‘Ding’ cartoon of the month
Long before Americans realized the importance of conservation education to save our resources, Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling was broadcasting the message. This circa-1928 political cartoon titled “Why it seems about time to begin talk of conservation” seems a good way (and time) to hail the refuge’s namesake as we get ready to unveil our newest conservation education tool next month — the Roving Ranger. A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Darling went on to see to the preservation of Sanibel’s wetlands and the establishment of the Sanibel National Wildlife Refuge in 1945. After his death in 1962, locals petitioned to have it renamed the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, the first national wildlife refuge named for a person. The “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge owns the copyright of the “Ding” Darling cartoons.