National Wildlife Federation - History and Mission

History and Mission

On March 1, 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed political cartoonist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling to be the chief of the U.S. Biological Survey. At Darling's behest, the president created plans to convene a conference in Washington D.C. to unite individuals, organizations and agencies interested in the restoration and conservation of wildlife resources. The conference took place from February 3–7, 1936 and was called the North American Wildlife Conference.

At this conference, an organization called the General Wildlife Federation was created; Darling was elected president. The first annual meeting was held March 3, 1937 in St. Louis, Missouri. The General Wildlife Federation became the National Wildlife Federation in 1938. The numbers of members of this Federation increased from 2.3 million in 1968 to 4.1 million in 1974.

Its three main areas of focus are:

1. connecting people to nature
2. reversing global warming
3. protecting and restoring critical wildlife habitats

The National Wildlife Federation unites sportsmen, outdoor enthusiasts, bird-watchers, wildlife gardeners, nature lovers, and others, bringing together a broad spectrum of people who share a passionate concern for wildlife. Affiliates from across the country have created a national network of like-minded state and local groups who seek balanced, common-sense solutions to environmental problems.

To achieve its mission, NWF offers the following services to individuals, organizations, and businesses: accessible conservation training, leadership training, educational curricula, information outreach, and networking opportunities. NWF frequently partners with other conservation organizations and corporations to achieve its goals.

NWF seeks to educate people of all ages by publishing a variety of wildlife magazines, including Wild Animal Baby, Big Backyard, Ranger Rick, and National Wildlife Magazine, and by the Backyard Habitat series on Discovery's Animal Planet along with IMAX films, such as Coral Reef Adventure, India: Kingdom of the Tiger, Bears, Wolves, and Dolphins. Additionally, the NWF offers hands-on training and support for habitat restoration through its Backyard Wildlife Habitat and Schoolyard Habitat programs.

NWF also created Conservation Summits (a harbinger of eco-tourism and green living trends) with the first Summit on July 20–25, 1970 at the YMCA of the Rockies, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. There have been 109 Summits since 1970, with notable environmental educators, naturalists, authors, and artists such as Robert Michael Pyle, Jim Halfpenny, Roger Tory Peterson, Clare Walker Leslie, Annie Tiberio Cameron, and NWF 33-year employee and Chief Naturalist Craig Tufts (1946–2009) all on faculty at many Summits. Week-long Summits have been held most frequently in Colorado, North Carolina, and New York, but also in Wisconsin, California, Maine, Washington, Wyoming, Utah, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and other locations. The NWF changed the name to Family Summits in 2000. In 2006, several longtime Summiteers formed a non-profit corporation, Family Summits, Inc., to take over the project; they continue the tradition under the name Family Nature Summits.

Some of NWF's specific conservation priorities include: seeking solutions to global warming; strengthening the Endangered Species Act; combating invasive species; saving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling; restoring America's waterways; reforming the Army Corps of Engineers; and educating future environmental stewards.

NWF's headquarters is currently located in Reston, Virginia, overlooking a wildlife sanctuary. The land they now occupy, on the border of Reston and Lake Fairfax Park, had been used as a garbage dump for many years; the NWF cleaned up and rehabilitated the land before moving into the site in 2001. On Earth Day 2002, the NWF was given an award by the American Institute of Architects for their Reston headquarters being one of the Top Ten "Green" Projects.