National Audubon Society
Encyclopedia
The National Audubon Society (Audubon) is an American
non-profit environmental organization
dedicated to conservation. Incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and uses science, education and grassroots advocacy to advance its conservation mission. It is named in honor of John James Audubon
, a Franco-American
ornithologist and naturalist who painted, cataloged, and described the birds of North America
in his famous book Birds of America
published in sections between 1827 and 1838.
The society has nearly 500 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., a model of citizen science
, in partnership with Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Great Backyard Bird Count each February. Together with Cornell, Audubon created eBird
, an online database for bird observation. The National Audubon Society also has many global partners to help birds that migrate beyond our borders, including BirdLife International based in England, Bird Studies Canada, and many partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. Audubon's International Alliances Program (IAP) brings together people throughout the Western Hemisphere to work together to implement conservation solutions at Important Birds Areas (IBA's).
The society's main offices are in New York City
and Washington, D.C.
, and it has state offices in about 24 states. It also owns and operates a number of nature centers open to the public, located in urban settings, including New York City, Phoenix Dallas and Los Angeles, as well as at bird refuges and other natural areas. Audubon Centers help to forge life-long connections between people and nature, developing stewards for conservation among young and diverse communities.
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. Eventually, it attained a membership of 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
. This society was later discontinued, but the name and plan survived.
Organizations for the protection of birds were not a wholly new idea. Even before Grinnell's Audubon Society was organized, the American Ornithologists' Union
, founded in 1883, was 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."
In 1895 Audubon societies were organized in Massachusetts
and Pennsylvania, and during the next few years bird lovers in many other states followed suit. The national committee of Audubon societies was organized at a meeting held in Washington 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.
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 Boston socialite Harriet Hemenway
and President Theodore Roosevelt
, 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 halted by such laws as the New York State Audubon Plumage Law (May 1910), which banned the sales of plumes of all native birds in the state. By 1920, similar laws were enacted in about 12 other states. Many laws for the establishment of game commissions and game warden forces, or prohibiting the sale of game, owe their existence to Audubon Society activities.
. 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. Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center in New York was established in 1923, and the Audubon Center of Greenwich, Connecticut
was founded in 1943. The Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary
in Louisiana was acquired in 1924, and at 26000 acres (105.2 km²) 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
.
, 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 prosperity through publication. Baker's innovation was to begin publishing book-length descriptive and illustrated field guide
s 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.
. 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.
Today Audubon selects outstanding women in conservation to receive its prestigious Rachel Carson Award. Honorees include Bette Midler, founder of the New York Restoration Project; Dr. Sylvia Earle, oceanographer and founder of Deep Search International; Majora Carter, Founder and Executive Director of Sustainable South Bronx; actress and conservation activist Sigourney Weaver, and NRDC President Frances Beinecke.
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.
During the 1980's and 1990's, The World of Audubon presented TV viewers with excellent hour long documentaries covering a wide range of environmental issues.
Audubon was instrumental in bird rescue and Gulf Coast wetlands recovery efforts in the aftermath of the April 20, 2010 British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Audubon recruited over 34,000 volunteers to assist in rescuing, cleaning and releasing injured Brown Pelicans and other water birds. In addition, Audubon was a leader in pushing for legislation to use British Petroleum oil spill penalties to rebuild the Gulf Coast.
Audubon's Mississippi River and Louisiana Coastal Initiatives have been helping to restore coastal wetlands and to rebuild Mississippi River delta marshlands. The Mississippi Delta loses an area the size of Manhattan to the sea every year, stripping away coastal protections for both human communities and wildlife habitat.
Audubon's Important Bird Area program has been protecting 370 million acres along migratory bird flyways in the United States and is a key part of Audubon's work with BirdLife International and other conservationists around the globe. Audubon is leading the campaign for U.S. Congressional Reauthorization of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act which would generate as much as $100 million each year to advance hemispheric bird conservation.
