National Audubon Society

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Type: Private - Not-for-Profit
On the web: http://www.audubon.org
Employees: 600

Audubon has gone to the birds. The National Audubon Society is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to preserving birds and other animals, as well as their natural habitats. The society operates programs and educational centers in every US state and in selected South American and Caribbean nations that encourage grassroots conservation and promote environmental public policy reform. Current projects include saving habitats in the Everglades, Arctic Wildlife Refuge, Long Island Sound, and Mississippi River basin. Audubon also publishes Audubon Magazine. A precursor to the society started in 1886 but disbanded when it grew too quickly. The current version began in 1905.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending June, 2008:
Sales: $81.8M

Officers:
Chair: B. Holt Thrasher
President and CEO: John Flicker
COO: Bob Perciasepe

Incorporated: 1905 as National Association of Audubon
SIC: 8699 Membership Organizations Nec; 2721 Periodicals; 8641 Civic & Social Associations; 8733 Noncommercial Research Organizations

The National Audubon Society (NAS or the Society), one of the largest private conservation organizations in this country, seeks to advance public understanding of the value and need of conserving soil, water, plants, and wildlife, as well as to encourage progress through intelligent use of natural resources. Incorporated in 1905 as a nonprofit organization, this leading grassroots Society organizes citizen action in support of specific conservation goals and conducts environmental research as well as programs on conservation issues. In North America, NAS has over 550,000 members and 518 chapters across North America; on a nationwide basis the Society manages 104 Audubon Wildlife Sanctuaries and Nature Centers. NAS produces elementary classroom curricula for its "Audubon Adventures" program, which reaches half-a-million children in 16,000 classrooms across the nation. "Audubon's Animal Adventures" is rated as one of the highest original series of the Disney Channel and won the Genesis Award for the "Outstanding Cable Television Children's Series." "Wild Wings: Heading South," airs on PBS and on BBC; the series features "electronic field trips" on the World Wide Web and enables children in 1,000 schools in the United States and Great Britain to learn about and track migrating birds in the Old World and the New World. A curriculum for another program, "Wild Wings: Heading North," enables 12,000 students in U.S. schools to track and study migrating geese in real time, via the Web, during the four months of the birds' migration. The Society has over 105 books available for purchase and publishes the bimonthly Audubon magazine. NAS also sponsors staff-led "Nature Odysseys" to destinations around the world. The Society takes scientifically informed positions on all environmental issues in which it engages, works in conjunction with its chapters for wise environmental policies and laws, and initiates or joins in legal actions against activities destructive to the environment.

The roots of the National Audubon Society go as far back as 1886 when, according to Frank Graham, Jr.'s book titled The Audubon Ark: A History of the National Audubon Society, "the first Audubon Society was the ephemeral creation" of George Bird Grinnell, the proprietor of Forest and Stream, the 19th century's leading hunting and fishing journal in the United States. The young editor published hard-hitting editorials about the slaughter of wild birds and animals; he became a leader in the campaign that outlawed market hunting and the mindless killing of birds to meet fashion demands for bird plumes--or even entire birds--to decorate hats, clothing, and coiffures. In the February 11, 1886 issue of Forest and Stream Grinnell encouraged his readers to join him in forming the Audubon Society for the protection of wild birds and their eggs. He named the Society in honor of John James Audubon (1785-1851)--the ornithologist, explorer, and wildlife artist whose widow had been young Grinnell's teacher in New York City. Membership was open to everyone refusing to wear bird feathers as ornaments and/or willing to prevent the killing of wild birds not used for food and the destruction of their eggs.

The Audubon Society collected no dues, owned no property, lobbied no legislatures, and sued no malefactors. After a year, the organization emerged as a separate publication called the Audubon Magazine, which sold for six cents a copy or 50 cents for an annual subscription. The first issue reported that "Within the past few years, the destruction of our birds has increased at a rate which is alarming. This destruction now takes place on such a large scale as to seriously threaten the existence of a number of our most useful species." By 1887, the Society was a New York organization of 39,000 members. Overwhelmed by the response, Grinnell had neither the time nor the staff at Forest and Stream to keep up with additional correspondence and administrative details; he disbanded the group in 1888.

