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In the Beginning There was the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Society

The creation of the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Society by George Bird Grinnell in 1886 marked the beginning of the nation's conservation ethic. As editor of Forest and Stream, Grinnell appealed to his readership to unite for bird preservation and protection. Within a year 39,000 individuals joined the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Society, which Grinnell named after the distinguished naturalist and painter John James ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. With the magazine staff unable to manage the overwhelming response, the society folded in less than three years.

In 1896, Bostonian socialite Mrs. Augustus Hemenway took up the mission and formed the Massachusetts ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Society. Hemenway was outraged by the slaughter of entire flocks of birds for their plumage, many in the recesses of the Everglades and South Florida. Florida had become the primary hunting grounds for plume hunters, where the change from abundant birdlife to scarcity and sometimes extirpation was occurring with incredible speed.

This time the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ idea endured, and by the turn of the century, more than 15 state ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Societies had been formed and were already working collaboratively to protect birds, wildlife, and their habitats.

The First Decade: The End of the Reign of the Plume Hunters 

From the beginning, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ made major strides in bird protection, from legislation outlawing plume hunting in the state, education programs that reached thousands of children and adults, to on-the-ground wardens who protected important rookeries. Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's early success came from its partnerships with leaders of other state ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Societies, the American Ornithologists' Union, and the Florida Federation of Women's Clubs.

1900 
On March 2, the first meeting of the Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Society is held in Maitland at the L.F. Dommerich estate. The list of early officers included: N.Y. Governor and later U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, Florida Governor W.D. Bloxham, American Museum of Natural History's Frank Chapman, Rollins College President G.M. Ward, Stetson University President J.F. Forbes, and the editors of the state's largest newspapers. A little later, the list grew to include President Grover Cleveland, Florida Governor W.S. Jennings, ornithologist Theodore S. Palmer, and Maria R. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ.

Working together, the state ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Societies successfully push for the passage of the Lacey Act, prohibiting the interstate trade of wildlife killed in violation of state laws.

A regular winter visitor to Florida, Frank Chapman, ornithologist and curator of the American Museum of Natural History, organizes the first Christmas Bird Count. The holiday tradition has grown into the largest volunteer wildlife census in the world and today, in Florida, more than 2,000 people participate in over 60 Christmas Bird Counts each year during a three-week period around Christmas.

1901
William Dutcher, chairman of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) Committee on Bird Protection, acts on behalf of the state ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Societies and is the glue that holds together the various elements of the conservation movement. Dutcher travels to Florida in 1901 and assists Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ in persuading the legislature to pass the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Model Law, outlawing plume hunting in the state. Dutcher administers the AOU's Thayer Fund to hire wardens to protect birds, and hires lighthouse keepers in Key West and the Dry Tortugas.

Later that same year, FAS executive committee member Mrs. Kingsmill Marrs travels to New York to meet with Dutcher and other ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ leaders to discuss the formalization of a National Association of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Societies.

1902
The National Committee of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Societies is formed in November, in Washington, DC.

Dutcher hires Guy Bradley as warden in South Florida, upon the recommendation of FAS' Kirk Munroe and Mrs. Kingsmill Marrs.

1903
On March 14, with the encouragement of Frank Chapman and FAS, President Theodore Roosevelt establishes Pelican Island in the Indian River Lagoon as the first Federal Bird Reservation, giving birth to the National Wildlife Refuge system. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ hires Paul Kroegel as the first warden of Pelican Island. By the end of his presidency, Roosevelt names nine more bird reservations in Florida

1904
By 1904, Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's educational efforts are in full gear, with 14 educational leaflets produced and about 6,000 leaflets and pamphlets distributed. The following year, the Orange County Board of Education sets aside one-half hour per week for bird study. FAS uses bird outlines and large charts purchased from Massachusetts ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ for the program.

1905
In January, the National Association of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Societies for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals [later to become ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ] is incorporated. William Dutcher is named president, John E. Thayer first vice president, Theodore S. Palmer second vice president, Frank Chapman treasurer, and T. Gilbert Pearson secretary.

NAS assumes full responsibility of the warden program. Dutcher and Mrs. Marrs work closely to retain the Florida wardens, including Guy Bradley.

Bird-Lore [later to become ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Magazine] becomes the official magazine of NAS and includes Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's annual reports, written each year by Kingsmill Marrs.