In Wyoming and across the Intermountain west, Audubon's Sagebrush Initiative works with industry government, ranchers and conservationists to protect 15 million acres of Greater Sage Grouse Core habitat. It also helps promote the development of renewable energy projects in the area.
Audubon also helped to secure preservation of 240,000 acres of wild lands at the Tejon Ranch, the largest land conservation area created in California history.
. 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.
The August 26, 2009 letter, 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.
Yarnold's leadership plan with Audubon is to align its conservation work along migratory flyways, the “superhighways in the sky” that millions of birds travel each spring and fall. Yarnold is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former editor San Jose Mercury News. He joined Audubon from the Environmental Defense Fund, where he played a leading role in expanding partnerships with corporations and helped double revenue.
, Audubon, on subjects related to nature, with a special emphasis on birds. New issues are published bi-monthly for society members. An active blog called 'The Perch' The Perch produces daily updates on issues also. In 2011, Audubon Magazine received an Utne Reader
Independent Press Award for Best Environment Coverage.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
non-profit environmental organization
Environmental organization
An environmental organization is an organization that seeks to protect, analyze or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation or lobby for these goals....
dedicated to conservation. Incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and uses science, education and grassroots advocacy to advance its conservation mission. It is named in honor of John James Audubon
John James Audubon
John James Audubon was a French-American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was notable for his expansive studies to document all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations that depicted the birds in their natural habitats...
, a Franco-American
Franco-American
Franco-American is a brand name of the Campbell Soup Company.The original Franco-American Food Company was founded by Alphonse Biardot, who immigrated to the United States from France in 1880. In 1886, he and his two sons opened a commercial kitchen in Jersey City, New Jersey, featuring the foods...
ornithologist and naturalist who painted, cataloged, and described the birds of North America
Birds of North America
Birds of North America is a comprehensive encyclopedia with substantial articles about each individual bird species.It was first published as a series of 716 printed booklets, prepared by over 5000 individual researchers, and made available in no particular order from 1992 through 2003...
in his famous book Birds of America
Birds of America (book)
The Birds of America is a book by naturalist and painter John James Audubon, containing illustrations of a wide variety of birds of the United States. It was first published as a series of sections between 1827 and 1838, in Edinburgh and London....
published in sections between 1827 and 1838.
The society has nearly 500 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
Birdwatching
Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...
field trips and conservation-related activities. It also coordinates the Christmas Bird Count
Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer birders...
held each December in the U.S., a model of citizen science
Citizen science
Citizen science is a term used for the systematic collection and analysis of data; development of technology; testing of natural phenomena; and the dissemination of these activities by researchers on a primarily avocational basis...
, in partnership with Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Great Backyard Bird Count each February. Together with Cornell, Audubon created eBird
EBird
eBird is an on-line database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, it was widened to include New Zealand in 2008, and was widened to...
, an online database for bird observation. The National Audubon Society also has many global partners to help birds that migrate beyond our borders, including BirdLife International based in England, Bird Studies Canada, and many partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. Audubon's International Alliances Program (IAP) brings together people throughout the Western Hemisphere to work together to implement conservation solutions at Important Birds Areas (IBA's).
The society's main offices are in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and it has state offices in about 24 states. It also owns and operates a number of nature centers open to the public, located in urban settings, including New York City, Phoenix Dallas and Los Angeles, as well as at bird refuges and other natural areas. Audubon Centers help to forge life-long connections between people and nature, developing stewards for conservation among young and diverse communities.
History
Development of Audubon societies
In 1886 Forest and Stream editor George Bird GrinnellGeorge Bird Grinnell
George Bird Grinnell was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in 1870 and a Ph.D. in 1880. Originally specializing in zoology, he became a prominent early conservationist and student...
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. Eventually, it attained a membership of 48,862. Each member signed a pledge to "not molest birds." Prominent members included jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932...
