A Century of 

 Conservation 



By Pam Smith 



Photographs by Walker Golder 



LEFT: White lb ises congregate in thicket tops on 

 Battery Island , an important habitat for ibis, 

 herons and egrets. 



RIGHT: The Great Egret shows off its snowy 

 plumage at Battery Island near Wilmington. 

 BOTTOM: Shorebirds rest after eating their 

 fill of critters available at low tide on shoals of 

 undisturbed islands along the North Carolina coast. 



len T. Gilbert Pearson founded 

 the North Carolina Audubon Society 100 

 years ago, he couldn't have known that his 

 lifework would help shape bird conservation 

 policies at state, national and international 

 levels well into the next century. 



"He was passionate about the need to 

 protect North Carolina's birds and their habitat," 

 says Chris Canfield, executive director. 



Pearson's zeal — and his science — 

 convinced audiences that it was time to put an 

 end to the slaughter of tens of thousands of 

 coastal birds each year by market hunters. 

 Colorful plumes, skins and wings were used 

 to adorn women's hats and other accessories. 

 At the dawn of the 20th century, Great Egret 

 plumage reportedly was worth more per 

 ounce than gold. 



Pearson, a nationally respected 

 ornithologist, helped launch the National 

 Audubon Society in 1900. The organization 

 sought to push for legislation to protect birds, 

 to educate the public, and to promote 

 conservation through research, sanctuaries, 

 and wildlife warden programs. 



Asked to spearhead a state chapter, Pearson 

 called the first meeting to order in 1902 at the 

 State Normal College, now the University of 

 North Carolina at Greensboro, where he was 

 teaching and writing about bird conservation. 



"After just a year, a bird protection bill 

 he drafted was introduced in the North Carolina 

 House of Representatives," Canfield explains. 



A lot was at stake. Pearson's scientific 

 field surveys showed significant population 

 declines of many species that had been 

 recorded as early as 1585. By 1903, he 

 reported, only 1 ,700 colonial water bird eggs 

 were laid on the entire North Carolina coast. 



"Not only did lawmakers pass the 

 Audubon Act, but they also gave the 

 Audubon Society authority to enforce all 

 game laws, not just those related to birds. 



"Thus came about the South' s first 

 statewide game commission, a forerunner of 

 the state's Wildlife Resources Commission," 

 Canfield says. 



Meanwhile, Pearson assumed duties in 



the national Audubon organization, and was 

 influential in the passage of the landmark 

 federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. 



He left his mark on international law as 

 well, founding the International Committee 

 for Bird Protection — now the International 

 Council for Bird Preservation in 100 countries. 



Science 

 Matters 



All the while, Pearson continued his 

 coastal North Carolina bird studies. He 

 teamed with naturalist brothers Clement 

 Brimley and H.H. Brimley of the North 

 Carolina Museum of Natural History, to 

 research and write The Birds of North 

 Carolina. Completed in 1913, their 380-page 

 report was part of the North Carolina 

 Geological and Economic Survey commis- 

 sioned by the office of the state geologist. 



Even after decades of observing coastal 

 birds, Pearson's descriptions reveal his awe at 

 coming upon a colony of some 3,000 nesting 

 Royal Terns on Royal Shoal Island — one of 

 the two island sanctuaries near the Outer 

 Banks that Audubon purchased in 1907. 

 He writes: 



... On approaching one of these groups, 

 the birds arose en masse and hovered in the 

 air, with heads to the wind. 



Taking my stand to windward of the 

 field of eggs, I at once had the satisfaction 

 of seeing the birds settling at the other end. 

 Soon others began alighting nearer. 

 I remained stationary and watched the 

 splendid sight. . . . 



The timing for the rise of the Audubon 

 movement was right. "There was a revival of 

 interest in nature and natural science. Teddy 

 Roosevelt established the U.S. Fish & 

 Wildlife Service, and national park sites were 

 being designated," says Canfield. 



In the decades that followed Pearson's 

 death in 1946, Audubon membership — and 

 C o n t i n u e d 



COASTWATCH 7 



