Date: 1/29/26 10:52 am From: Renn Tumlison <TUMLISON...> Subject: Re: Name Change
Something I haven't read from the responses about name changes, but I think should be part of the thought process, is how far we go with a name change. Like Adam, I have taught at the Arkansas Audubon Society summer ecology camp for many years. Parents of some recent campers told me they had a great experience at camp when they were young and wanted their kids to have the same experience, so they googled to see if the "Audubon Camp" was still active, and found it online. Without that name, they may or may not have found the camp. Many recent campers are descendants of former campers. We need to imagine what happens to camp without the Audubon name. Also, there is some discussion about the move of several groups (including nationally) to drop honorary names. If we dropped the Audubon name on that basis, should we also drop the "Edith and Henry Halberg Arkansas Audubon Society Summer Ecology Camp" name, as that full name includes two honorary names?
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From: The Birds of Arkansas Discussion List <ARBIRD-L...> on behalf of Sandy Berger <sndbrgr...>
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2026 12:29:04 PM
To: <ARBIRD-L...> <ARBIRD-L...>
Subject: Re: Name Change
Thank you Adam. I totally agree. Why all the trouble, all the cost of renaming. We have a good name. There is absolutely no need to change. I’m proud of our history. Thankful I’ve know the founding members of AAS. Think of Doug James, Bill Shepherd, Bill Beall, and others. Isn’t it disrespectful to them to be doing this?
Plus I just got my AAS life membership pin. 🙂
Sandy B
Past President
Arkansas Audubon Society
On Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 10:30 AM Adam Schaffer <000000135bd342dd-dmarc-request...><mailto:<000000135bd342dd-dmarc-request...>> wrote:
I’m going to throw a counterpoint into the ring here. To be confused as being part of or associated with the National Audubon Society is a good thing. There is a lot of positive name recognition associated with that.
More importantly I think the Arkansas Audubon Society has gained some well earned name recognition through its camps, trust, conferences, et. al. It’ll be more work and more confusing to say that yes our new Arkansas Ornithological Society or whatever we go with is actually the same organization you’ve known and loved. I can share that a friend sent her kid to camp last year because she had a positive experience at an Audubon camp in Connecticut as a kid. Let’s keep the name.
Regardless of whether the reason is to discontinue honorific names, reduce confusion among organizations, or both doesn’t really matter. The proposal AAS has put forth is not to change the organization itself, just the name. Same people, same organization, same values, different name. The identity of AAS is attached to the people within it and the community of birders and research the organization supports. To add, National Audubon actually predates AAS by at least 50 years and is certainly no enemy here, given their work in avian conservation across the globe.
Thank you to Dan Oko for sharing your relevant experience from outside Arkansas. This is similar to what has been the experience here.
Best,
Mitchell Pruitt
On Jan 27, 2026, at 6:11 PM, Sandy Berger <sndbrgr...><mailto:<sndbrgr...>> wrote:
Historically of all these groups using the Audubon name, which entity was first to use it in Arkansas? This “confusion” really began when Audubon Arkansas came to town, if I recall correctly. I joined the Arkansas Audubon Society back in the 90’s. Became a life member of the Arkansas Audubon Society a couple of years ago. I’ve been proud to be a member of the Arkansas Audubon Society. And now, because of this “confusion”, all of a sudden it is felt that a change in name needs to be made. Honestly, I’m very disappointed.
Are we really changing the name because of “confusion”, or does it have to do with the controversy surrounding Mr. Audubon?
Thank you,
Sandy Berger
On Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 1:02 PM Ragupathy Kannan <0000013b0ad14faf-dmarc-request...><mailto:<0000013b0ad14faf-dmarc-request...>> wrote:
Not really, Sandy. It is to avoid the eternal confusion between National Audubon Society, Arkansas Audubon Society, Audubon Arkansas, Audubon Delta, Central Arkansas Audubon Society, Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society, etc etc., and everything in between!
On Tuesday, 27 January 2026 at 12:43:21 pm GMT-6, Sandy Berger <sndbrgr...><mailto:<sndbrgr...>> wrote:
So basically the officers think that the Arkansas Audubon Society needs a name change to get rid of the word Audubon. Is that correct?
