Edge was considered the most militant conservationist of her time,[1] and she clashed publicly for decades with leaders of the Audubon Society over approaches to wildlife preservation.

[3] Her British father was a wealthy accountant and cousin to Charles Dickens, whom he resembled, and a near relative of the painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

[6] When she was 17, while visiting family in England,[7] Barrow met Charles Noel Edge, a British citizen, a graduate of the University of Cambridge and a civil engineer.

[11] The marriage was initially very happy, but Charles was frequently absent for work, which, combined with her increasing interest in wildlife, created a rift between them.

[13] On a 1913 trip from England to New York aboard the Mauretania,[14] Edge met and befriended Sybil Thomas, Viscountess Rhondda.

Biographer Dyana Z. Furmansky describes the latter donation as an "odd choice", as Edge had not previously shown any interest in bird conservation.

After reading of the slaughter of 70,000 bald eagles in the Alaska Territory, without any protest from the leading bird protection organizations of the day, she felt it her duty to act.

The broad coalition of members was organized by the National Association of Audubon Societies (NAAS), a group that owned and operated wildlife sanctuaries.

[29] Edge learned that the Audubon sanctuaries were killing predator animals, including birds of prey, and trapping many small mammals.

[31][27] A judgment in her favor gave her access to a list of about 11,000 Audubon members who were subsequently informed about what she considered lapses in the organization's defense of birds and wildlife.

Acting quickly to preempt the fall hawk hunt, Edge signed a contract to lease about 1,340 acres (540 ha) of the ridge land in June 1934, with an option to later purchase it.

[37] That first year, Edge and her family traveled to the area on weekends and hired caretakers and an armed former police officer to protect the land, which became Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

[38] After two years of leasing the land, Edge purchased it using $2,500 of her own money and funds raised by the ECC; she later transferred ownership to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association.

[41] In the final weeks of her life, she made peace with the Audubon Society, receiving a standing ovation at its annual meeting in New York.

In 1937, she successfully lobbied Congress to purchase about 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) of old-growth sugar pines on the perimeter of Yosemite National Park that were to be logged.

[2][1] Scientist and author Rachel Carson visited Hawk Mountain Sanctuary repeatedly and used data on bird populations collected by its caretakers as evidence in her influential 1962 book Silent Spring.