Description

Being safe outdoors is the crucial first step. Campbell County Public Library is hosting a summer-long outdoor survival series taught by Mark Andersen, a local wilderness survival enthusiast & instructor. Andersen is the Facilities Director at Gillette College & has been noted as “a real survivor man” in the Gillette News-Record as far back as 2008. He became interested in outdoor survival as a child growing up in Utah where he camped, hunted, & fished with his family. He’s always been aware of plants & animals around him & learned to forage for raspberries, pine nuts, pistachios, pecans, & crawdads. Andersen’s interest in survival skills grew through his involvement in scouting as a kid where he learned about flint knapping, hiking, camping, & backpacking. As an adult, his interests lad him to becoming a survival instructor in Utah, Idaho, & Wyoming, then to teaching other survival instructors, & finally to owning his own business for a couple years. Andersen has numerous wilderness stories showing the importance of survival skills.