But Grinnell's concern for bird preservation was not a dead issue. In 1896, several of Boston's fashionable ladies recruited some prominent naturalists and ornithologists to form a society for the protection of birds: the Massachusetts Audubon Society was to discourage "the buying and wearing, for ornamental purposes, of the feathers of any wild birds and to otherwise further the protection of native birds." Members of the Society distributed leaflets to educate the public, wrote letters to newspaper editors, and spoke to politicians. To recruit junior members, as Grinnell had done, the Society supported a Bird Day in the schools by sending teachers the forms needed to enroll youngsters at no cost, provided they signed a pledge card that read: "I promise not to harm birds or their eggs, and to protect them both whenever I am able." After a few months, an Audubon Society was established in Pennsylvania and, by 1899, 15 other states had formed Audubon Societies.

While various states implemented legislation to protect birds, Senator Hoar of Massachusetts and Representative John F. Lacy focused on the passage of national legislation prohibiting interstate shipment of birds and other animals killed in violation of state laws; Congress passed the Lacy Act in 1900. Although at that time only five states had passed laws to protect birds, between 1895 and 1905, 32 additional states adopted model bird protection laws. In 1899 ornithologist Frank Chapman's publication of Bird-Lore magazine, gave the Audubon movement a unifying national forum. Furthermore, in 1900 Chapman sponsored the first national Christmas Bird Count. By the end of the century, more than 42,000 birders participated in this annual census and provided valuable data to ornithologists.

William Dutcher, an early leader of the Audubon movement, urged the state-based Audubon Societies to unite in order to have greater national clout. In 1901 some of these societies formed a loose alliance called the "National Committee of the Audubon Societies of America" and chose Dutcher as chairman. Then, in 1905, the National Committee incorporated as the National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals (Audubon), with William Dutcher as the president who "almost singlehandedly pulled the movement together," Graham commented in The Audubon Ark. Dutcher found a staunch ally in Abbott H. Thayer, an artist whose book about the protective coloration of animals inspired the new art of camouflage during World War I. Thayer provided Dutcher with the financial means to take forceful action against bird killers. The public contributed $1,400 to the Thayer Fund, which Dutcher enthusiastically used to set up a warden system to enforce conservation laws.

The Audubon Society was instrumental in obtaining the passage in New York of the Audubon Act (1911), which prohibited the sale of feathers of native wild birds in the state, and of the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918), which prohibited the killing or capturing of most non-game bird species. During the first decades of the 20th century, NAS succeeded in saving from possible extinction many species; for example, the American and snowy egrets, terns, gulls, waterfowl, and some species of insectivorous birds. The Society also campaigned for the U.S. government to protect vital wildlife areas by establishing a National Wildlife Refuge system.

In 1910 President Dutcher was succeeded by T. Gilbert Pearson, whose 30 years in office were characterized by creative support of a warden and sanctuary system, nature education for children, political action, and a close working relationship with biologists in the federal government. During his tenure, NAS received the 26,000 acres of Louisiana marshlands that became the Paul J. Rainey Sanctuary, the oldest Audubon sanctuary. When Pearson left the Audubon presidency, the Audubon board chose Kermit Roosevelt, son of conservationist President Theodore Roosevelt, as president. The board also created the position of executive director and offered it to John Hopkinson Baker, a practical businessman and field birder who gave up his investment business to accept the new position. Baker built an elite staff composed mainly of naturalists in their 20s and 30s, strengthened the association's avian research, emphasized nature education, encouraged campaigns for the protection of nesting colonies, and gave a high priority to the education of children.

Among the schoolchildren who joined the Junior Audubon program was Roger Tory Peterson, a bird lover and talented artist. Whenever Peterson saw a new bird, he noted its distinguishing characteristics--such as thickness of the bill, a bar in the wing, color in the tail, a crest, a bright patch on throat or rump--in sketches that he used as guides during his field trips. Peterson tried to publish his collection of sketches but did not succeed until he received an offer from Houghton Mifflin to publish the guide without advance payment and--because of the high cost of making plates of the sketches--no royalties for the first thousand copies sold. The first 2,000 copies of A Field Guide to the Birds, published in April 1934, included only species found in the eastern United States, but the book sold within a week; 5,000 additional copies were printed and sold almost immediately. Each plate represented a group of related species; slim black pointers indicated distinguishing characteristics and the text gave information on each bird's voice, range, and habitat. "The Peterson System of Identification," endured as the basic method of identifying birds. Baker hired Peterson as Audubon educational director and art director of Bird-Lore magazine. The artist-naturalist visited classrooms and museums and created leaflets that would appeal to children of different age groups. When he left Audubon to enlist in World War II, nine million American children were members of the Junior Audubon program NAS President Pearson had designed in the fall of 1910.

