Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia fonds
General material designation
- Multiple media
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Title statements of responsibility
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- Source of title proper: Title based on the contents of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
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Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
10.14 m of textual records and other material
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia was initially established in 1962 as the Mountain Access Society. In 1972 the organization incorporated under the Society Act as the Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia (FMCBC).
The FMCBC acts as umbrella organization representing the needs and interests of outdoor clubs dedicated to protecting and maintaining self-propelled, non-motorized access to British Columbia’s backcountry. The organization’s main functions include supporting member clubs, trail maintenance and trail building, public outdoor educational programming, and advocacy efforts in support of preserving and maintaining access to the backcountry. In addition, the organization publishes educational materials on backcountry access and, in 1987, purchased several parcels of land in Squamish, British Columbia, to hold in trust for the use of the rock-climbing community.
In 2003 the educational programming arm of the FMCBC, known as the Canada West Mountain School (CWMS) was sold by the organization to a private owner, who still operates the school today. In 2012, the FMCBC began a grant program for the benefit of member clubs within the organization. In 2018, the organization significantly revised its bylaws and reduced its Board of Directors. The current board consists of a President, Treasurer, Secretory, and five Directors from various member clubs. The FMCBC is a member of the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia, Leave No Trace Canada, and the Canadian Avalanche Association.
Custodial history
The Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia held custody of the materials from the date of creation until donation to Rare Books and Special Collections in January of 2020.
Scope and content
Volunteer members and elected directors of the Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia (FMCBC) created and kept records as part of their work carrying out the Federation’s major mandate: organizing mountain clubs from throughout the province of British Columbia to represent collective interests for self-propelled access to wilderness areas.
Ranging in date from the 1970’s to ca. 2018, records in the fonds document the FMCBC’s major activities in support of their mandate: administrative and executive activities, the creation of various committees and work undertaken by these committees, advocacy for various lands and parks throughout the province to be considered and maintained for public access, and educating and communicating to both members and the public on topics of relevant interest.
While the FMCBC as an organizational body created the majority of these records, some records in the fonds were created by related organizations, such as the British Columbia Mountaineering Club, governmental committees, or natural resource extraction companies. The majority of records within the fonds are textual, though some other record types are present, including maps, photographs and ephemera.
The fonds contains the following series: Administrative and Executive series, Committees Series, Lands and Parks series, and Education and Communication series.
Notes area
Physical condition
Materials are in generally very good condition. Some textual records are permanently folded but still legible. Many cartographic records are permanently folded and should be handled with care. Some records also contained rusted inorganic material (e.g. staples and paperclips) which have been removed by the archivist. Many staples and paperclips inevitably remain, and should be removed in the future for preservation.
Immediate source of acquisition
All records were acquired directly from the Federation of Mountain Clubs of British Columbia.
Arrangement
Where established, the archivist has attempted to preserve the original order and file titles of the records. Some loose files, records in disarray, and unnamed files have been rearranged and described according to the series structure indicated above. Many records were arranged according to a legacy filing system, available in box-file 25-05 (1 of 2). Where present, the archivist has documented the filing conventions as they appeared on individual boxes and files upon donation, these numbers are indicated as ‘alpha-numeric designations’ in the notes field for individual files.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Some records in the fonds are still protected under copyright.
Finding aids
The finding aid for this fonds is available in this database.
Generated finding aid
Associated materials
Accruals
Conservation
The archivist has attempted to remove all rusting inorganic materials from the fonds, but some undoubtedly remain.
Conservation
Many cartographic materials remain folded and stored with the textual records. Future work includes a review of these materials to determine proper long-term rehousing solutions.
Physical description
Cartographic materials stored with textual records have not been fully described. Where present, the archivist indicated the presence of cartographic materials through the 'General Notes' field, with a note: 'Contains map(s)'. Future work includes full physical description of all cartographic materials in the fonds.
Physical description
Includes 41 photographs, 2 posters, 1 sticker and 1 statuette.
Alternative identifier(s)
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Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Claire Williams arranged and described this fonds in Spring/Summer of 2021.
Matthew White added an accrual of 19 boxes in Summer of 2023.