Craig Martin

Born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Craig Martin fell in love with the mountains of New Mexico at the age of twelve when a fellow Boy Scout shared pictures of his trip to Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron. He has lived in New Mexico since 1987, exploring the state on foot, bike, skis, or with a fly rod in hand.

His first experience with a Pulaski was in 1981 as a ranger at Saguaro National Park, working a trail in the Rincon Mountains. After several years teaching middle school science, he and his family moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico, where he launched a career as a freelance writer. Over the next decade plus, Martin wrote 20 books, more than 100 magazine articles, and for five years contributed a weekly trail column to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

In May 2000, the Cerro Grande fire ripped through Los Alamos and melted Martin's diverse career threads into a single fiber. As project manager for the Volunteer Task Force, Martin helped coordinate the rebuilding of the trails around Los Alamos. Over the next three years, he supervised dozens of trail projects that involved more than 3,000 volunteers. For his work on the trail system, as well as his organization of the planting of 28,000 pine seedlings in the burned area and the hand seeding of 43 acres, Martin was awarded a 2001 National Volunteer of the Year Award from the Points of Light Foundation. In 2002, Martin received the Chief's Award from the United States Forest Service.

Since 2003 Martin has served as Open Space and Trails Specialist for his hometown, continuing to make trail maintenance a community activity by working with school groups and local volunteers. In 2011, he found himself again rebuilding many of the same trails after the Las Conchas fire raced through the mountains above Los Alamos. For this work and his years of working with local youth, Martin was named a Los Alamos Living Treasure in 2013, the youngest person ever so honored.

Martin's writing focuses on defining a sense of place. His work includes guidebooks to outdoor recreation and local history. His latest work, a second edition of Los Alamos Place Names, received the 2013 Best Reference Book award from the New Mexico-Arizona Book Co-op.

Martin lives on the edge of the Santa Fe National Forest with his wife, June.