During the 1930s NAS sponsored many scientific research projects on endangered birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the roseate spoonbill. In the summer of 1936 the Audubon Association opened a camp on Hog Island in Maine's Muscongus Bay to educate adults about conservation of natural resources. Audubon Camp's summer sessions were an immediate success. Meanwhile, Baker persuaded Chapman to sell the Bird-Lore magazine to the Audubon association. In 1941 the name of the magazine was changed to Audubon Magazine and later shortened to Audubon. A year earlier the board of directors changed the name of "National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals" to "National Audubon Society" (NAS or the Society). In 1953 NAS adopted the flying great egret as its emblem.

Although most of NAS's state organizations remained aloof from Baker's operations, vigorous little urban "bird clubs" sprang up across the country. These clubs considered themselves nominal NAS affiliates but were devoted mostly to outings led by local naturalists. For instance, St. Louis Bird Club President Wayne Short organized bird walks and asked some of the leading naturalists (including Roger Peterson) who had brought their color motion-picture cameras into their favorite wildlife haunts, to be part of a series of lectures during the winter months. Within a few years, an average of a thousand people attended each lecture.

World War II brought wartime problems that cut into the Society's membership and programs. Baker accepted Short's offer to set up a program, called "Audubon Screen Tours," that would visit various cities during the winter months. Within a few years, more than 50 cities, from New England to California, were in the program. Baker, promoted to president in 1944, was always on the alert for land acquisition and dealt successfully on the personal level with potential financial contributors. He was also among the first to foresee the danger inherent in technological innovation; it was he who warned against the growing enthusiasm for unrestricted use of DDT, the insecticide the U.S. Army used to protect its troops against lice, malarial mosquitoes, and a typhoid epidemic. According to the May 26, 1945 issue of the New Yorker, Baker said that "If DDT should ever be used widely and without care, we would have a country without freshwater fish, serpents, frogs, and most of the birds we have now."

When Carl Buchheister succeeded Baker in 1959, NAS entered one of the most intense series of legislative struggles in the modern conservation era. Buchheister built up NAS's branch and chapter system; then he encouraged lobbies in state legislatures and in Congress for the passage of laws to protect wildlife, natural habitats, and the environment; the Society issued leaflets, booklets, and other informational materials on natural history and the environment. During his tenure NAS staff and members played a leading role in the enactment of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the Endangered Species Acts. In 1961 NAS formed a Nature Centers Division by merging with Nature Centers for Young America, Inc. These Centers worked with school boards and other community organizations to give children living experiences of outdoor life.

In 1962 NAS took the lead in the defense of marine biologist Rachel Carson, whose book, Silent Spring, touched off a furious controversy by documenting how DDT and its new sister poisons were contaminating the earth. The eventual result was a virtual ban of DDT in this country. NAS's Audubon magazine published a series of articles on pesticide legislation and regulation and became a force in the struggle for pesticide reform. When Buchheister retired in 1967, he had consolidated the Society nationally, made friends with state leaders, directed the upgrading of the Society's magazine, and led the staff into increased participation in national issues, such as elimination of air and water pollution, support of land-use planning, need for energy conservation, and opposition to the giving away of public lands. Growth in membership broadened NAS involvement in environmental issues. For example, for 11 years NAS worked with the people of Washington state for the creation in 1968 of North Cascades National Park in order to save that area of high jagged mountains, deep forests of giant trees, and rushing rivers. NAS leadership passed on to Elvis T. Stahr in 1968, to Russell W. Peterson in 1979, and to Peter A.A. Berle in 1985.

