The history of the early environmental conservation movement in the decades around the turn of the 20th century is, to a meaningful degree, a history of the formation and influence of organizations dedicated in one way or another to promoting outdoor recreation, appreciation and/or conservation. Any study of the conservation movement of this period is chock-full of references to these groups and the influence of both the groups and their individual members. Many of the authors of the time discussed on this site were affiliated with one or more of these groups, many as founders and leaders. This is particularly true of the Progressive Era standard-bearers.
Many of the organizations were formed not with a primary goal of promoting conservation per se, but rather were dedicated to gathering like-minded people with common interests in particular outdoor pursuits. Their conservation advocacy work arose in recognition of the need to protect the environments and ecosystems in which the activities took place.
Most of the organizations discussed below were national or super-regional in scope. There were also of course countless local and regional groups - for the purposes of this post I am focused on the largest and most influential groups of the time - those whose names crop up again and again in the histories.
Hunting, fishing, birding, hiking, climbing, and general outdoors skills and education were the principal interests of most of these groups - in addition to conservation. All were formed within the three decades on either side of the turn of the 20th century - almost all remain active and important today.
BIRDING
Nuttall Ornithological Club (1872-3) - The country’s first ornithology club, initially started by a group of four friends meeting at William Brewster’s house in Cambridge, MA, and a year later expanded and formalized. The AOU, discussed below, had close ties to the club, including assuming publication of the Nuttall club’s journal, which became The Auk. Prominent members have included Theodore Roosevelt, Elliott Coues, C. Hart Merriam, Montagu Chamberlain, John C. Phillips and Roger Tory Peterson.
Audubon Society (1886 and 1895) - The Audubon club was first proposed and organized by George Bird Grinnell to protect birds and their habitats. The first iteration lasted several years, with prominent members including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Henry Ward Beecher, Florence Merriam (Bailey) and John Greenleaf Whittier. That version of the club dissolved after several years, but the name and mission were adopted first by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, which was formed by and consisted mostly of women who boycotted the use of plumage in women’s hats. Other chapters were formed and in 1905, the National Audubon Society, an umbrella organization run by William Dutcher and consisting of reps from most of the regional organizations, was incorporated. The Audubon clubs were conservation-oriented from the outset, contributing to the passage of ground-breaking conservation legislation and establishing preserves and reservations to protect habitat, among many other activities. The Christmas Bird Count, established at the suggestion of Frank Chapman in 1900, is the longest-running citizen science project extant.
American Ornithological Union (1883) - Organized by three members of the Nuttall Club (including Brewster and Coues) primarily for professional ornithologists, the original group included, among others, C. Hart Merriam, Montague Chamberlain and Edgar Mearns. Merriam in particular helped set the early direction of the AOU. The AOU was not a conservation organization per se - an early president once famously said: “I do not protect birds, I kill them.” Florence Merriam Bailey, Harriet Mann Miller (nom de plume Olive Thorne Miller) and Mabel Osgood Wright were the first full (elective) female members - Bailey later became the first female “fellow.” The AOU (now the American Ornithological Society) continues today to be more focused on science than conservation. However, the separate conservation efforts of its members, and the frequent references to the organization in the conservation histories, justify its inclusion in this note.
HIKING/CLIMBING
Appalachian Mountain Club (1876) - Initially formed to help explore and preserve the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the club now sponsors all kinds of outdoor activities. The club is active in conservation efforts nationally, and particularly along the eastern seaboard down to the mid-Atlantic states. It was an early supporter of the Save Hetch-Hetchy campaign. It owns and stewards over 100k acres in Maine, in addition to its other stewardship activities.
Sierra Club (1892) - Started by John Muir and others at the suggestion of Robert Underwood Johnson. The club organized climbing and hiking outings, but turned early to conservation battles. The club was active in advocating for: creation of the original Yosemite NP around the core state park; the transfer of the state park to the federal government; the unsuccessful battle to save Hetch-Hetchy; the expansion of Sequoia NP; the creation of Kings Canyon NP in 1940; and the creation of the NPS in 1916. This last was at least in part a reaction to the defeat of the Hetch-Hetchy campaign, which pitted the club against Gifford Pinchot, head of the Forest Service, which at the time administered the National Parks. The club became perhaps the most visible and influential national environmental organization during the second half of the 20th century under the leadership of David Brower, starting with the campaigns to block the Echo Park Dam and to prevent construction of two dams in the Grand Canyon. Prominent members have included David Starr Jordan, Ansel Adams, William Colby, Francis Farquhar and Michael McCloskey.
