In 1909 a bill was brought before Congress for the protection, in the form sanctuaries, of migratory birds, it was known as the Weekes-McLean Bird Bill. By 1911 it was in danger of dying a natural death because the Bill’s sponsors could not drum up enough support to get the Bill passed.
About this time, the celebrated American ornithologist and naturalist, John Burroughs had criticized cars and Ford in particular, he felt the car was not doing the countryside any good. Henry Ford had become a fan of John Burroughs after Ford’s wife had given him first one and then all (when the first was avidly read) of Burroughs’ books. Initially Henry was taken aback by the criticism his hero had made of the car, but in typical Henry Ford fashion he figured out a positive response.
He wrote a letter to John Burroughs telling him there was a brand new Ford car waiting for him at his local Ford dealership. It was free of charge and there were no strings attached – it was not any sort of publicity stunt, it was a gift from an admirer, nothing more.
At first Burroughs did not take to the car, but he persuaded his nephew to drive him around in it. Eventually he mastered the art of driving himself (he was seventy-five at this time) and found he could get around more quickly to many more places to see his beloved birds. He became a firm car enthusiast and he and Henry became good friends.
John Burroughs drew Henry’s attention to the plight of the Weekes-McLean Bird Bill. Henry swung in to action. He contacted his dealer network, all six thousand of them, and asked them to mobilize their community groups in their area to lobby Congress on behalf of the birds. This was Henry’s first foray in to politics and it was a resounding success, he began his lobbying campaign in December 1912 and the act passed in 1913.
He wrote a letter to John Burroughs telling him there was a brand new Ford car waiting for him at his local Ford dealership. It was free of charge and there were no strings attached – it was not any sort of publicity stunt, it was a gift from an admirer, nothing more.
At first Burroughs did not take to the car, but he persuaded his nephew to drive him around in it. Eventually he mastered the art of driving himself (he was seventy-five at this time) and found he could get around more quickly to many more places to see his beloved birds. He became a firm car enthusiast and he and Henry became good friends.
John Burroughs drew Henry’s attention to the plight of the Weekes-McLean Bird Bill. Henry swung in to action. He contacted his dealer network, all six thousand of them, and asked them to mobilize their community groups in their area to lobby Congress on behalf of the birds. This was Henry’s first foray in to politics and it was a resounding success, he began his lobbying campaign in December 1912 and the act passed in 1913.
The Migratory Bird Act of 1913, the first federal bird protection law in the United States, would likely have been ignored in Congress without Ford’s ambitious campaigning efforts to secure passage and support the Migratory Bird Treaty with Canada, to improve the lives of farmers.
Ford later acknowledged that the imported birds did not stick around or successfully colonize the area, remarking in hindsight: "They stayed around for a while, but where they are now I do not know. I shall not import any more. Birds are entitled to live where they want to live."
University of Michigan Press later published a full book on the subject, “Best of Companions: Henry Ford and the Protection of Birdlife in America.”
Best of Companions weaves Henry Ford’s personal and very public participation in bird protection into the overall national push to save disappearing North American birdlife in the early twentieth century.
Acting on his love of birds, Ford formed acquaintances and friendships with some of the most prominent North American wildlife conservation activists of the time.
Michigan Audubon Society President Jefferson Butler was recruited to plan, establish, and promote an expansive, visionary bird protection project known as Henry Ford’s Bird Farm.
Highlighting the economic benefit of birds, the farm modeled how farmers could use both natural and artificial means to boost populations of native insectivorous bird species on their land, reducing crop damage from insects and increasing agricultural productivity.
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