Date: 1/29/26 2:28 pm From: Robin Buff <robinbuff...> Subject: Re: Name Change
The Audubon Camp has been called the Halberg Ecology Camp for many moons. I
always refer to it as the Ecology Camp as do others in my family. If I
search for "Ecology Camp Arkansas" I get the same results if I search for
"Audubon Camp Arkansas". Try it.
Robin Buff
Director, Halberg Ecology Camp
On Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 4:13 PM Adam Schaffer <
<000000135bd342dd-dmarc-request...> wrote:
> The society at large may not realize that the shorthand most kids,
> parents, and staff usually use to refer to the AAS camp is not ecology
> camp, but instead Audubon Camp.
>
> Adam Schaffer
>
> On Jan 29, 2026, at 12:52 PM, Renn Tumlison <tumlison...> wrote:
>
>
> 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?
>
> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg> > ------------------------------
> *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...> 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.
>
> Adam Schaffer
> Bentonville
>
> On Jan 28, 2026, at 8:30 AM, Mitchell Pruitt <mitchellpruitt24...>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> 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...> 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...> 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...> 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?
>
> Sandy Berger
>
>
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