On July 8, Guy Bradley is killed in the line of duty near Flamingo.

1908
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ warden Columbus G. MacLeod is killed in the line of duty at Charlotte Harbor. The murder sparks the nation's conscience and ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ intensifies its nationwide campaign against the wearing of feathers.

The 1910s and 1920s: Gaining Ground, Losing Ground 

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ lost some ground in the 1910s, when the ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Warden program suffered from a lack of funding and wardens were withdrawn from Florida. In "The Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Society: 1900-1935," Lucy Worthington Blackman recounts: "The Alligator Bay rookery [in southwest Everglades], the largest egret rookery in Florida, was shot out and burned that year by hunters, simply for lack of $750 for wardens to protect it - burned so that the remnants of the colony would abandon the place ... Three ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ wardens had carried the eight hundred egrets in the colony safely through the 1915 nesting season. The next year they were abandoned to their fate."'

But ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ still made major strides in conservation during this era through the establishment of sanctuaries, passage of important legislation like the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and after years of battle, the establishment of the State Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission.

1910
William Dutcher suffers a disabling stroke. T. Gilbert Pearson who grew up in the backwoods of Archer, Florida, succeeds him as chief executive officer and leads the Society for the next twenty-four years. Pearson works tirelessly to push for legislation to protect wildlife.

In 1911, FAS member Oscar Baynard encourages NAS to purchase Bird Island in Orange Lake in Alachua County. Baynard is named as warden.

1912
FAS' L.F. Dommerich retires his presidency due to poor health. After his death in July, Dommerich's family donates $5,000 to National ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ to protect birds in Florida.

Pathologist Dr. Herbert R. Mills, St. Petersburg leader Katherine B. Tippetts, and botanist Professor Henry Nehrling are named to the executive committee.

1913
After an intense campaign with an estimated 200,000 letters and telegrams written to Congress, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is passed into law.

National ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ and Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ jointly hire Katherine Stuart to lecture at schools and Junior ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Clubs in 25 towns throughout Florida. By 1914, 30,000 leaflets had been distributed and ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ in Florida boasted more than 3,500 members and 162 Junior ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Clubs.

National ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ acquires Micanopy Rookery and, four years later, San Sebastian Rookery, adding them to the sanctuary program.

1914
The last Passenger Pigeon dies in captivity in Cincinnati.

1916
Alligator Bay Rookery in southwest Everglades is wiped out in the absence of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ wardens.

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ celebrates the creation of National Park Service.

1918
The last Carolina Parakeet dies in captivity in Cincinnati.

1919
Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ begins publishing the Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Bulletin, predecessor of the Florida Naturalist magazine.

1920
Katherine Tippetts, a strong leader with St. Petersburg ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, becomes president of FAS. She had already convinced Pinellas County to create 11 municipal bird sanctuaries, and within three years of her presidency, helps to establish 30 more municipal sanctuaries, including the designation of all of Volusia County as a bird sanctuary for a 2-year period.

1923
The Legislature makes bird study compulsory in schools. NAS and FAS arrange for credit courses to be taught at colleges and universities.

1925
After years of efforts, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ succeeds in getting the legislature to pass two acts, one creating a Department of Game and Fresh Water Fish, and the other establishing a State Game Commissioner.

1927
Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Bulletin is transformed into the Florida Naturalist magazine. R.J. Longstreet becomes it first editor and remains editor for more than two decades. Longstreet also serves as president of Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ from 1930 to 1936.

The 1930s and 1940s: New Vitality in the Everglades and ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Warden Program

Despite the Depression, National ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ found new vitality in the leadership of John Baker. Like every NAS president before him, Baker spent time working directly in Florida to protect birds in the state. The ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ warden program was strengthened under Baker's leadership, with a flurry of activity in the Everglades and south Florida.

1934
Long-time FAS activist, Dr. Herbert Mills hires warden Fred W. Shultz to protect Green Key in the Tampa Bay area. Almost immediately, his territory is expanded to include several other islands in Hillsborough Bay.

Today, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries program protects some 50,000 breeding pairs of birds from Tarpon Springs to Sarasota, as well as five islands near West Palm Beach.

