Audubon

in Manhattan, New York City Development of Audubon societies In 1886, Forest and Stream editor George Bird Grinnell was appalled by the As a boy, Grinnell had avidly read Ornithological Biography, a work by the bird painter John James Audubon; he also lived in his early years in a development of the former Audubon estate, Audubon Park in upper Manhattan, and attended a school for boys conducted by Lucy Audubon. The Audubon name would become the namesake of the society he founded, and after its failure, that of local, state, and a national organization bearing that name. In 1890, a Chicago-based Audubon Society was started under the presidency of E. Irene Rood. About 70 persons joined and the Society was incorporated in 1893. Within a year of Grinnell founding it his early Audubon Society claimed 39,000 members, eventually growing to 48,862. Each member 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. In under a decade this society was discontinued, but the name and plan survived. in the Dominguez Slough, 1918 In 1895, a second iteration of the Audubon Society was created, with an unbroken history that traces to today. Cousins and Boston socialites, Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, disturbed by the destruction left by plume hunters, organized a series of afternoon teas with other wealthy local women, encouraging them to avoid feathered garments. They also sent literature asking these women to, in Hall's words, "join a society for the protection of birds, especially the egret". Later that same year, they founded the Massachusetts Audubon Society. These boycotts were largely successful, and the efforts of the early society members helped bring about the end of the plume trade and assisted in the introduction of early conservation legislation such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. and during the next few years, bird lovers in many other states followed suit. St. Louis Audubon Society (SLAS) was established in 1916 as the St Louis Bird Club. In 1944, the Bird Club became the first local Audubon chapter in the United States. The national committee of Audubon societies was organized at a meeting held in Washington, D.C. in 1902. 1905 saw the organization of the National Association of Audubon Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals; William Dutcher was president, and T. Gilbert Pearson was secretary and financial agent. During this time, Albert Willcox provided financial support, more than $331,072 in 1905 and 1906. At the end of 1906, the Association had an interest-bearing endowment fund of more than $336,000 and an income from other sources of approximately $9,000. The Audubon Center of Greenwich, Connecticut was founded in 1943. The Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary in Louisiana was acquired in 1924, and at it is still the largest. 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. Field guides In 1934, with membership at a low of 3,500, and with the nation in the Great Depression, John H. Baker became the NAS president. He was a World War I aviator and ardent bird lover, and also a businessman, and he set about to invigorate the society and bolster its budget prosperity through publication. Baker began publishing book-length 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. Today, many Audubon field guides have been adapted for mobile phone apps. This field guide series covers a wide range of nature-related topics, including the night sky, rocks and minerals, wildflowers, and many animals. This series has sold 18 million copies 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, 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 harvesting 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 whaling was declared. 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. Television specials During the 1980s and 1990s, the National Audubon Society produced a notable series of nature documentary television specials, many of which were entitled The World of Audubon. These included specials on many animals other than birds (the traditional focus of this organization) and on natural areas such as the Great Lakes. This series included a special documenting the rescue efforts to save the black-footed ferret from extinction. Arthur Unger of The Christian Science Monitor reviewed this special very favorably and wrote that this special was "further proof that the Audubon series deserves a place in television's splendid wildlife triumvirate alongside Nature and National Geographic Specials. Audubon Medal The Audubon Medal is given in recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of conservation and environmental protection. 52 people have received the honor in Audubon's 108-year history. ==List of awardees==