Established in January, 1967 by Evalyn and Les Bowen "to speak up for the wildlife that was losing its local habitat", Madrone Audubon Society was the "first politically involved conservation organization in Sonoma County" and the first Audubon Chapter in Northern CA, anywhere north of Marin County and Sacramento.

A Chapter is shaped by the energies of individuals, especially Charter and long time members. Evalyn and Les Bowen inspired others to participate:

• J. Tom Olds gave conservation lectures while he carved bird pins, to be sold to support the new Chapter and later to establish a Nature Center Fund (this fund provided the basis for the Bouverie Preserve's lab).

• Martha Bentley dedicated herself to local conservation battles and to establishing The Bird Rescue Center; a Charter member she worked for the Chapter for 41 years.

• Ernestine Smith stood beside Martha, speaking up in the major conservation battles of Sonoma County Warm Springs Dam, Bodega Harbor nuclear plant, Jenner dredge, Fountaingrove, and the Coastal Act.

• Betty Burridge focused on Citizen Science, to get the Christmas Bird Count on sound footing for 17 years with Deyea Harper and to organize and edit the first edition of the Sonoma County Breeding Bird Atlas, published in 1995 with data surveyed from 1981-1986.