John Baker becomes executive director (and later president) of NAS and succeeds in building ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ membership in the midst of the Depression. His first day on the job, Baker hires the great teacher and illustrator of birds, Roger Tory Peterson. Baker goes on to build a team of educators, artists and scientists, including Allan D. Cruickshank, a photographer and popular lecturer who teaches with slides and an amazing assortment of bird calls. Soon, Peterson and Cruickshank team up to create some of the most successful natural history programs in the nation.

Later, Cruickshank retires with his wife, Helen, to Rockledge where the naturalist team continues to be active in monitoring and photographing Florida birds and publishing several books on the natural and human history of Florida.

1935
Alexander Sprunt, Jr. becomes Director of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Southern Sanctuaries and supervisor of wardens in the southeast. After the Great Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Sprunt conducts the first aerial survey of the Great White Herons.

Aldo Leopold, who revolutionized game management, is named to the National board.

1936
Marvin Chandler becomes the first in a series of family members to serve as ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ wardens to patrol Kissimmee Prairie and Lake Okeechobee.

NAS acquires Lake Okeechobee Sanctuary in 1938, and the Ordway-Whittell Kissimmee Prairie Sanctuary in 1980.

1938
NAS' Director of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Sanctuaries, Robert Porter Allen establishes a research station in Tavernier, in the Florida Keys, commencing a full time study of the life history of Roseate Spoonbills.

By the 1950s, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ expands the focus of the Tavernier Science Center to include all aspects of the Florida Bay and Florida Keys environment, ranging from corals, seagrasses and mangroves, to game fishes, crocodiles and Bald Eagles. Today, the Roseate Spoonbill studies that Allen began 65 years ago continue in Tavernier.

1940
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Bald Eagle Protection Act into law.

1945
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ works with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Ira Gabrielson to salvage the Whooping Crane from the jaws of extinction. Today, a non-migratory population of Whooping Cranes is being reintroduced in Florida by Gabrielson's grandson, Dr. Steve Nesbitt, who works for the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

1947
Marjory Stoneman Douglas publishes The Everglades: River of Grass and teaches the world to love a swamp. That same year, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's long efforts in the Everglades pay off when Everglades National Park is established.

The 1950s and 1960s: The Dawn of Ecology, War on Pesticides 

By the 1950s technological advances presented ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ with new and more complex threats to wildlife than the market hunting of the early days. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ expanded its scientific research programs and became heavily involved in the effort to ban the use of pesticides that were suspected of causing population failures in eagles, ospreys, brown pelicans, and other "end-of-chain" consumers.

1954
After a nationwide grassroots campaign, NAS' John Baker secures acquisition of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, the last great stand of ancient bald cypress left in Florida.

Today, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary has become the model for ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Centers in Florida, with its new Blair Center, interpretive programs, and boardwalk that meanders through the cypress swamp.

1962
Bald Eagles in Florida hit their low point with 251 nests. After the release of Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring," ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ launches campaign to ban toxic pesticides.

Alexander "Sandy" Sprunt IV becomes Research Director at Tavernier. He conducts a continent-wide study of Bald Eagle reproduction and pesticide effects.

Today, Florida boasts the largest population of Bald Eagles in the continental United States with over 1,000 nesting pairs. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ continues its commitment to the Bald Eagle by serving on the Southeast Bald Eagle Recovery Team to establish protection for the eagle once it is removed from the endangered species list, and by rehabilitating and releasing injured eagles at ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland.

1964
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ celebrates legislative successes including the Water Conservation Act, the Wilderness Act, and the state's Outdoor Recreational Lands program.

1967
Alligator products are boycotted, leading to listing and protection until populations recover.

1969
With the support of Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, long-time board member, Marjory Harris Carr, establishes the Florida Defenders of the Environment to halt construction of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal.

The 1970s and 1980s: Nature in the Balance

Population growth and industry were having an increasing affect on wildlife, wetlands, rivers and streams. ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ worked to develop major new federal policies and laws for endangered species, clean air and water, and wild and scenic rivers. The focus in Florida was on land acquisition programs, protecting wetlands and managing the state's explosive growth.

1970
The first EarthDay is held on April 22.

Congress passes the Clean Water Act.

1971
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ blocks a proposed jetport in Big Cypress.

By executive order, President Richard Nixon puts a halt to the Cross-Florida Barge Canal. Today, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ and Florida Defenders of the Environment continue the fight to remove the Rodman Dam and let the Ocklawaha River run free.

