Massachusetts Audubon Society

The Massachusetts Audubon Society (or Mass Audubon) was born out of Harriet Hemenway's desire to stop the commercial slaughter of birds for women's ornamental hats. Hemenway and her cousin, Minna Hall, soon enlisted 900 women and formed a partnership with many from Boston's scientific community to form their organization. They named the organization the Massachusetts Audubon Society in honor of the bird painter John James Audubon. In 1905, a national committee of Audubon societies was developed. This committee was vital in passing the Migratory Bird Conservation Act in 1913 and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 with Great Britain. The passage of these measures effectively eliminated the commercial plume trade.[2]

Mass Audubon's first wildlife sanctuary, Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary in Sharon, Massachusetts, dates back to 1916 when the board accepts an offer of Sharon resident George Field to use his property as a bird sanctuary. Mass Audubon purchased the parcel in 1922.[2]

The society's headquarters, Gordon Hall at Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary in Lincoln, Massachusetts

Mass Audubon's statewide network of more than 100 wildlife sanctuaries[3] welcomes visitors of all ages and is a home for more than 150 endangered and threatened native species. Some of the sanctuaries, as noted below, have staffed nature centers or museums.

• Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, Westport, 620 acres (2.5 km²) with nature center
• Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, Easthampton, 734 acres (3.0 km²) with nature center
• Blue Hills Trailside Museum, Milton, small museum and outdoor exhibit area within the 7,000 acres (28.3 km²) state reservation
• Boston Nature Center, Mattapan, 67 acres (0.3 km²) with nature center
• Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, Worcester, 435 acres (1.8 km²) with nature center
• Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary, Natick, 624 acres (2.5 km²) with nature center
• Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, Marshfield, 507 acres (2.1 km²)
• Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, Lincoln, 291 acres (1.2 km²) with farm exhibit buildings and nature center
• Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown, 194 acres (0.8 km²) with nature center
• Graves Farm Wildlife Sanctuary, Williamsburg, 633 acres (2.6 km²)
• Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, Belmont, 88 acres (0.4 km²) with nature center
• High Ledges Wildlife Sanctuary, Shelburne, 855 acres (3.5 km²)
• Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, Topsfield, 1,955 acres (7.9 km²) with nature center
• Joppa Flats Education Center, Newburyport, 52 acres (0.2 km²) with nature center
• Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary, Barnstable, 101 acres (0.4 km²) with nature center
• Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, Sharon, 1,971 acres (8.0 km²) with nature center
• Museum of American Bird Art at Mass Audubon, Canton, 121 acres (0.5 km²)
• Nashoba Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Westford, 420 acres (1.7 km²)
• North River Wildlife Sanctuary, Marshfield, 225 acres (0.9 km²) with nature center
• Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary, Attleboro, 75 acres (0.3 km²) with nature center
• Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Lenox, 1,405 acres (5.7 km²) with nature center
• Richardson Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Tolland, 109 acres (0.4 km²)
• Rutland Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Petersham, 1,779 acres (7.2 km²)
• Sesachacha Heathlands Wildlife Sanctuary, Nantucket, 875 acres (3.5 km²)
• Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Norfolk, 107 acres (0.4 km²) with nature center
• Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary, Plymouth, 481 acres (1.9 km²) with nature center
• Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, Princeton, 1,135 acres (4.6 km²) with nature center
• Waseeka Wildlife Sanctuary, Hopkinton, 229 acres (0.9 km²)
• Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Wellfleet, 1,183 acres (4.8 km²) with nature center
• West Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Plainfield, 1,812 acres (7.3 km²)

The following large sanctuaries are on the list noted as "Not Ready for Visitors":[3]

• Assonet Cedar Swamp Wildlife Sanctuary, Lakeville, 1,022 acres (4.1 km²)
• Brewster's Woods Wildlife Sanctuary, Concord, 130 acres (0.5 km²)
• Cold Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Otis, 770 acres (3.1 km²)
• Elm Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, North Brookfield, 1,080 acres (4.4 km²)
• Whetstone Wood Wildlife Sanctuary, Wendell, 2,580 acres (10.4 km²)

Camp Wildwood, established in 1950, is the Society's only overnight summer camp, and it is accredited by the American Camp Association.[4] The 159 acre camp is currently located in Rindge, New Hampshire, on Hubbard Pond, bordering 1,494-acre Annett State Forest.[4] This is the camp's third location, which it moved to in 2003 after previously being a boy scout camp called Camp Quinapoxet.[5][6][7][8] The property includes a central shower house, arts and crafts center, 135-seat dining hall, health center, office, camp store, seven cabin sites, an archery range, high and low ropes challenge course, playing field, and several trails and areas of forest and wetland for exploration.[8]

During the summers, Camp Wildwood hosts campers ranging from ages 7 to 17. The programs at the camp include a day camp, a three-day session for campers 7 to 8 years old, one- and two-week sessions for campers ages 9 to 16, one- and two-week off-site Treks for campers ages 14–17, and a several-week long Leadership program (called LIT/LIA, meaning Leaders in Training and Leaders in Action) for campers ages 16 and 17. The camp also hosts several three-day long "Family Camp" sessions throughout the summer for all ages.[9]

Camp Wildwood was originally located at Greenfield State Park in Massachusetts until 2003, when it moved to its current location.[8]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Massachusetts Audubon Society.

• Official website
• "Sanctuary magazine". Massachusetts Audubon Society.
• "Wildwood Overnight Camp".
• "Video of Wildwood".
• "Review of Wildwood". February 28, 2012.