Special Interest Groups

• WHAT IS ITS MISSION?
• HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?
• PRIMARY FUNCTIONS
• PROGRAMS
• BUDGET INFORMATION
• HISTORY
• CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES
• FAST FACTS
• FUTURE DIRECTIONS
• GROUP RESOURCES
• GROUP PUBLICATIONS
• BIBLIOGRAPHY

ESTABLISHED: January 5, 1905
EMPLOYEES: 300
MEMBERS: 550,000
PAC: None

Contact Information:
ADDRESS: 700 Broadway New York, NY 10003
PHONE: (212) 979-3000
FAX: (212) 353-0377
URL: http://www.audubon.org
PRESIDENT: John Flicker
VICE CHAIRMAN: John B. Beinecke
VICE CHAIRMAN: Ruth O. Russell

WHAT IS ITS MISSION?

According to its mission statement, the National Audubon Society (NAS) works to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the Earth's biological diversity. The scope of NAS's efforts is wide-ranging and its reach is boundless: from repelling oil-drilling efforts in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to preserving the beauty of California's Mono Lake to educating children and adults about rare wetlands fowl through its magazines and field guides. The national organization and its various chapters have, in effect, staked claim to all of planet Earth in a desire to maintain its natural integrity.

HOW IS IT STRUCTURED?

The National Audubon Society is a nonprofit advocacy group located in New York City. NAS activities and overall operations are charted by an elected president and board of directors consisting of approximately 32 members. Most directors are nominated by regional chapters and subsequently elected by the membership. Directors come from a broad range of backgrounds including industry, science, and policy. Donald C. O'Brien, for example, who is chairman of the board until 2000, is a senior partner in a law firm and a former Commissioner of Connecticut State Board of Fisheries and Game.

The National Audubon Society is a three-tiered organization. At the national level, it maintains a Washington staff of 25 government affairs specialists who serve as the society's main lobbying arm. The work of this office includes writing policy recommendations, organizing grassroots members and activities, and influencing and educating key decision makers. At the regional level, the society's field staff, which includes ecologists, biologists, and environmental scientists, provides that same voice in the various state Houses and conducts independent field studies and conservation projects. Also, at both the national and regional levels, the members of the society's 510 chapters provide support in the form of letter-writing campaigns, phone calls, and personal visits to decision makers. In addition to regional and state offices, the National Audubon Society operates 14 Education Centers across the United States and 27 Sanctuary Departments to administer the 102 wildlife sanctuaries sponsored by the NAS.

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS

In order to carry out its conservation efforts, the NAS is involved in a wide variety of initiatives. At the Washington level, the NAS is one of the most established and respected special interest groups and has consistently exerted a significant influence on legislation. Members testify before Congress and provide research surrounding all aspects of environmental protection. Collections of biological and botanical findings by NAS field workers have been used by local, state, and national governments to determine the fate of millions of acres of natural lands. At the community-based "chapter" level, NAS mobilizes an effective grassroots effort. Members are encouraged to write letters in support of or in opposition to legislative agenda, make phone calls and personal visits to state legislators and members of congress, and participate in clean-up efforts.

The NAS is also keenly aware of the importance of the so-called "fourth branch of government," the media. Through its own Audubon magazine and various field guides, and via aggressive lobbying of national magazines and journals to promote "green" causes, the NAS maintains a consistently high profile in the public eye.

Education has always been a primary tool of the Audubon societies in their work. Early in the society's history, a focus on children was established as a means of shaping the way future adults (potential hunters) viewed the natural world. Mabel Osgood Wright, president of the Connecticut Audubon Society at the turn of the twentieth century, compiled a booklet for Connecticut schoolteachers, A Year with Birds, which served as a guide to the one hundred birds most commonly seen in the state, and whose hope was that children who came to recognize the uniqueness of a given species would be less likely to indiscriminately kill a feathered creature.