1972
After a long battle with ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ in the forefront, DDT and DDE are banned from use in the U.S.

The Legislature enacts Land and Water Management Act and Water Resources Act. These laws become the basis for Water Management Districts, and land use protection, including designation of the Florida Keys, Big Cypress and Green Swamp as Areas of Critical Concern.

The first environmental ballot vote for land acquisition is passed in Florida, creating the Environmentally Endangered Lands Program.

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ helps to establish the Florida Ornithological Society.

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ plays role in setting strict regulations for oil drilling in Big Cypress.

1973
Congress passes the Endangered Species Act.

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ pushes the state to pass oil and gas rules and regulations.

1974
Congress establishes Big Cypress National Preserve.

1976
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Peter C.H. Pritchard calls a meeting of experts to discuss a recovery plan for the Florida Panther. Soon after, the Florida Panther Recovery Team is formed.

1978
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's campaign to protect the West Indian manatee succeeds in passing the Manatee Protection Act.

1979
The Legislature passes the Conservation and Recreation Lands program [CARL].

Establishment of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Center for Birds of Prey. Since opening, more than 22,000 raptors have been cared for, many released, including hundreds of Bald Eagles.

1981
Save Our Rivers and Save Our Coasts programs are approved by the Legislature.

1984
Congress passes the Wetlands Protection Act.

1985
Growth Management Act approved by Legislature. Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ publishes "citizens handbook" to guide environmentalists in using the new process.

Lake Apopka Restoration Act is passed by Legislature.

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ encourages the purchase of North Key Largo lands and begins restoration projects in the Florida Keys with support from Environmental Protection Agency's Florida Keys Environmental Trust Fund.

1987
Surface Water Improvement and Management Act [SWIM] is approved by the Legislature.

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ supports the expansion of Big Cypress National Preserve by 115,000 acres through an Arizona land exchange.

Attempts to save the Dusky Seaside Sparrow by ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ's Dr. Herbert W. Kale II, Santa Fe Community College Teaching Zoo, Walt Disney World Discovery Island Zoological Park fail, when the last Dusky dies in captivity.

1988
Legislature passes the Wekiva River Protection Act.

The Last Decade of the Century: Conservation Alive and Well 

During the last decade of the 20th century, our 100-year commitment to the Everglades paid off when Floridians passed two constitutional amendments, and both the Congress and Legislature committed funds to restore the River of Grass. In addition, ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ played a strategic role in placing the Conservation Amendment on the ballot in 1998, and led the campaign to see it ratified by an overwhelming majority of voters, showing that Floridians - across the board - care about the environment. And, on November 6, 1999, Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ and National ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ unified their work in the state, to become one booming voice for conservation for the new century.

1990
Preservation 2000, a model land acquisition program, is approved by the Legislature with ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ support.

1992
Upon the suggestion of ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, Disney purchases Walker Ranch as mitigation, giving birth to the "Disney Wilderness Preserve."

³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ establishes Everglades Conservation Office in Miami to ensure the restoration and conservation of the Greater

1994
Everglades Forever Act approved by Florida Legislature. The 49-member Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (GCSSF) is established by Governor Lawton Chiles.

1995
In their Initial Report, the GCSSF finds South Florida's future unsustainable, both ecologically and economically.

1996
The GCSSF develops broad-based conceptual plan for Everglades Restoration. Congress approves the Water Resources Development Act, which calls for full restoration of the Everglades based on the GCSSF's conceptual plan. The Act calls for the development of a comprehensive restoration plan (the Restudy) as an intergovernmental partnership.

Congress approves the farm bill for $200 million for Everglades restoration and Vice President Al Gore announces Clinton Administration's $1.2 billion Everglades Restoration Plan. 1996Voters approve two of the three "Save Our Everglades" amendments, calling for a "Polluter Must Pay" requirement concerning Everglades pollution.

1997
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ serves on Constitutional Revision Commission, which places "Conservation Amendment" on the ballot.

1998
³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ leads campaign to see Amendment 5 ratified by over 70% of voters.

1999
Florida ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ and National ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ unify their efforts in Florida, becoming a stronger, more effective ³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ Florida, with 40,000 members in 45 community-based chapters throughout the state.