[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16591-16592]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO HONOR THE LIFE OF MARTIN LITTON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 3, 2014

  Ms. ESHOO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the extraordinary life and 
work of Martin Litton, a legendary and passionate environmentalist and 
wilderness preservationist who died on November 30, 2014, at his home 
in Portola Valley, California. Mr. Litton was born in Los Angeles on 
February 13, 1917, and was 97 years of age when he died of age-related 
causes.
  Martin Litton was introduced early to the joys of the wilderness. He 
attributed a 12-day trip on Mt. Whitney that he and a friend took

[[Page 16592]]

as teens as the inspiration for his lifelong crusade to protect our 
environment. At age 18 he wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times 
urging Californians to save Mono Lake. Martin Litton was best known for 
his fierce opposition to the destruction of the Colorado River by the 
construction of dams, often in association with the Sierra Club. He was 
one of the first several hundred people to float the river in 1955, and 
after fourteen years as the travel editor at Sunset Magazine he began 
running the river often, founding Grand Canyon Dories in 1970 and 
running commercial trips through the 1970s and 1980s, until he sold the 
business in 1988. He ran his last trip in 2004 at age 87, rowing his 
own wooden dory.
  Martin Litton was an author, activist, pilot, and a catalyst for 
change. He was close to major figures in the environmental movement, 
such as David Brower, Edward Abbey and others. Martin Litton gave 
generously of his time and considerable talents to the conservation 
movement as a Director of the Sierra Club from 1964 to 1973, as a 
member of the Executive Committee of the American Land Conservancy, as 
an Advisor to the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and on the Honorary 
Board of Directors of the Glen Canyon Institute.
  Martin Litton leaves his wife, Esther, his children John, Kathleen 
and Helen, as well as five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in 
extending our most sincere condolences to Martin Litton's family, and 
in honoring his extraordinarily productive life. Martin Litton was a 
soaring figure, larger than life, with a magnificent voice, a powerful 
presence, an all-consuming passion for the wilderness, and a passion to 
preserve and protect the natural beauty of our nation.

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