Vance Martin

Vance G. Martin
Courtesy of Nick Chevalier, South Africa, 2012
Born	Vance Gregory Martin (1949-07-20) July 20, 1949 (age 68) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Residence	Boulder, Colorado, USA
Nationality	American
Occupation	President of The WILD Foundation
Years active	1983-present

Vance G. Martin (born July 20, 1949; Washington, D.C.) is an expert in international nature conservation and wilderness protection, a writer, and an amateur photographer. Martin specializes in bridging the interests of people and nature through culture, communications, science, and policy. He has worked in more than 65 nations, lived in many countries, and served on the boards of numerous conservation and business organizations. Since 1983, he has served as President of The WILD Foundation, an international conservation organization explicitly dedicated to protecting wilderness, connecting wild nature to people, and to communicating the values of wilderness and its benefits for human communities.

Vance G. Martin (full name Vance Gregory Martin) was born July 20, 1949 in Washington, D.C., to Alyce Dickerson Martin, (deceased, 2013), and Thomas O. Martin, (deceased, 1994, a 25 year veteran of the FBI). He grew up mostly throughout the Maryland/Virginia/West Virginia area of the US, primarily in the suburbs. He spent as much of his free time as possible in the forests and fields of the Piedmont Region, and later (during university) in the Appalachian Mountains. In 1971, he graduated Magna Cum Laude from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and minor studies in forestry and wildlife management.

After college, Martin lived and worked abroad in Asia and Europe for 13 years, including 10 years at The Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, as a senior manager and (sic) Director of Environmental Programs. During this time he met and began to work closely with author/explorer Sir Laurens van der Post and South African, international conservationist Dr. Ian Player. His life-long passion for nature developed into a professional, working commitment to understand, protect and communicate wilderness values and the irreplaceable role of wilderness in a healthy society. He currently lives in Boulder, Colo., and is in a domestic partnership with Carol L. Batrus. He has a son (Farren) and daughter (Felicia) from a previous marriage to Catherine (Kate) Martin (artist, teacher) and is grandfather to Veda Lee Martin. He is passionate about wild nature, trees, fly-fishing, oriental carpets, and antique trade beads.

Martin has been President of The WILD Foundation since 1983, leading program and financial development for a conservation NGO that was established by South African conservationist Dr. Ian Player in 1974. He works primarily on fundraising, program strategy and management for WILD, frequently traveling between the headquarters in Colorado with WILD projects and affiliated organizations around the world. Martin works extensively in Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, Russia, and the Americas to foster the understanding, policy, and action needed to protect and sustain wild nature while meeting the needs of human communities. His work brings him into all sectors of society from the government and corporate world to academics, the arts, local communities, and native/indigenous cultures.