[1][2][3][4] NatureServe reports being "headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, with regional offices in four U.S. locations and in Canada.

[4][7] In 2001 the IRS approved a name change to NatureServe that was requested in 1999, while maintaining the organization's 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status granted in July 1995.

After working with Patrick Noonan, president of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), to arrange the donation of the 24,000-acre (97 km2) Santee Coastal Reserve, Joseph Hudson, chairman of South Carolina’s Wildlife and Marine Resources Department, wanted to identify other preservation-worthy lands in the state.

While establishing that first program, TNC chief scientist Robert Jenkins Jr., chose to focus on biological features in need of conservation, and to use this information to suggest priority sites for protection.

By the early 1990s, a group of natural heritage program directors began to develop network-wide information products.

This effort led to the establishment of an independent nonprofit organization devoted to promoting the products and services of the network.

Incorporated in 1994 as the Association for Biodiversity Information (ABI), this membership organization created the framework for network-wide coordination.