President’s Message ~ What’s In A Name Part II
Jeff Hullstrung, Green Mountain Audubon Society President
I previously wrote about the decision of the National Audubon Society to keep “Audubon” in their name. Since that decision was made this spring, some related events have unfolded.
On November 1, the American Ornithological Society (AOS) announced its decision to remove the name of any person from the recognized names of all birds occurring within their territory. The AOC declined to judge “good people's names” and “bad people's names.” They simply decided: no people names. I agree that a bird's name should be about the bird. When I am looking for a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the name gives me a clue in the field. If I were looking for an Anna’s Hummingbird, the name provides no such clue.
The same might be said for conservation organizations. Prospective members and donors to non-profit conservation organizations may have an easier time connecting with a clearly-named organization. A great example of this is The Nature Conservancy. Read the name, and you understand what they are about. This is not apparent in our current name, the Green Mountain Audubon Society (GMAS). This name has served our organization well since its founding in the 1960s but may have now run out of steam. Originally, GMAS operated out of Huntington in the heart of the Green Mountains. Since turning our Huntington operations over to the National Audubon Society in 2000, GMAS is no longer centered in the Green Mountains. We serve Grand Isle, Franklin, and Chittenden counties, so most of our community is in the lowlands. A name with something like “Northwest Vermont” might be more reflective of where we operate.
Regardless of what you think about John James Audubon, having “Audubon” in our name does not help folks find us unless they share the knowledge of “Audubon.” While traveling in Europe, I met folks from the local “bird working group.” The name of the organization helped me understand their reason for being. When I mentioned that I did volunteer work with Audubon, they looked at me blankly, possibly thinking that I like to drive on the German autobahn.
The board of directors of GMAS is on a journey to explore what to do about our name. We will be coordinating this effort with other Vermont-based Audubon chapters to ensure that we can maintain the existing sense of community within Vermont. Each chapter is an independent organization serving a different area of our state, but we have a long history of working together. Stay tuned for more on this topic.
Another historical name that has received attention in the past several years is “Christmas Bird Count,” often called the CBC. This name originated in the early 20th century. In the 21st century, we may recognize that this name is not inviting to everyone. We feel it is important to include as many of our neighbors as possible. Additionally, the count does not occur on December 25, so the name is a bit confusing for newcomers. Our committee that oversees this annual event has decided to follow the lead of some other similar events in Vermont. This year, we started to call our event the “Winter Bird Count.” The National Audubon Society has not decided to make this change, but we are taking this step at the local level to “be the change that we want to see.” We held our 76th Winter Bird Count on December 17 with great success. Highlights of the count are elsewhere in this newsletter.
We’ll keep you in the loop as we continue to explore the future of our name.