Mazamas (1894) - Williams Steel was this climbing club’s first president. The club’s initial mission included conservation, and in its early days it was active in lobbying to protect the Cascades. Based in the Northwest, they were active in fighting against the installation of aerial trams to the summits of Mounts Ranier and Hood, and in seeking to curtail uncontrolled sheep grazing in the area. An early supporter of the Save Hetch-Hetchy campaign.
American Alpine Club (1902) - Primarily a climbing organization, but John Muir was a founding member and the club’s second president, and he got it involved in conservation. It allied with the Sierra Club in the battle to save Hetch-Hetchy. Charles Fay, its first president, was also a founder of the Appalachian Mountain Club.
Adirondack Mountain Club (1922) - Dedicated to the protection and responsible use of the vast Adirondack Park in NY State, the creation and expansion of which, as described elsewhere on this site, is one of the great triumphs of preservation in American history. Gifford Pinchot, Henry Graves, Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt were prominent early members.
HUNTING/FISHING
Boone and Crockett (1888) - The Boone and Crockett Club was formed by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell to promote “fair chase” rules of hunting and preservation of habitat. The club was particularly influential in the early days given the prominence of its membership. The club was instrumental in the expansion and protection of Yellowstone NP; the creation of the NPS, National Forestry Service, and National Wildlife Refuge system; and the elimination of market hunting. It has published many books over the years on hunting and conservation, several of which (three at this writing) are contained in the Collection. Prominent members over the years in addition to the founders have included Clarence King, Aldo Leopold, Arnold Hague, Madison Grant, Charles Sheldon, Stephen Mather and Gifford Pinchot.
Izaak Walton League (1922) - The first conservation organization with a mass membership structure, with a mission to promote outdoor recreation, especially fishing, and to protect aquatic and other habitats. The league has been at the front lines of lobbying for clean water legislation and the establishment of wildlife and fish refuges. They purchased the land which resulted in saving the Jackson Hole elk herd in the 1920s. Working with the Arizona Boy Scouts in the 1930s, they helped save bighorn sheep and establish two bighorn wildlife refuges in the state. They also worked to block damming in what is now the Boundary Waters Wilderness in the 1930s. They have important, ongoing, long-running water quality monitoring programs. Gene Stratton-Porter was a founding member. In the 1950s, League conservation director Joseph Penfold conceived a public fund for improving access to public lands, resulting in the passage of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965.
Ducks Unlimited (1927) - An offshoot of Boone and Crockett, created to focus on wetlands preservation and waterfowl hunting. The organization is credited with saving over 15 million acres of wetlands. It is shockingly big (at least to me), with 2019 revenues exceeding $200 million. A minimum of 80% of the revenues are dedicated directly to habitat conservation.
OUTDOOR SKILLS/EDUCATION/YOUTH
American Museum of Natural History (1877) - The AMNH has been an important locus in the scientific and conservation worlds for a long time. Theodore Roosevelt’s father was one the principal founders, and many key conservation figures have been affiliated in some way with the museum, including Henry Fairfield Osborn and Madison Grant.
National Geographic Society (1888) - Publisher of the eponymous magazine, the influence of which nobody needs me to pontificate on, as well as other media. Also supports conservation, education, research and exploratory scientific expeditions. Its 33 founders included C. Hart Merriam, G.K. Gilbert, John Wesley Powell and Clarence Dutton.
NY Zoological Society (1895) - The NYZS, now the Wildlife Conservation Society, was formed in New York City in order to promote wildlife preservation and scientific study, and to create a world-class zoological park - the Bronx Zoo. Early leaders of the NYZS included Henry Fairfield Osborn, William Temple Hornaday, and Madison Grant, all of whom were extraordinarily important in the early conservation movement. [All three were also strongly associated with social Darwinism and the eugenics movement, which promoted a philosophy of racial superiority.] Other prominent members included William Beebe, Fairfield Osborn, George Bird Grinnell and George Schaller, among many others. The NYZS’ work in saving the American bison from extinction is legendary. It was also an early proponent for protection of Alaskan wildlife, among many other projects globally.
