoused and arranged the materials, and revised the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards.