Willard G. Van Name

Willard Gibbs Van Name (April 18, 1872 - April 25, 1959) was an American biologist and conservationist active in the national conservation movement from the 1920s into the 1950s. In 1929, he and Rosalie Edge established the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC) to combat inadequate wildlife protection policies and to expose the ineffectiveness of major conservation groups at the time, particularly the National Association of Audubon Societies (NAAS - now the National Audubon Society). In addition to successfully challenging NAAS, over two decades the ECC successfully advocated for the creation of Olympic (Washington) and Kings Canyon (California) National Parks, the expansion of existing national parks including Yosemite, and the preservation of other notable natural areas. The ECC was also effective in pressing for regulations to protect wildlife, including opposing the then prevalent practice of systematic predator eradication. The ECC was largely financed by Van Name in its early years.

In 1934, with financial assistance from Van Name, Edge established the world's first preserve for birds of prey - Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, near Kempton. Pennsylvania. The original lease of the land comprising the sanctuary was largely paid for by Van Name, originally as a loan but ultimately as a donation to purchase the property the following year.

Edge and the ECC were considered the most militant conservationist force of the time, serving as a model for the hard-core environmentalists of subsequent generations, according to long-time Sierra Club leader David Brower.