GERALD L. WILLET:

Gerald L. Willet was born October 31, 1934 in Duluth, Minnesota. He spent his childhood years in the north central Minnesota towns of Walker, Crosby, Ironton, and Laporte. After graduating from Laporte High School, Willet first worked for Reserve Mining Company as an operating engineer. On May 2, 1955, he married Anita Ware of Bemidji, Minnesota. During the next nine years they lived in Minnesota, New York, Ohio, California, and Oregon, where Willet held numerous construction jobs. In 1964 they settled in Park Rapids, Minnesota and began a furniture business.

In 1970 Willet was elected on the DFL ticket to the Minnesota State Senate from District 65. Following reapportionment in 1972, Willet represented the 4th District, comprising Hubbard County, most of Cass, and parts of Beltrami, Itasca, Wadena, and Morrison counties in the North Central and Central regions of Minnesota. The district includes the city of Bemidji, as well as the Leech Lake and Red Lake Indian Reservations. Agriculture and tourism, as well as education (Bemidji State University), are major industries and activities of the area.

During his seventeen years as a legislator, Willet was an active member of many senate committees, most notably the Finance Committee (1973-1987), of which he was chair from 1981 to 1986, and the Agriculture and Natural Resources/Environment and Natural Resources Committee (1971-1987), which he chaired during 1977-1980 and in 1987. Other committee assignments include Elections and Reapportionment (1971-1972, 1981-1982), Elections and Ethics (1983-1988), Rules and Administration (1978-1988), Employment (1977-1978), Health and Welfare (1971-1972), and Local Government (1975-1976). Among Willet's most important legislative accomplishments is the Payment in Lieu of Tax bill of 1979 (S.F. 439), which provides a payment to the local units of government for a portion of the taxes they would normally receive on state natural resource lands within their jurisdiction. Willet was particularly active in issues involving agriculture, resorts, fishing and hunting, parks and recreation areas, and Indian affairs. In 1987 Willet resigned his senate seat to accept a position as Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

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The Gerald L. Willet Legislative Files contain materials relating to Willet's years as a senator from Minnesota District 4 (1972-1987). The files include correspondence, bill drafts and associated background material, reports, transcripts of hearings, surveys and questionnaires, press releases, outlines and scripts for speeches, and bill summary/author cards.

The bulk of the collection is composed of two major series: subject files and bill files. The subject files are arranged in alphabetical order by topic and contain primarily correspondence from constituents, other citizens, and organizations on issues before the legislature, local concerns, and individual requests for help. The second major series, the bill files, is closely related to the subject files. Many of the subject files reference specific bills associated with that issue.

Other series in this collection include questionnaires and surveys sent out by Willet to his constituents on various issues, and drafts and outlines for speeches given by Willet. The speeches include dedications; talks on specific issues such as abortion, taxes, and volunteerism; addresses to particular groups, such as teachers, police officers, and the AFL-CIO; as well as general overviews of a legislative session. Both of these series are organized chronologically, where the dates are known.

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These records are divided into the following three sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here].Gerald L. Willet Legislative Files. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,123

Processing Information:

Processed by: Lara D. Friedman, May 1996

Catalog ID number: 990017329350104294

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Within this series, the files on education are particularly extensive. They include information on funding, teachers' salaries and benefits, open enrollment proposals, the uniform school opening day proposal and its potential effect on the local economy, home schooling, school athletics, and other topics. Filed separately are several folders on Bemidji State University (funding and budgeting issues, construction of a new maintenance building, the nursing program, and a wood burning program).

Forest management, hunting, and fishing make up another major portion of this series. Controversy surrounding commercial fishing ventures as opposed to recreational fishing in Lake of the Woods is particularly well documented in these files, along with issues such as fishing and hunting license policies, seasons and season opener dates, and fish stocking. There is also a significant amount of material concerning the proposed hunting of mourning doves in Minnesota. Forest management files concern budget and funding, the logging and paper industries, reforestation, tax policies, and forestry station closings. One folder consists almost entirely of notices of sales and auctions of stumpage on state lands (1981-1982).

Another particularly strong topic in this series is Indian affairs. Materials concerning both the Red Lake and Leech Lake Indian reservations can be found. Correspondents include Roger A. Jourdain (chairman of the Red Lake band of Chippewa), Hartley White (chairman of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation) and individuals associated with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC). Issues include the activities and leadership of MIAC, Indian Crafts Development Program, the Minnesota Indian Scholarship Program and other education issues, Indian-owned businesses, and chemical dependency programs, as well as material relating to numerous conflicts between Indians and non-Indians in Willet's district over land use, hunting and fishing rights, and similar issues.

Other topics in this series deserving mention are railroads (particularly right-of-way, the rail bank program, and conversion of abandoned railways to multiple use trails), resorts and tourism (issues regarding taxation), and files relating to Willet's payment in lieu of taxation bill. There is also significant material relating to the courts, including the unification of county and district courts, the reorganization of judgeships, redistricting, and the state judicial information system.

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Drafts of bills authored or co-authored by Willet can be found in this series, including many of the bills referenced in the subject files, organized by year and then by senate file number. In addition to the bill drafts, the files contain some related correspondence and other materials. The summary/author cards, found at the end of the collection, can be used as a sort of index to the bill files and often indicate the final disposition of a particular bill.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Educational law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Fish and game licenses -- Minnesota.

Fishery law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Forestry law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Game-laws -- Minnesota.

Indian reservations -- Minnesota.

Land use -- Effect of taxation on.

Land use, Rural -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Ojibwa Indians -- Minnesota -- Government relations.

Railroads -- Minnesota -- Right of way.

Resorts -- Minnesota.

Taxation -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Tourist trade -- Minnesota.

Trails -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.

Wild rice industry -- Minnesota.

Wildlife conservation -- Law and legislation. Minnesota.

Places:

Beltrami County (Minn.).

Bemidji (Minn.).

Cass County (Minn.).

Hubbard County (Minn.).

Itasca County (Minn.).

Leech Lake Indian Reservation (Minn.).

Minnesota -- Politics and government, 1945-1980.

Minnesota -- Politics and government, 1981-.

Minnesota, Central.

Minnesota, North Central.

Morrison County (Minn.).

Park Rapids (Minn.).

Red Lake Indian Reservation (Minn.).

Wadena County (Minn.).

Person:

Jourdain, Roger A.

Organizations:

Bemidji State University.

Minnesota. Department of Natural Resources.

Minnesota. -- Legislature. Senate.

Red Lake Indian Reservation Tribal Council.

Types of Documentation:

Draft bills (legislative records).

Questionnaires.

Speeches.

Occupations:

Legislators -- Minnesota.

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