zoologist
American zoologist (1872–1959)
Willard Gibbs Van Name 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. 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.
