Law, Ideology, and Stories at Zena

The chapters in this section cover a time span from the late 1700s to the most recent generation of Zena explorers. Michael Harder and Alec Week’s chapter examines the process of Euro-American settlement, through both illegal means and also legal mechanisms. Kyle Carboni and Morgan Gratz-Weiser analyze land use conflict throughout the twentieth century, focusing on the clash between ideological perspectives centered on anthropocentric and environmental welfare. Elise McGlone, Lauren Vermilion, and Heather Smith's chapters discuss the unique stories of Zena through family history on the land, personal beliefs about conservation, and desires for the future of Zena, both within and outside the Willamette University community.

Zena remains a product of historical legal constructions, political negotiations, ecological systems, and human imaginations

This map, from the Polk County 1974 Comprehensive Plan, shows how the area around Zena remains a product of historical legal constructions, political negotiations, ecological systems, and human imaginations.

Source: University of Oregon Local & Regional Documents Archive

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