The NAS not only advocates for and educates the public about the environment, it also takes a very active role in environmental protection. One direct method is to acquire lands on which birds and mammals exist in high concentration or in precious uniqueness. One such acquisition by the NAS took place in 1924, when its president, Gilbert Pearson, saw an opportunity to acquire a remarkable sanctuary in Louisiana. This land, 40-square-miles of marsh, had been owned by Paul J. Rainey, who used it as a shooting grounds. At Pearson's suggestion, Rainey's sister gave the land (and an endowment of $156,786) to the National Audubon Society, to be maintained as the Paul J. Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary.

PROGRAMS

The NAS sponsors many campaigns and programs that focus both on direct preservation and conservation, as well as public education. Living Oceans is a marine conservation program that uses science-based policy analysis, education, and grassroots advocacy to promote protection of marine fish and ocean ecosystems. The Endangered Species Campaign calls for stringent enforcement of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as well as changes to the ESA to improve protection of endangered and threatened species. The Agriculture Policy Program focuses on conservation of prairies and wetlands and protection of marginal lands from being brought into intensive row crop production. The Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Campaign is the largest-scale ecosystem restoration project ever attempted anywhere in the world. The Forest Habitat Campaign seeks to sustain and restore forest ecosystems in the United States and the habitat they provide to birds and wildlife and the Wetlands Campaign, has the goal to preserve and restore the nation's wetland ecosystems.

Current educational and field programs of the National Audubon Society include Audubon Adventures, a curriculum-based program used primarily in grades four through six. Adventures attempts to teach children about science, environmental topics, and respect for nature while at the same time, help them practice language and communication skills. The materials are written and developed by professional educators and present basic scientific facts about birds, wildlife, and their habitats and needs. The program develops student skills in multiple disciplines and supports the teaching standards recommended by the National Academy of Science and the National Research Council.

For its adult members, Audubon Expedition Institute (AEI) prepares hundreds of college and graduate students for environmental careers. Through the use of mobile classrooms traveling the country, AEI, fully accredited through Lesley College in Boston, brings students in direct contact with invaluable learning experiences. By combining academic studies with hiking in canyons and mountains to explore geology, visiting industry to learn about business concerns, speaking with authors and scientists to hear current perspectives, and attending congressional briefings, students learn firsthand about the issues facing our environment.

BUDGET INFORMATION

The budget of the NAS comes primarily from member dues, contributions, and from sales of Audubon magazine and the various field guides. In 1997 the society's budget totaled $52,582,869. The largest single source of income came from contributions and bequests, which accounted for almost $22 million, or about 42 percent of the total. Membership dues of $9,426,741 accounted for another 18 percent. A substantial portion of the budget, close to $9 million, resulted from earned income and royalties, while the remainder came from investment income and profits from sales of investments.

By far the bulk of expenses—65 percent, or more than $35 million—was spent on program services including environmental education and information, publishing, wildlife preservation, and research. Fund-raising activities accounted for another 23 percent and management for about 12 percent.

HISTORY

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, abolitionist minister Henry Ward Beecher, and poet John Greenleaf Whittier. Such an organization was not wholly new.

Devastation and Dangers in the Plume Trade

Before Grinnell's Audubon Society, the American Ornithologists' Union, founded in 1883, was already aware of the dangers facing so many birds in the United States. The pressure on migratory and nonmigratory fowl was two-fold. 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 greatest 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 nineteenth 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, of which the largest is the 26,000-acre Paul J. Rainey 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.

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.

Modern Issues: DDT and the Prairie Dog

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.

The poison was aimed chiefly at coyotes and prairie dogs, both considered pests by the politically influential local stockmen of the western United States. This provoked the ringing question, "What constitutes a 'good' versus a 'bad' animal?" In addition to the prairie dog, DDT was responsible for the near-complete extinction of the black-footed ferret. In the five years leading up to 1972, nearly 40,000 acres of Dakota prairie dog towns were saturated with DDT. Backed by scientific findings on DDTs long lasting and carcinogenic qualities, the NAS campaigned successfully to convincing governments worldwide to ban the chemical for use or production.

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 head of The Nature Conservancy. In his leadership of The Nature Conservancy, Flicker raised funds for purchasing key Everglades and unique wilderness lands in the state of Florida. As 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 twentieth 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.

