Record group 79-27 consists of subject files of the director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (and its predecessor, Department of Conservation) for the years 1966-1969. The director receives on a regular basis documents relating to the operation of the Department. Since only the most important of issues are brought to his attention, the subject files are particularly valuable for determining which problems or topics were considered to be most crucial. The records comprising this collection primarily date from 1968, though concerns of long-term origin or on-going significance entail materials from earlier or later years. Included are memos, correspondence, reports, studies, and position papers on a variety of issues, with special emphasis on coho salmon, parks, and the grounding of the Liberian freighter Fransiscan Morazon in Lake Michigan.