President Stahr brought his considerable talents and Washington connections to serve as environmental leader and advocate for reform. He prevented the building of a dam that would have destroyed Kentucky's Red River Gorge. He also led NAS's support of a coalition formed by other national organizations to save Florida's Everglades National Park from almost certain destruction. A mammoth jetport projected to be built north of the park would have restricted and polluted the flow of fresh water vital to the Everglades. Stahr's influence in Washington and NAS's painstaking collection of environmental facts brought about the federal government's cancellation of the project. In addition, when the Internal Revenue Service threatened the tax-deductible status of the Society and of other nonprofit organizations, Stahr organized and chaired the "Coalition of Concerned Charities," composed of some 60 national nonprofit organizations that were not founded primarily to influence legislation. His leadership led to the 1976 Tax Reform Act, which allowed nonprofit organizations to spend up to one million dollars annually for lobbying expenditures. During Stahr's tenure, NAS membership grew 340 percent, from 88,000 members to 388,000. The Society's assets, excluding properties, rose from $8.1 million to $18.5 million.

In 1979, Russell W. Peterson, after a long career in industry and government, began his NAS presidency with the slogan "Think Globally, Act Locally." In The Audubon Ark, Graham quoted him as commenting that "Environmental degradation knows no borders.... One nation's radioactive waste dumped in the ocean may end up in another country's tuna sandwiches." Peterson's enthusiasm for facing global issues (such as the threat posed to the global environment by nuclear arms and the population explosion), was not shared by the majority of NAS staff and members who remained more interested in wildlife protection than in global politics, but his vision for NAS involvement in global issues would surface as an NAS guideline before the end of the century. Peterson's more obvious contribution, during his tenure, was introducing NAS to the world of television through a cooperative arrangement with Ted Turner, creator of the Turner Broadcasting System. The young Turner's sense of showmanship and Peterson's eagerness to spread the Audubon message resulted in a television-film series, titled The World of Audubon, about people working to protect wildlife and the environment.

In 1985 Peter A.A. Berle left his work in a law firm to work as the next NAS president because, according to Graham's quote, he saw "the job as a chance to make a difference in an area of great importance." Berle knew that NAS operated at a loss but it was only in 1987 that he and the board of directors realized the extent of the NAS deficit. As they struggled to balance income and expenses, contemporary events--such as the world's oil glut eliminating the license fees NAS received from companies extracting natural gas from the Rainey Sanctuary, the rapid rise of liability-insurance premiums for the Society's physical properties (sanctuaries, summer camps, nature centers, etc.), and increases in the cost of paper and postage--severely crippled NAS operations. To avoid a total collapse, the board proposed a restructuring of the Society's regional operations but was met with an uproar among chapter leaders because they had not been consulted. Berle asked Chairman Donal C. O'Brien, Jr., to "democratize" the board by adding representation from the chapters. Tightened expenditures and aggressive fundraising made for a dramatic fiscal turnaround. On June 30, 1988, NAS had an annual budget of over $32 million in place. The deficit had disappeared and a new sense of mission revived among the Society's chapters and staff.

To meet the need for new headquarters, in 1990 NAS bought, remodeled the interior, and restored the exterior of a century-old Romanesque Revival loft building in Manhattan. The renovated Audubon House that opened in 1992 symbolized NAS goals for conservation of both natural resources and the urban environment: it was a model of the energy-efficient, environmentally responsible workplace. For instance, Audubon House's energy-efficient features--from the thermal shell to the lighting reductions--were designed to reduce the Society's annual energy costs by 64 percent.

During the early 1990s, Berle continued to foster grassroots active participation in the Society's goals. NAS membership rose to over 550,000 men and women who gave the Society high visibility and nationwide political leverage for the protection of ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest, the prevention of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the preservation of wetlands and reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act. The grassroots element also played a decisive role in defining the future of the Society. In 1994 Chairman O'Brien and other members of the board, NAS members, chapter leaders, and staff joined forces to forge the Strategic Plan for Audubon 2000 (The Plan), a plan that was to make the Society one of the strongest and most effective grassroots organizations for environmental advocacy at the community, state, and national levels.

Berle was succeeded by John Flicker, who assumed the office of NAS President/CEO in 1995. Flicker had served 21 years with The Nature Conservancy (an organization that bought and managed wildlife habitats). Among other accomplishments, he had designed and promoted the $3 billion Preservation 2000 land-acquisition program. Under his leadership NAS scored dramatic victories and substantial progress in its National Campaigns; for example, legislation to revise the priorities of the National Wildlife Refuges; return of the Everglades to a healthy, thriving ecosystem; passage of a new, stronger Endangered Species Act; policies to halt destruction of wetlands; and prevention of water-diversion projects that would destroy natural habitats on Nebraska's Platte River. Flicker supported decentralization of senior staff and stressed the need for heavy investment in the Society's distinctive grassroots network as the primary instrument of environmental advocacy. "A decentralized state program structure is better able to address uniquely local needs and opportunities," wrote Flicker in his 1997 Annual Report. He also stressed expansion of educational programs to nurture appreciation of nature and understanding of the essential link between ecological health and the well-being of human civilization.