Camp-Fire Club (1897) - Not a name you (or at least I) hear as much these days, but it contributed meaningfully to some of the big conservation wins of the early 20th century, including the American bison restoration project, the Fur Seal Preservation Act of 1909, the formation of Glacier NP and the passage of the Plumage Act (both in 1910), and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The club has close ties to the Wildlife Conservation Society (see below), the AMNH (see above) and the Boy Scouts (see below). Prominent early members included Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell, Ernest Thompson Seton and Gifford Pinchot. Field and Stream magazine started as the club’s official newsletter.
Woodcraft Indians (1901) / Boy Scouts of America (1910) / Girls Scouts of the USA (1912) - While scouting has never been explicitly conservation-oriented, I am confident that the exposure to nature provided by scouting generally helped to foster an appreciation that has had an important impact on many environmentalists of the last century plus. Ernest Thompson Seton founded the Woodcraft Indians and was instrumental in the foundation of the BSA.
CONSERVATION/OTHER
American Forestry Association (1875) - Dedicated to conservation and responsible forestry practices. Instrumental in the creation of the US Forest Service, the creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, and passage of the Weeks Act, which spurred federal protection of Eastern forests, among many other things. Prominent early members and affiliates included Gifford Pinchot, Aldo Leopold and Bob Marshall. (I’d be shocked if some or all of Hough, Graves, Fernow, Sargent, Brewer and the other early forestry conservation figures discussed in the December 2023 forestry blog post were not members, but I don’t actually know.)
Save the Redwoods League (1918) - With a self-explanatory mission, the league has protected more than 200,000 acres of forest, leading to the formation or expansion of a number of federal and California state parks and preserves. Founders included Stephen Mather, Henry Fairfield Osborn, Madison Grant and scientist John C. Merriam. Other noteworthy affiliates include Nelson Drury and John C. Phillips. [The league was closely allied with and overlapped the Sierra Club - see Henry Fairfield Osborn (1920) in the Catalogue - an offprint of an article by Osborn was used as a fundraising tool by the league. The associated correspondence is on Sierra Club letterhead.]
American Civic Association (1900) - The ACA (now with “Planning” added to its name) was formed as an umbrella organization of local groups working to enhance urban beautification and livability. J. Horace McFarland was the founder and leader for years. It had a major presence, with a membership and board which in the 1920s included Eleanor Roosevelt, Stephen Mather, John C. Merriam and Frederick Olmsted Jr. among many others. It was a major supporter of the NP movement.
National Parks Association (1919) - The NPA (since renamed the National Parks Conservation Association) was founded by Stephen Mather and Robert Sterling Yard to provide a vehicle for non-governmental advocacy for the NP system. Other early luminaries of the NPA were Bob Marshall, George Bird Grinnell, Olaus Murie and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., son of the great landscape architect, who had been instrumental in the 1916 legislation creating the NPS. Terry Tempest Williams has been an advisory board member.
The Wilderness Society (1937) - Included notwithstanding the later founding date because the society was started by NPA members who felt that that organization was not hardcore enough in its standards for pristine wilderness conditions for prospective NPs. Founders included Robert Sterling Yard, Bob Marshall, Aldo Leopold, Ernest Oberholtzer and Harvey Broome. Prominent members have included Olaus Murie, Sigurd Olson, Maureen “Mardy” Murie, Wallace Stegner, Ansel Adams and Howard Zahniser. Zahniser wrote the Wilderness Act of 1964, one of the bedrock pieces of conservation legislation in the US. Overall, the society has been a critical proponent of myriad conservation measures.
Finally, I'd remiss if I did not give a shout out to the John Burroughs Association. Formed in 1921 after JB's death, the Association has been bestowing its prestigious annual literary awards for the best nature writing since the 1920s - an activity near and dear to my heart, as you'd expect. The JBA also preserves Slabsides, where JB did much writing, and the land around it.
All of the organizations described above were private membership institutions. I am sure I've missed some, but these are the names that leap to mind as having come up again and again as I've researched this period. No question that a significant number of governmental agencies formed during this period have also had an important role. The USGS, NPS, Forestry Service, US Biological Survey (now Fish and Wildlife), and the CCC come to mind. But that is for another post, at another time.
The importance of women's clubs during this period cannot be understated. The Garden Club of America and many others were important conservation voices who did a lot of the heavy lifting and grunt work. Their collective efforts will be addressed in a separate post.
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