The Audubon Center in Greenwich was National Audubon Society's very first education center. Formed in 1941, the center has since served as the national nucleus for teacher education and outreach activities. Currently, the center has 27 full- and part-time staff members and a budget of nearly $1 million to support the 522-acre sanctuary and its environmental education projects. Since the mid-1950's, the Greenwich Audubon Society (GAS) has operated as a chapter of NAS and has grown to serve an important role in furthering environmental causes in the community. The chapter, with an annual budget of $50-60,000 and a cadre of active volunteers, now owns six sanctuaries covering more than 160 acres, conducts programs, and focuses on local environmental issues and community-based concerns.

Recognizing the inefficiencies of operating two separate Audubon organizations in the same community, chapter and center leaders sat down to discuss a solution. "Over the course of the last year, we have taken a careful look at how to best serve our common Audubon mission in the Greenwich community, and we quickly discovered a great synergy among our resources, objectives and needs," said Ann Sawyer. With strong encouragement from NAS President John Flicker, chapter board members and center staff decided to take the bold step of recreating Audubon in Greenwich. "The merger opens up a great deal more potential than either group had on its own," states Sawyer.

A new board of directors, partly comprised of former directors of the chapter and partly of new directors from the local community will lead the Audubon Society of Greenwich. Some chapter members initially expressed concern about the potential loss of local autonomy resulting from unification. Ann Sawyer says that the opposite result has been achieved; "For the first time, town members have control over the organization and facility in their own town. This is very reassuring." She is seconded by Tom Baptist, executive director of National Audubon Society in Connecticut, who also states that the merger will provide additional leverage to protect local resources. "This will strengthen the Audubon voice on pressing local environmental issues, such as the need to better protect open space and improve the quality of our rivers, streams and coastal waters."