For more than a century, NAS and the conservation movement had grown and evolved together. The 21st century would bring new challenges to a worldwide culture of conservation but the National Audubon Society, as a grassroots powerhouse, was geared to lead the conservation movement into a bright and sustainable future.

Further Reading

Atteberry, Ann, "Birders Flock to Wildlife Refuges in Southeast Texas," Dallas Morning News, July 19, 1998, p. G6.

------, "Off the Beaten Bayou in Cajun Country," Dallas Morning News, October 1, 1995, p. G8.

Bandrapalli, Suman, "So, Who's Coming to Dinner? It Depends on What You're Serving," Christian Science Monitor, February 5, 1998, p. 11.

Begley, Sharon, "Audubon's Empty Nest: Bye-Bye Little Birdie; Hello Corporate Savvy," Newsweek, June 24, 1991, p. 57.

"Building Audubon Centers," Audubon, September 1997, p. 112.

Evans, Brock, "A Time of Crisis: The Giveaway of Our Public Lands," Vital Speeches, September 1, 1995, pp. 689-95.

Flicker, John, "Building Diversity at Audubon," Audubon, March 1998.

------, "Tracking Birds on the Net," Audubon, May 1998.

Graham, Frank, Jr., The Audubon Ark: A History of the National Audubon Society, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990, 336 p.

Isbell, Connie M., "Growing Up in the Fisheries Crises," Audubon, May 1998.

Lemonik, Michael D., "Winged Victory," Time, July 11, 1994, p. 53.

— Gloria A. Lemieux

Audubon Society, a citizens' organization that has been a major force in shaping America's wildlife protection and conservation movement. The society's roots go back to the latter part of the nineteenth century, when there were virtually no effective game laws: waterfowl were being shot by the wagonload to sell to restaurants; plumed birds were being slaughtered for feathers to decorate ladies' hats; and buffalo were being hunted almost to extinction. In an early attempt to protect wildlife, an Audubon society, named in honor of the artist and naturalist John James Audubon (1785–1851), was established in 1885 by George Bird Grinnell, editor of Forest and Stream. The organization lived only until 1888. In 1896, however, a group of women formed the Massachusetts Audubon Society and refused to buy or wear hats or clothing that used bird plumes. They also began lobbying politicians to protect birds, and their efforts led to the formation of a number of state Audubon societies; the membership included hunters who saw that without controls game would be wiped out, as well as other individuals who were appalled by the cruelty and waste in the destruction of wildlife. During the next several years progress was made at the state level, but it also became clear that there was need for a coordinated national effort for federal regulation. In 1905 twenty-five state Audubon societies joined to form the National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals. In 1940 the organization shortened its name to the National Audubon Society.

During its first two or three decades the new national organization was concerned primarily with campaigning for bird protection laws and with direct protection of wildlife. But from its earliest days the society had broader wildlife and conservation interests. As early as the 1920s the society was actively campaigning for an international treaty to curb the menace of oil spills. In 1910 the society formed the Junior Audubon Club to educate children about the protection of birds, and in 1936 the society opened its first summer ecology camp for adults. Both efforts helped spearhead ecology instruction in the United States. In the 1960s and 1970s the Audubon Society focused its efforts on federal environmental policy. The society opened an office in Washington, D.C., in 1969 and urged passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and Endangered Species Acts. In the late twentieth century the society concentrated on protecting ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest, preserving wetlands, and preventing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Audubon Society boasted 508 chapters in the Americas, a membership of 550,000, and 100 Audubon sanctuaries and nature centers.

Bibliography

Graham, Frank, Jr. The Audubon Ark. New York: Knopf, 1990.

Orr, Oliver H., Jr. Saving American Birds: T. Gilbert Pearson and the Founding of the Audubon Movement. Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Florida, 1992.