, abolitionist minister Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher was a prominent Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, abolitionist, and speaker in the mid to late 19th century...
, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets...
. This society was later discontinued, but the name and plan survived.
Organizations for the protection of birds were not a wholly new idea. Even before Grinnell's Audubon Society was organized, the American Ornithologists' Union
American Ornithologists' Union
The American Ornithologists' Union is an ornithological organization in the USA. Unlike the National Audubon Society, its members are primarily professional ornithologists rather than amateur birders...
, founded in 1883, was 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."
In 1895 Audubon societies were organized in Massachusetts
Massachusetts Audubon Society
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, founded in 1896 by Harriet Hemenway and headquartered in Lincoln, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "Protecting the nature of Massachusetts." Mass Audubon is independent of the National Audubon Society, and in fact was founded...
and Pennsylvania, and during the next few years bird lovers in many other states followed suit. The national committee of Audubon societies was organized at a meeting held in Washington 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.
Bird Protection
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 MerriamFlorence Augusta Merriam Bailey
Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey was an American ornithologist and nature writer. She was born in Locust Grove, New York. The third child in her family, she was the younger sister of Clinton Hart Merriam.-Life and work:...
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 Boston socialite Harriet Hemenway
Harriet Hemenway
Harriet Hemenway was a Boston socialite who founded the Massachusetts Audubon Society.During the Gilded Age, it became fashionable for women to wear plumes in their hats. These plumes came from woodpeckers, bluebirds, owls, herons and warblers, thousands of which were killed each year...
and President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, 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 halted by such laws as the New York State Audubon Plumage Law (May 1910), which banned the sales of plumes of all native birds in the state. By 1920, similar laws were enacted in about 12 other states. Many laws for the establishment of game commissions and game warden forces, or prohibiting the sale of game, owe their existence to Audubon Society activities.
Refuges
In 1918, the NAS actively lobbied for the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty ActMigratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 , codified at , is a United States federal law, at first enacted in 1916 in order to implement the convention for the protection of migratory birds between the United States and Great Britain...
. 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
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
system.
The association also purchased critical areas itself. Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center in New York was established in 1923, and the Audubon Center of Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
was founded in 1943. The Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary
Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary
The Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary is a refuge owned by the National Audubon Society in Perry, Louisiana. Established in 1924, this Louisiana sanctuary is home to deer, muskrat, otter, geese and many other species....
in Louisiana was acquired in 1924, and at 26000 acres (105.2 km²) 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
East Los Angeles, California
East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
; and Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
Field guides
In 1934, with membership at a low of 3,500, and with the nation in the throes of the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, 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 prosperity through publication. Baker's innovation was to begin publishing book-length descriptive and illustrated field guide
Field guide
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife or other objects of natural occurrence . It is generally designed to be brought into the 'field' or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects...
s 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.
DDT, whaling, and politics
During the post-World War II period, the NAS was consumed by the battle over the pesticide DDTDDT
DDT is one of the most well-known synthetic insecticides. It is a chemical with a long, unique, and controversial history....
. 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
Silent Spring
Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin on 27 September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement....
by long-time Audubon member Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement....
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.
Today Audubon selects outstanding women in conservation to receive its prestigious Rachel Carson Award. Honorees include Bette Midler, founder of the New York Restoration Project; Dr. Sylvia Earle, oceanographer and founder of Deep Search International; Majora Carter, Founder and Executive Director of Sustainable South Bronx; actress and conservation activist Sigourney Weaver, and NRDC President Frances Beinecke.
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 Air Act
A Clean Air Act is one of a number of pieces of legislation relating to the reduction of airborne contaminants, smog and air pollution in general. The use by governments to enforce clean air standards has contributed to an improvement in human health and longer life spans...
, Clean Water
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...
, Wild and Scenic Rivers
National Wild and Scenic River
National Wild and Scenic River is a designation for certain protected areas in the United States.The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was an outgrowth of the recommendations of a Presidential commission, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission...
