Crags Against Humanity Press Release!
Tucson, April 16, 2024
Climbing Association of Southern Arizona (CASA) is excited to announce that the Coronado National Forest has fully approved upgrades to the Crags Against Humanity climbing area as part of the Santa Catalina Trail Plan. Expanding on CASA's nearly decade-long, nationally recognized erosion control work at Windy Point, the Crags Against Humanity project is a first-of-its-kind pilot partnership between CASA and the Coronado National Forest to build climbing-specific infrastructure on the Forest. Crags Against Humanity was selected with community input after rigorous assessment of potential climbing areas. The site has a long recreational season, experiences high usage, is easily accessible, and is suffering the effects of erosional impact. Planned improvements include belay platforms and steps built with natural materials, restoration of eroded areas, signage, a “wag bag” station for packing out human waste, and educational materials to help mitigate climber impact. Work is planned to begin in the fall of 2024 by volunteers and paid professionals. CASA is hopeful that this pilot project will be the first of many Forest Service–supported upgrades to local climbing areas. |
Crags Against Humanity Project
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Coronado National Forest and CASA Collaborations:
CASA continues to forge and strengthen relationships with the Coronado National Forest! The Coronado National Forest wants to contract our own Eric Ruljancich for a few days to assess Crags Against Humanity and develop a plan to improve the area as part of their commitment to improving and supporting climbing areas. Once the plan is completed, the Forest Service will review it and then hopefully work in partnership with CASA to implement the work. There will be volunteer opportunities, so stay tuned! |
Baboquivari Stewardship Event
CASA's Stewardship Team held a very successful stewardship event in the Baboquivari Indigenous Lands, with general trash and overgrowth cleanup, and improving erosion control on many trails in the area. Here are some highlights from the event.
Many thanks to all the volunteers who have made events like these successful!
Many thanks to all the volunteers who have made events like these successful!
photos by Eric Ruljancich and Lora Rivera
US Forest Service recognizing Eric Ruljancich’s work:
"As a trail user, I love the Santa Catalina trail system, and it is an honor to be able to lend my professional skills to their improvement," said Outslope Trail Solutions owner Eric Ruljancich. Since 2021 Outslope Trail Solutions has been working in partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF) and the Coronado National Forest to help repair trails within the Santa Catalina Ranger District that were impacted by the Bighorn Fire of 2020.
Through a combination of volunteer events and targeted technical crew work, Outslope Trail Solutions has completed repairs on:
Recently, the crew has removed 1.5 miles of dense brush from the East side of the Cathedral Rock Trail, and installed erosion control features to repair a heavily eroded section of the Pontatoc Trail. Additionally, a volunteer event on Ventana Canyon made improvements to make the trail easier to follow at the 2-mile mark.Work completed on the Pontatoc Trail:
For more information, see the links below:
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In 2018 CASA put together a Recreation Trails Program proposal to provide maintenance and restoration on heavily used Santa Catalina Ranger District Forest Service trails that are used by rock climbers, hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers.
The proposal stated that CASA would primarily be maintaining and restoring trails different from a 2016 Grant, but will be returning to a few areas that need additional work. |
The project accomplished the following goals:
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Mount Lemmon Highway Cleanup
May 1, 2022
CASA volunteers came out strong on Sunday, May 1
They covered a lot of ground from the top at Marshall Gulch down to Hairpin!
They covered a lot of ground from the top at Marshall Gulch down to Hairpin!
CASA volunteers removed this and more from various locations on Mount Lemmon. Thanks to all of our volunteers and supporters who made this possible. |
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Pontatoc Trail on Feb 27
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A big thanks to all of our volunteers and the @accessfund National Conservation Team who came out and did the following work on Pontatoc Trail on Feb 27:
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