Price, Jennifer. "When Women Were Women, Men Were Men, and Birds Were Hats." In Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern America. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

—Robert C. Boardman

National Audubon Society
Abbreviation	NAS
Formation	1905
Type	Non-profit organization
Purpose/focus	Humane protection of birds
Headquarters	New York, NY
Coordinates	40°43′45.2129″N -74°0′18.7596″W / 40.729225806°N 73.994789°E / 40.729225806; 73.994789
Region served	USA
President & CEO	John Flicker
Main organ	Board of Directors
Website	http://www.audubon.org/

The National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservancy. Incorporated in 1905, it is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world. It is named in honor of John James Audubon, a Franco-American ornithologist and naturalist who painted, catalogued, and described the birds of North America in his famous book Birds of America published in sections between 1827 and 1838.

The society has many local chapters, each of which is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization voluntarily affiliated with the National Audubon Society, which often organize birdwatching field trips and conservation-related activities. It also coordinates the Christmas Bird Count held each December in the U.S., an example of citizen science. Together with Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it created eBird, an online database for bird observation.

The society's main offices are in New York City and Washington, D.C., and it has state offices in about thirty states. It also owns and operates a number of nature centers open to the public, located at bird refuges, urban settings and other natural areas, as part of its mission to educate the public about birds and to preserve avian and other habitats.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Grinnell's contribution 1.2 American Ornithologists' Union 1.3 Audubon Magazine 1.4 Prosperity through publication 2 Nature centers and refuges 2.1 Modern issues: DDT, the prairie dog, and politics 2.2 Drilling for natural gas 3 Notes 4 Bibliography 5 External links

History

Headquarters of National Audubon Society in New York.

Grinnell's contribution

The NAS has its roots in one hunter's love for wildlife and his desire to see winged creatures proliferate and not perish. In 1886 Forest and Stream editor George Bird Grinnell was appalled by the negligent mass slaughter of birds that he saw taking place. As a boy, Grinnell had avidly read Ornithological Biography, a seminal work by the great bird painter John James Audubon; he also attended a school for boys conducted by Lucy Audubon. So when Grinnell decided to create an organization devoted to the protection of wild birds and their eggs, he did not have to go far for its namesake.

The public response to Grinnell's call for the protection of fowl was said to be instant and impressive: Within a year of its foundation, the early Audubon Society claimed 39,000 members, each of whom signed a pledge to "not molest birds." Prominent members included jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., abolitionist minister Henry Ward Beecher, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Such an organization was not wholly new.

American Ornithologists' Union

The American Ornithologists' Union, founded in 1883, was already aware of the dangers facing many birds in the United States. There were however influential ornithologists who defended the collection of birds. In 1902 Charles B Cory, the president elect of the AOU refused to attend a meeting of the District of Columbia Audubon Society stating that "I do not protect birds. I kill them."^[1]

Birds in the US were threatened by hunting for sport as well as for the fashion industry. Pressure from shooting enthusiasts was intense. Great auks, for example, whose habit of crowding together on rocks and beaches made them especially easy to hunt, had been driven to extinction early in the century. During one week in the spring of 1897, nature author Florence Merriam claimed to have seen 2,600 robins for sale in one market stall in Washington alone. By the turn of the century, the sale of bird flesh was never greater. The second equally great threat to the bird population was the desire for their plumage. In the late 1890s the American Ornithologists' Union estimated that five million birds were killed annually for the fashion market. In the final quarter of the 19th century, plumes, and even whole birds, decorated the hair, hats, and dresses of women.

But public opinion soon turned on the fashion industry. Bolstered by the support of hunter/naturalist President Theodore Roosevelt, who was an avowed Audubon Society sympathizer, and a widespread letter-writing campaign driven by church associations, many of whom distributed the Audubon message in their various newsletters, the plume trade was ultimately eradicated by such laws as the New York State Audubon Plumage Law (1910), which banned the sales of plumes of all native birds in the state.

In 1918 the NAS actively lobbied for the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In the 1920s, the organization also played a vital role in convincing the U.S. government to protect vital wildlife areas by including them in a National Wildlife Refuge system. The association also purchased critical areas itself and, to this day, continues to maintain an extensive sanctuary system. The largest is the 26,000-acre (110 km²) Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary in Louisiana, acquired in 1924. After nearly three-quarters of a century, the National Wildlife Refuge Campaign remains a key component of overall NAS policy.