, and Endangered Species
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
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
International Whaling Commission
The International Whaling Commission is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling , which was signed in Washington, D.C...
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.
During the 1980's and 1990's, The World of Audubon presented TV viewers with excellent hour long documentaries covering a wide range of environmental issues.
Current activities
In 2011, Audubon created a new model for positioning energy transmissions lines along the East Coast to help preserve bird and wildlife habitat. Audubon President David Yarnold has made environmentally-friendly siting for renewable energy one of the organization’s highest priorities.Audubon was instrumental in bird rescue and Gulf Coast wetlands recovery efforts in the aftermath of the April 20, 2010 British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. Audubon recruited over 34,000 volunteers to assist in rescuing, cleaning and releasing injured Brown Pelicans and other water birds. In addition, Audubon was a leader in pushing for legislation to use British Petroleum oil spill penalties to rebuild the Gulf Coast.
Audubon's Mississippi River and Louisiana Coastal Initiatives have been helping to restore coastal wetlands and to rebuild Mississippi River delta marshlands. The Mississippi Delta loses an area the size of Manhattan to the sea every year, stripping away coastal protections for both human communities and wildlife habitat.
Audubon's Important Bird Area program has been protecting 370 million acres along migratory bird flyways in the United States and is a key part of Audubon's work with BirdLife International and other conservationists around the globe. Audubon is leading the campaign for U.S. Congressional Reauthorization of the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act which would generate as much as $100 million each year to advance hemispheric bird conservation.
In Wyoming and across the Intermountain west, Audubon's Sagebrush Initiative works with industry government, ranchers and conservationists to protect 15 million acres of Greater Sage Grouse Core habitat. It also helps promote the development of renewable energy projects in the area.
Audubon also helped to secure preservation of 240,000 acres of wild lands at the Tejon Ranch, the largest land conservation area created in California history.
Sanctuaries and Nature Centers
Nature centers and wildlife sanctuaries continue to be an important part of Audubon's work to educate and inspire the public about the environment and how to conserve it. Some of the Audubon's earliest nature centers are still teaching young and old alike about the natural world. In August 2011, Audubon's Hog Island Camp in Maine marked its 75th anniversary. Audubon's national network currently includes more than 45 nature centers and 150 sanctuaries nationwide. After nearly three-quarters of a century, the National Wildlife Refuge Campaign also remains a key component of overall NAS policy.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 SanctuaryPaul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary
The Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary is a refuge owned by the National Audubon Society in Perry, Louisiana. Established in 1924, this Louisiana sanctuary is home to deer, muskrat, otter, geese and many other species....
. 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
Property and Environment Research Center
The Property and Environment Research Center, or PERC, is a free market environmentalist think tank based in Bozeman, Montana, United States. Established in 1982 as the Political Economy Research Center, PERC is dedicated to original research on market approaches to resolving environmental problems...
, have argued this makes Audubon's opposition to drilling on protected lands hypocritical.
The August 26, 2009 letter, 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.
Leadership
David Yarnold became Audubon's 10th president in September 2010, expressing a commitment to build on the organization’s strong conservation legacy and expand its commitment to improving the quality of life for both birds and people.Yarnold's leadership plan with Audubon is to align its conservation work along migratory flyways, the “superhighways in the sky” that millions of birds travel each spring and fall. Yarnold is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former editor San Jose Mercury News. He joined Audubon from the Environmental Defense Fund, where he played a leading role in expanding partnerships with corporations and helped double revenue.
Audubon magazine
The society's flagship journal is the profusely illustrated magazineMagazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, Audubon, on subjects related to nature, with a special emphasis on birds. New issues are published bi-monthly for society members. An active blog called 'The Perch' The Perch produces daily updates on issues also. In 2011, Audubon Magazine received an Utne Reader
Utne Reader
Utne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
Independent Press Award for Best Environment Coverage.