Merlin S. Eltzroth was born in Philadelphia in 1922, grew up in Ohio, and graduated from Ohio University in 1947. He married Elsie K. Eltzroth in June 1943. Eltzroth moved to Corvallis in 1971 and earned a BS degree in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University in 1974. He specialized in non-game bird biology and was a volunteer in wild bird rehabilitation and protection. In 1985, he was instrumental in the passage of Oregon laws to protect all native non-game bird species and received honors from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for his work. In 2005, he received the first Homer Campbell Award for conservation and the environment from the Audubon Society of Corvallis. Eltzroth retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1971 after serving in both World War II and the Vietnam War. Eltzroth died in Corvallis on October 7, 2005.