The Access Fund, an advocacy group of over 7,000 rock
climbers, says a proposed federal rule could kill climbing in BLM
wilderness areas. The proposal prohibits “physical alteration or
defacement of a natural rock surface in wilderness.” Sally Moser,
executive director of the Access Fund in Boulder, Colo., says
without bolts or nylon webbing and removable protection as anchors,
climbing will be dangerous or even impossible. But temporary gear
is no problem, insists Jeff Jarvis, a Washington, D.C., staffer
with the Bureau of Land Management who helped draft the proposal.
“Webbing isn’t a bolt,” he says. But when it comes to bolts, the
BLM sticks to its ban. The 1964 Wilderness Act defines wilderness
as “federal land … without permanent improvements,” says Jarvis.
The good news for climbers is that both the BLM’s proposed rule and
existing rules for wilderness study areas permit local managers to
allow bolts at their discretion. Still, the Access Fund fears that
starting out with a blanket ban on “fixed anchors’ will prejudice
local officials against them. Some 1,500 people have commented on
the new rules for BLM wilderness; a copy is available from Rob
Hellie in the BLM’s wilderness office at 202/452-7703. Access Fund
information is available at 303/545-6772.
*Alan
Schussman
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Bolting blues.
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