WRITE YOUR SENATOR!

​Senate Bill to Sell Off Public Lands!

What can you do?

Comment on each of the Climbing Management Plans using the guidance provided below BEFORE January 30th, 9:59pm MST. It is important that your comments are unique and personal, based on your climbing experiences here in Southern Arizona and other locations that will be affected. Attend one of CASA’a tabling events the week of Jan 8 at Rocks and Ropes for assistance in writing and submitting your comments on the two plans (check social media for times and dates).

Talking Points and Guidance
Please take the time to write a unique and personal comment by paraphrasing the following talking points. Write in a way to incorporate the main ideas listed below into your comments. You can refer to the Access Fund’s Action Alert for more detailed info.

In creating stronger, personal comments, try to include your own stories, such as meaningful climbing experiences in or outside of wilderness areas, and what you are personally concerned about losing as a US Forest or National Park user.

​Remember, climbing has been and continues to be compatible with wilderness on National Forests and National Parks, and these changes are completely unnecessary.

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• The Southern Arizona climbing community has a long and positive history on National Forest system lands in the region.

• The Southern Arizona climbing community has been effectively collaborating with the Coronado National Forest for decades to improve forest lands and steward climbing areas via dozens of volunteer efforts including:
  • ​System trail maintenance
  • Climbing area erosion control work
  • Litter cleanup
  • Graffiti removal
  • Fixed anchor maintenance
  • Raptor monitoring
• NOTE: §  A considerable amount of community resources has been committed to these collaborative stewardship efforts, including support from local businesses and non-climbing organizations

 

• Rock climbing is a well-accepted and celebrated activity on the Coronado National Forest (CNF), with routes established well before the 1964 Wilderness Act. The CNF celebrates rock climbing on its homepage as a major forest activity.

 

• National Park websites, such as Yosemite and Rocky Mountain, have pages dedicated to rock climbing, climbing ethics, and leave no trace ethics in their parks. 

 

• Fixed anchors are an essential piece of climbers’ safety system and are not prohibited “installations” under the 1964 Wilderness Act. Following existing climbing policies that allow judicious use of fixed anchors for more than a half century will do more to protect Wilderness and Park character while providing for primitive and unconfined Wilderness climbing.

 

• It is unreasonable for federal agencies to create new guidance policies prohibiting Wilderness and National Park climbing anchors across the country when they have allowed, managed, and authorized fixed anchors for decades.

Vertical Divider

• Prohibiting fixed anchors will create safety issues by imposing unnecessary obstacles to the regular maintenance of fixed anchors, a responsibility undertaken by the climbing community. Critical safety decisions often must be made in the moment and any authorization process should not impede those decisions. Fixed anchor maintenance needs to be managed in a way that incentivizes safe anchor replacement and does not risk the removal of a climbing route.

• Prohibiting fixed anchors will threaten America's rich climbing legacy and could erase some of the world's greatest climbing achievements. Climbing management policy needs to protect existing routes from removal, and support expeditious maintenance of fixed anchors.

 

• Restricting the establishment of new routes to "existing climbing opportunities" on non-Wilderness lands is unenforceable and will create confusion amongst land managers and climbers. Non-Wilderness climbing management policy should maintain opportunities for new anchors unless and until analyses determine climbing should be restricted to protect cultural and natural resources

 

• The rule changes and development of the management plans come with no funding mechanism attached. The changes will place an unnecessary and unsustainable management burden upon the already short-staffed Forest Service and Park Service.

 

• ​The US Forest Service  and National Park Service should consider existing fixed anchors in and outside of wilderness to be approved and appropriate until such time that a resource analysis can be done to determine if each fixed anchor is inappropriate.

 

• USFS and NPS locations need to begin or continue working with the local climbing community as an essential part in maintaining climber safety and promoting outdoor recreation.

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Submit your comments now!

Submit NPS Comments

Submit USFS Comments

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