It must have been about a year ago that we first wondered aloud if it’d be possible to put our backcountry knowledge and experiences on display for the benefit of the folks in our local community. As a national organization, we tend to think and operate big (visit our website and you’ll find NCOAE courses being offered in destinations like Hawaii, Wyoming and Oregon — all of which are thousands of miles from our world headquarters in Wilmington, N.C.). And the programs we do offer locally… well, they’re expensive and not the type of thing someone just signs up for out of the blue or on a moment’s notice.

Interested though in giving back to the community that has been so great for our nonprofit, we recently approached the good folks over at the Great Outdoor Provisions Co. to see if they’d be interested in having our founders, guides and instructors offer free workshops to their customers at their Wilmington store. After a few conversations about topics, dates and logistics, we got it all worked out.

Starting in January, NCOAE will be presenting the following monthly “Campfire Conversations” — free workshops and talks — at the Great Outdoor Provisions Co. store in Wilmington:

• January 5, 2015 (6-8pm)— Understanding Leave No Trace: The Leave No Trace Awareness Workshop
• February 2, 2015 (6-8pm)— One Size Doesn’t Fit All: Everything you need to know about choosing women’s outdoor gear
• March 9, 2015 (6-8pm) — Cooking In The Backcountry: Tips, tricks and warnings for beginners to sous-chefs
• April 6, 2015 (6-8pm) — Backpacking With Kids: How to prepare and pull off a great backcountry experience with your kids
• May 2015 (date & time TBA) — Your Weekend Adventure Awaits: Three-day trips that are local, affordable and well within your reach
• June 2015 (date & time TBD)— Wilderness Medicine: What you need to know to be safe, confident and helpful in emergency situations in the backcountry

(©2004 John Blaustein Photography http://www.johnblaustein.com)

For those of us who treasure the wilderness and want to preserve every pristine particle in it, the death late last month of Martin Litton was a bit jolting. Sure, he was 97 years old and certainly lived what eulogies often refer to as “a full life.”

And by that, we’re talking about a controversial outdoorsman who filled that life with stints as a LA Times reporter, WWII glider pilot, nature photographer, river runner, curmudgeonly conservationist and devout environmentalist.

By comparison, Martin Litton makes the equally grey-bearded “Most Interesting Man in the World” beer commercial character look like an Iowa accountant.

National Geographic contributor Kenneth Brower recently wrote a glowing description of Litton, an environmental pioneer who, as a sideline, founded his own dory fleet business, running rivers in boats of his own design. (Fun fact: Litton holds the record as the oldest man to row the Grand Canyon, which he did at the age of 87.)

Brower’s must-read piece for National Geographic waxes poetic on the accomplishments of this amazing man. Below are a few highlights:

• It was Litton who first understood the damage that a Marble Canyon Dam would inflict on Grand Canyon National Park.

• It was Litton who uncovered U.S. Forest Service mismanagement of the giant sequoias of California.