Who Was J.N. "D'ing" Darling?
The life accomplishments of Jay Norwood Darling reflect the influence of the years he spent growing up in the Midwest.
Born in Michigan in 1876, he was raised in the state of Iowa and spent much of his time exploring the prairies. Darling was an avid hunter and fisherman who witnessed first-hand the affects of “progress” on the wilderness and wildlife he loved. Darling worked first as a reporter at The Sioux City Journal before moving on to The Des Moines Register where he spent his career as a political cartoonist. Darling’s passion for conservation often showed up in his cartoons, which were syndicated in 130 U.S. newspapers, and which earned him two Pulitzers. The name “D’ing” Darling became famous from his cartoons, which he signed “D’ing” as a contraction of his last name.
Without
"D'ing" Darling's efforts to
preserve the environment and
wildlife that drew visitors to Sanibel in the first place, Sanibel
would quickly have become like many vacation spots around the U.S.,
with disintegrating shorelines and trash strewn public parking lots.
Darling had a particular interest in the conservation of migratory
birds. The late 1800’s had seen wild bird plumage become the
rage in high fashion, with the hats of society’s women
adorned in rare and bright feathers that were often those of a bird
just prior to mating. The result was that whole flocks of birds had
been killed and plucked to meet the demands of fashion, often before
the birds had an opportunity to lay eggs and raise young. The affect of
the poaching was devastating to migratory bird populations in the U.S.
and abroad.
In 1918, the federal government passed the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act to protect migratory birds in North America. The affects of the treaty were felt abroad as well, and it effectively demolished any legal wild bird trade. Darling’s passion for conservation, illustrated in his cartoons, had brought him to the attention of those in government seeking to preserve wildlife in America through the recently born refuge system. Darling served for a limited time as chief of the U.S. Biological Survey under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt after having been involved in the President’s Committee for Wildlife Restoration. In 1935, Darling created the design that is the Duck Stamp and also the blue goose logo that is used by the National Wildlife Refuge system across the country. In that same year, Darling and his wife Penny discovered Sanibel and Captiva Islands.
Sanibel Island owes a great deal of its present beauty to Jay Norwood Darling. In the early 1940’s, the state of Florida offered up a little more than 2,000 acres of Sanibel Island to developers for the low price of a dollar or less per acre. Thanks to the actions of Jay Darling, Harry S. Truman issued an executive order in which the federal government leased the land from the state of Florida and named it the Sanibel National Wildlife Refuge in 1945. This land has become the core of a reserve that now spans 6,354 acres.
"D'ing" Darling fought the construction of the causeway seen in this photo because he feared that too many tourists would ruin Sanibel's environment.
Thankfully, most who visit Sanibel fall in love with her so quickly, respect her wildlife greatly, and make efforts to leave her unblemished.
Darling did not live to see the completion of the causeway. He died in 1962 and the causeway was not completed until 1963. In 1967, five years after his death, the residents of Sanibel had the refuge name changed to the J.N. “D’ing” Darling National Wildlife Refuge to honor the man who did so much to preserve wildlife and in so doing, preserved Sanibel herself.