The Legacy of Douglas C. Anderson
This story originally appeared in the Dec 2022/Jan 2023 edition of The Chicago Birder, COS's bi-monthly member magazine. For more information about The Chicago Birder and other membership benefits, take a look at our membership page.
By Lauren Kostas
Earlier this year, COS received a surprising and generous gift from the estate of Doug C. Anderson. Former president of both COS and the Chicago Audubon Society (CAS), Doug was a fixture among local birders for decades. Doug’s friends and associates described him as a kind, quiet, and private man, a passionate storyteller, and someone who could see tremendous promise in people and places.
He was best known for beginning the regular, free bird walks at the Wooded Island at Jackson Park. He led these walks from their inception in the early 1970s until his retirement in 2009. These CAS-hosted events continue to this day—a more than fifty-year tradition. A story in the CAS Compass noted that Doug considered the Island his Walden, a place to cherish and preserve. He was instrumental in adding Jackson Park to the National Register of Historic Places in the early 1970s, helping protect the site for future generations. “At his core, he was driven to help make people’s their lives better by connecting them to nature,” noted Geoff Williamson, Illinois Technology professor and leader of Third Coast Birding.
Years after he retired from leading walks, Doug’s impact on regional birding continued. In 2011, he shared with COS his historical field checklists from hundreds of field trips. Walter Marcisz, former COS president and founder of this magazine, was part of the committee to archive the materials. Walter noted, “it was a treasure trove of valuable data consisting of 1,000+ field cards. It took nine COS member volunteers to enter a total of 886 COS historical checklists into eBird.” The records included field trip data from sixty-one Illinois locations, twelve Indiana locations, and six Wisconsin locations, spanning decades, and attended by many COS members. “All of this valuable data may have been lost forever had not Doug had the foresight to pass it on to COS.”
Birds were not his only passion. Patricia Durkin, who lead the Wooded Island Bird Walks for more than ten years after Doug stepped down, described him as “a renaissance man, who gave freely of his time and talents.” Doug loved music and played the violin. All manner of bugs, plants and animals captured his attention and his time. He was a regular docent at the Lincoln Park Zoo, most often found in the Great Ape house, describing to visitors the family bonds, personalities, and histories of the individual gorillas and apes.
Educating and inspiring youth was another of Doug’s passions. Greg Neise, Webmaster for the American Birding Association, first met Doug as a small boy. Greg recalls, “Doug led the zoo and bird walks in such an effortless way, like a favorite college professor. He made each person—especially the kids— feel involved and fully engaged.”
To recapture that engagement fostered by Doug, COS has established the Douglas C. Anderson Bird Conservation Mini-Grant. Doug’s generous gift came with no specific directions, so COS saw a never-before opportunity to use the funds to establish a grant program that honors Doug’s lifelong commitments to nature and young people. The program, which is planned for roll out in 2023, will provide small grants to fund educator and youth programs in Chicago, with a focus on the Jackson Park area. In this way, Doug’s gift will have impact for many years to come, benefiting the parks he loved and supporting the young birders and naturalists he inspired and nurtured during his life. We are grateful for Doug’s commitment to birding and the community, and look forward to honoring his life’s passion through this new program.