Rainier Audubon Society

About Us:

Rainier is the south King County (Washington) chapter of the National Audubon Society.

In the mid-1970s, a Great Blue Heron rookery was discovered right in the path of a planned freeway off-ramp. Tom Shaver, his students in a birding class offered through Green River Community College, and Federal Way resident Thais Bock began working with the state Department of Transportation to see if it would be possible to re-route the ramp. Their efforts were successful; the ramp was re-routed and the rookery preserved. Tom was honored with an Environmental Excellence Award for his work.

The need for a new Audubon chapter emerged from this work, as the area was right between the Seattle chapter and the Tacoma chapter and its population was in a kind of "no man's land." In 1978, the Rainier Chapter was granted existence by National Audubon. Tom Shaver was elected the first president.

Since that time, Rainier has been active in the south King County community, offering monthly programs on birding and conservation issues, participating in local festivals such as the Tukwila Backyard Wildlife Fair and the King County Fair, teaching birding classes, and leading birding field trips around the area.

Our territory is South King County in the state of Washington, including the cities of Federal Way, Kent, and Maple Valley.