The Coulee Region Audubon Society started out as the La Crosse Audubon Society in 1965 with 70 members. Meetings were held largely in the biology department at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
In late 1995 the group voted to become a chapter affiliated with the National Audubon Society and changed their name to the Coulee Region Audubon Society. The members wanted to gain more members, form partnerships with other chapters, create a wider scope, and focus attention on the Upper Mississippi River area.
The group meets monthly from fall to spring and coordinates the annual Christmas bird count. For three years, the group coordinated a bird festival called the Mississippi Flyway Birding Festival in 2004-2006.
