Maine Audubon has emerged from a listening process that involved our full staff, board, membership, and a wide array of stakeholders outside of our organization, to examine the Maine Audubon name and brand, its origins, and its future.
(For a full description and background on this process, please read this post from March 2023: Considerations of the Audubon Name)
We looked at the historical path toward our own organization’s adoption of the Audubon name, how it affects our organization today, and implications for our work across the Audubon network. This listening process took approximately two years. We did not find a clear mandate from our members, stakeholders, or community to change our name, nor did we find that assigning resources to a name change would accomplish the work we know is in front of us as an organization. As a result, in October 2024, the Board of Trustees voted to not change the name at the present time, but to reexamine the issue two years from now.
We reaffirm our condemnation of John James Audubon’s racist beliefs and practices. We acknowledge the contradiction in continuing to carry his name, despite the fact that he was neither involved in our founding nor a conservationist, and we commit to being transparent about our organization’s history.
We are more committed than ever to engaging a broader and more diverse community, and becoming more welcoming, equitable, and inclusive. It’s very clear, after this time of deep examination and discovery, that this is what our members and community expect from us, and that it is key to our organization’s success.
The future is open: We will continue to collaborate and communicate with members, supporters, stakeholders, and other independent statewide Audubon organizations about all aspects of our work. Over the next few years, you will see Maine Audubon devote our energy to the real work of engaging all. We appreciate the support and attention from the entire community in achieving our mission to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat across Maine.