Clyde Martin Litton (February 13, 1917 – November 30, 2014) was a

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mi ...

river runner and a longtime conservationist, best known as a staunch opponent of the construction of

Glen Canyon Dam Glen Canyon Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona, United States, near the town of Page. The high dam was built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) from 1956 to 1966 and forms Lake Powell, one of t ...

and other dams on the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. sta ...

. Litton grew up in

Gardena, California Gardena is a city located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 58,829 at the 2010 census, up from 57,746 at the 2000 census. Until 2014, the US census cited the City of Gardena as the plac ...

, not too far from Alondra Park. Although not a well-known environmental activist until the 1950s, as early as October 1935 he wrote a letter to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' at the age of 18, which read in part: "The people of the entire state should rise up against the destruction of

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water alk ...

. Mono Lake is a gem-among California's greatest scenic attractions." Litton and his wife Esther first floated the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1955 with Plez Talmadge "Pat" Reilly, at the time joining the first 200 to 300 people known to have made the trip down the river from Lee's Ferry to the Grand Wash Cliffs, first pioneered by

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

. He ran the river again in 1956, rowing one of Pat's fiberglass Cataract boats, and again in 1962, rowing a modified Mckenzie River dory. Litton continued to run the Colorado for decades afterward, founding Grand Canyon Dories in 1971 and running commercial river trips through the 1970s and 1980s. Litton showed a contrarian preference for using small wooden boats, known as

dories A dory is a small, shallow- draft boat, about long. It is usually a lightweight boat with high sides, a flat bottom and sharp bows. It is easy to build because of its simple lines. For centuries, the dory has been used as a traditional fishi ...

, at a time when other river runners had mostly switched to inflatable rubber rafts. These boats were originally used in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

; and it was Litton who adapted their use to the Colorado River commercial river trips. He sold the business in 1988. Litton was a close friend of

David Brower David Ross Brower (; July 1, 1912 – November 5, 2000) was a prominent environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies (1997), Friends of the Earth (1969), Eart ...

Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an Americans, American author, essayist, and anarchist, environmental activist noted for his advocacy of environmentalism, environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. His ...

, and other major figures in the conservation movement. Brower first recruited him in 1952 for a campaign to oppose the construction of two dams in

Dinosaur National Monument Dinosaur National Monument is an American national monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers. Although most of the monument area is ...

. Congress voted down approval for the dams in 1956. This began a longtime association with the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

and a lifelong opposition to dam-building on the Colorado. He was active in the fight to stop dams from being constructed within

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considere ...

. A 1964 river trip led by Martin Litton, which included

, Philip Hyde and author Francois Leydet, led to the publication of the 1964 book authored by Leydet, ''Time and the River Flowing,'' with photographs by

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advo ...

, Philip Hyde and others, which helped galvanize opposition to the proposed dams within the Grand Canyon. Between 1954 and 1968 he was the travel editor for ''

Sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

'' magazine. In 1960, ''Sunset'' ran a cover story entitled "The Redwood Country," which is credited with launching a campaign which eventually led to the establishment of

Redwood National Park The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one national park and three state parks, cooperatively managed, located in the United States along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park (established 1968 ...

. Litton was the author of the 1968 book ''The Life and Death of Lake Mead''. He has been featured in documentary films including ''Monumental: David Brower's Fight for Wild America'' and ''River Runners of the Grand Canyon''. Litton served on the board of directors of the Sierra Club from 1964 to 1973. In 1990 he convinced Harriet Burgess to found the American Land Conservancy and served on the executive committee for ten years. Litton founded the organization Sequoia ForestKeeper® in 2001 and served as president until his death. He served on the Advisory Committee of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and on the Honorary Board of Directors of the Glen Canyon Institute. On November 30, 2014, he died at his home in

Portola Valley, California Portola Valley is a town in San Mateo County, California. Located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the Bay Area, Portola Valley is a small, wealthy community nestled on the eastern slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. History Portola Valle ...

, aged 97.Los Angeles Times
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References

External links

"Environmental warrior Martin Litton is still fighting at 95"
"

High Country News ''High Country News'' is a monthly independent magazine based in Paonia, Colorado, that covers environmental, social, and political issues in the Western United States. Syndicated stories from ''High Country News'' have appeared in '' The New York ...

, February 29, 2012
"A matter of grove concern"
Bettina Boxall, ''

'', December 21, 2006
"The Good Fight: The Martin Litton Story"
Documentary film profiling Martin Litton's life and activism, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Litton, Martin American conservationists American non-fiction environmental writers Early Grand Canyon river runners Sierra Club directors American magazine editors Activists from California 1917 births 2014 deaths People from Portola Valley, California Sierra Club awardees