Audubon Magazine

The society's flagship journal is the profusely illustrated magazine, Audubon, on subjects related to nature, with a special emphasis on birds. New issues are published bi-monthly for society members.^[2]

Prosperity through publication

In 1934, with membership at a low of 3,500, and with the nation in the throes of the Great Depression, John H. Baker became the NAS president. Baker, a World War I aviator and ardent bird lover, was also a businessman, and he set about to invigorate the society and bolster its budget. Baker's innovation was to begin publishing book-length descriptive and illustrated field guides on major forms of bird and mammal life. Soon, in association with New York publisher Alfred A. Knopf, the Audubon Field Guides became a staple of every artist's and environmentalist's library.

Nature centers and refuges

Nature centers and wildlife sanctuaries have long been an important part of Audubon’s work to educate and inspire the public about the environment, its importance, and how to conserve it. Some of the organization’s earliest nature centers are still teaching young and old alike about the natural world. Those include the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center in New York, established in 1923, and the Audubon Center of Greenwich, Connecticut, founded in 1943. From these beginnings, Audubon continued to expand its network of centers. In the late 20th century, the organization began to place a new emphasis on the development of Centers in urban locations, including Brooklyn, New York; East Los Angeles, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Seattle, Washington. Audubon’s national network currently includes more than 45 nature centers and 150 sanctuaries nationwide.

Modern issues: DDT, the prairie dog, and politics

During the post-World War II period, the NAS was consumed by the battle over the pesticide DDT. As early as 1960, the society circulated draft legislation to establish pesticide control agencies at the state level. In 1962 the publication of Silent Spring by long-time Audubon member Rachel Carson gave the campaign against "persistent pesticides" a huge national forum. Following her death in 1964, the NAS established a fund devoted strictly to the various legal fights in the war against DDT.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, the society began to use its influence to focus attention on a wider range of environmental issues and became involved in developing major new environmental protection policies and laws. Audubon staff and members helped legislators pass the Clean Air, Clean Water, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and Endangered Species acts. In 1969 the society opened an office in Washington, D.C., in an effort to keep legislators informed of Audubon's priorities.

By the 1970s the NAS had also extended to global interests. One area that NAS became actively involved with was whaling. Between 1973 and 1974 alone, the poorly regulated whaling industry had succeeded in eliminating 30,000 whales. But by 1985, following the 37th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Bournemouth, England, which was attended by officials from the National Audubon Society and other U.S.-based environmental organizations, a worldwide moratorium on whale "harvesting" was approved. So successful has this moratorium been in restoring populations of many whales, that "non-consumptive uses of whales" may once again be permitted in some areas.

In 1995 the NAS elected as its president John Flicker, attorney and the former General Counsel and head of The Nature Conservancy's Florida State Program. In his leadership of The Nature Conservancy, Flicker raised funds for purchasing key Everglades and unique wilderness lands in Florida. A seasoned lobbyist, Flicker has set about increasing NAS presence in the halls of Congress. High atop his list of goals for the NAS in the late 20th century was the preservation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling interests and the uniting with rainforest activists to protect tropical hardwood areas from excessive deforestation.

Drilling for natural gas

The Audubon society opposes drilling for gas on national reserves. Natural gas has been drilled for and produced at its Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary. The society said it was legally compelled to allow gas and oil drilling at the sanctuary under the terms of the land's donation by its original owners. Proponents of drilling in wildlife sanctuaries, like the Property and Environment Research Center, have argued this makes Audubon's opposition to drilling on protected lands hypocritical.^[3]

August 26, 2009 letter with 300+ Groups Ask Senate for Stronger Climate Bill, included the Central New Mexico Audubon Society, Champaign County Audubon Society, Delaware Audubon Society, Elisha Mitchell Audubon Society, Huachuca Audubon Society, Kalmiopsis Audubon Society, San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, Sequoia Audubon Society, and Audubon South Carolina.

Notes

1. ^ Moss, Stephen (2004) A Bird in the Bush: A social history of Birdwatching. Aurum Press. p. 78
2. ^ [1] National Audubon Society website, membership benefits-Audubon Magazine
3. ^ http://www.perc.org/articles/article167.php

Bibliography

• Frank Graham, Jr., The Audubon Ark: A History of the National Audubon Society (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990) ISBN 0-394-58164-4

External links

• National Audubon Society
• Great Backyard Bird Count
• American Bird Conservancy
• Special Interest Groups
• National Gallery of Art, Audubon's Dream Realized: Selections from "The Birds of America"

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