CURRENT POLITICAL ISSUES

Ever since its inception as an organization devoted to the protection of birdlife, the NAS has sought to maintain an aggressive lobbying presence in Congress and the various state houses. Early in NAS history, the organization was fortunate to have within its ranks several high-profile personalities whose vigor and often scathing wit succeeded in affecting and overturning legislation that the NAS deemed critical to bird life survival.

Since those early victories, the NAS has broadened its concerns to cover virtually the entire gamut of environmental issues. Major efforts for the 1990s included protecting ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest, preserving wetlands, and re-authorizing the Endangered Species Act.

Case Study: Oil Drilling in Alaska Wildlife Refuges

One of the National Audubon Society's greatest challenges in recent years came in the wake of the 1994 election of a Congress that appeared determined to weaken or eliminate environmental protection laws in order to foster short-term economic growth. From logging in national parks to development of Everglades wetlands, this new Republican-dominated Congress challenged environmental organizations such as the NAS on every front.

One of the biggest skirmishes was fought over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, originally created in 1980 as part of the Alaska National Lands Act. Home to "an unparalled diversity of wildlife," this vast region of tundra "represents one of the largest intact ecosystems in the world." Yet from the outset, the new refuge was besieged by oil and mining interests determined to exploit its natural resources.

In 1990, a nationwide survey of the Refuge System conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) found 57 different secondary uses occurring on Alaska's wildlife refuges. Twenty of these uses were identified as harmful and another 23 as inappropriate by Alaskan wildlife refuge managers. The FWS's ability to control these harmful and illegal activities was severely hindered by funding limitations, staff shortages, and the size and remoteness of Alaskan wildlife refuges. It also faced a powerful Alaska congressional delegation, which attempted to push through legislation that would give away land to Native corporations and that would open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling.

In its 1996 Annual Report the NAS pointed out that even by the most optimistic industry predictions, oil from the Refuge would add a mere 0.4 percent to the world's oil reserves. Nevertheless, the Alaskan delegation was determined to have its way and succeeded in inserting an Arctic oil drilling provision into the 1995 federal budget bill. In response, the Audubon Society rallied its grassroots membership, deluging Senators with more than 4,000 letters and calls supporting an amendment to remove the provision from the bill.

These efforts helped sway key swing votes in the Senate, but ultimately the amendment to remove the provision was narrowly defeated by a margin of 48 to 51. The society and its allies continued to lobby against the provision and convinced President Clinton to veto any bill that contained provisions to develop the Arctic Refuge. Finally, after numerous government shutdowns and acrimonious budget negotiations, the Arctic oil drilling provision was killed.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

In 1996 the Audubon Society decided it was time "to prepare ourselves to lead the environmental movement boldly forward into the new millennium." A long-term 25-year strategic plan dubbed "Audubon 2000" was prepared that calls for the society to sharpen the focus on the conservation of birds, other wildlife and their habitats, to expand its educational programs, and to increase investment in its grassroots network "as the primary instrument of our environmental advocacy."

GROUP RESOURCES

The NAS maintains one of the largest and most extensive Web sites of any of the environmentalist associations. It includes news about legislation and campaigns, education efforts, a search mechanism for locating local chapters, and news of the NAS in national and local media. Other information sources include various chapter-run bookshops. Since 1984 Audubon Productions has maintained its original commitment to providing quality entertainment that educates and informs people about the environment. Audubon Productions has produced over 40 "World of Audubon" Specials for Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), a series of natural history programs entitled "Audubon's Animal Adventures" for the Disney Channel, as well as various other videos and interactive products.

GROUP PUBLICATIONS

Publications available from the National Audubon Society include: Audubon, a bimonthly magazine featuring articles on wildlife topics (free to members; $20/yearly to nonmembers); Audubon Activist, published bimonthly; Audubon Adventures, a bimonthly children's newspaper; and Field Notes, a bimonthly journal.

The National Audubon Society also publishes, in association with Alfred A. Knopf, a wealth of field guides, including The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, The Audubon Society Field Guide to Wild Animals, and The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals.