Harvard. Hunting Ludlow Griscom also enjoyed duck hunting as a sport. As in other areas, his opinions about managing game birds were moderate. He wrote favorably about game management practices in Great Britain; suggested reducing the issuance of non-resident hunting licenses; and argued for a closed season for ducks for a limited period of time, lest the birds become non-migrant and poor game. Conservation From his position as an eminent ornithologist and officer of organizations like NAS, Griscom was an activist on behalf of conservation issues, especially those that affected coastal Massachusetts and the Atlantic flyway. He emphasized habitat preservation (of both breeding and wintering ranges) and public education, so that conservationists, sportsmen, voters, and policymakers alike could make informed decisions; he followed a path of moderation and compromise. In 1923, he argued against a measure to promote hunting on Martha's Vineyard that would have stressed populations of the ultimately doomed heath hen. In the 1940s, he lobbied government officials, among them his friend Ira N. Gabrielson, in support of federal conservation of habitat. In particular, he argued for protection of two natural areas that would become Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, which covers most of the barrier island of Plum Island. Later life and death Ludlow Griscom had his first stroke in 1950, beginning a decade of failing health. He retired from Harvard and the MCZ in 1955. As a courtesy, and in recognition of his many years of service, he was elected President of the AOU in 1956; he immediately resigned and was succeeded by Ernst Mayr. Despite suffering additional strokes, Griscom continued to watch birds and record his observations, making his last journal entry on May 14, 1959. On May 28, he died in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Griscom is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Recognition Ludlow Griscom was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the Conservation Medal from the National Audubon Society in 1956, and in that same year he was named an honorary president of the organization. Mass Audubon named the research station at its Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary for him. At Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, the "Dean of the Birdwatchers" is remembered by a bronze plaque mounted on a five-ton granite boulder near Hellcat Swamp. In 1980, the American Birding Association established the Ludlow Griscom Award in his honor. Originally designated to recognize