The National Audubon Society is an American not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats. Cory, the elected president of the AOU, refused to attend a meeting of the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia stating that he does not protect birds. In 1905, the National Audubon Society was founded, with the protection of seagulls, terns, egrets and other waterbirds among its conservation priorities. With more than half a million environmentally conscious members, the National Audubon Society continues to make a difference in the battle to conserve the natural world and the wildlife it contains.
Protecting waterbird populations has been part of Audubon's mission even before the official creation of the National Audubon Society. The mission of the National Audubon Society is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems by focusing on birds, other wild animals and their habitats, for the benefit of humanity and the Earth's biological diversity. The Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and the Audubon Center in Oyster Bay, New York, were donated to New York Audubon in 1923 by Emlen Roosevelt and Christine Roosevelt in memory of their cousin, who is buried in the adjacent Youngs Memorial Cemetery. In 1994, President O'Brien and other members of the board of directors, members of the NAS, chapter leaders and staff joined forces to develop the Strategic Plan for Audubon 2000 (The Plan), a plan that consisted of making the Society one of the strongest and most effective grassroots organizations for environmental defense at the community, state and national levels.
Even before Grinnell's Audubon Society was organized, the American Union of Ornithologists, founded in 1883, was aware of the dangers faced by many birds in the United States. The Audubon Society didn't collect dues, own no property, lobbied legislatures, and didn't sue any wrongdoers. In an initial attempt to protect wildlife, George Bird Grinnell, publisher of Forest and Stream, created an Audubon Society in 1885, named after the artist and naturalist John James Audubon (1785-185). The National Audubon Society (NAS or the Society), one of the largest private conservation organizations in this country, seeks to promote public understanding of the value and need of conserving soil, water, plants and wildlife, as well as encouraging progress through the intelligent use of natural resources.
Audubon's Important Bird Areas program has protected 370 million acres along migratory bird routes in the United States and is a key part of Audubon's work with BirdLife International and other conservationists around the world. He named the Society after John James Audubon (1785-185), the ornithologist, explorer and wildlife artist whose widow had been young Grinnell's teacher in New York City. The activities of the Audubon Society are responsible for many laws that establish gaming commissions and hunting guardian forces, or prohibit the sale of game. When Pearson left the Audubon presidency, the Audubon board elected Kermit Roosevelt, son of conservation president Theodore Roosevelt, as president.
In 1905, the National Association of Audubon Societies was born (the name was shortened in 1940) and New York City was chosen as its headquarters.
