Access Fund E-News #46
August 2004
E-News Online
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IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Reaching Out to Generation Y
2. BLM Releases Indian Creek Recreation Plan - Public Comments Needed By August 31
3. Elected officials in Provo are paying $200,000 to keep the rocks in Rock Canyon, UT
4. You're Invited: 2004 Access Fund Annual Dinner
5. Vertical Times #59 (August Issue) is Now Online as a PDF
6. NEW Membership Incentive Program Gifts
The Access Fund has joined forces with URBAN CLIMBER MAGAZINE in an innovative partnership to reach the new generation of climbers through a combined print and interactive campaign. With a new focus on boulderers and gym climbers, the Access Fund has commissioned URBAN CLIMBER MAGAZINE to design a series of advertisements targeted at the younger generation of climbers. The first in the "Use Your Power" series of print advertisements will premier in the launch issue of URBAN CLIMBER MAGAZINE. Click here for more information on URBAN CLIMBER MAGAZINE.
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1. Reaching Out to Generation Y
"What is the Access Fund?" asked a curious teenager with a skull cap at the Phoenix Bouldering competition a few years back. Standing before our booth, he scanned our brochures and pamphlets with curiosity.
"Where do you live?" I responded.
"Flagstaff, Arizona,"
"Well, the Access Fund is a bit like an animal rights group for climbers," I began, "Instead of protecting dogs and cats from abuse, we protect climbers' access to climb on public and private lands. We're a national organization, so we represent all American climbers, boulderers, mountaineers - you name it in the vertical world. In Flagstaff, for example, we have organized trail projects, paid for signs at climbing areas, given grants..."
The young climbers' eyes lit up with my explosion of information, "So you're kinda like the United Skateboarding Association, except for rock climbers?"
"Yeah, something like that," I responded. "Are you interested in joining, because we really depend on members like you to help us continue our work across the country."
"Uh, no I'm not a joiner, but I sure could use some stickers?"
"Sure," I said handing him our two of our logo decals. Then he darted off to the next booth as if being chased by the "law" leaving me in a state of shell-shocked disillusionment.
Having spent my early climbing years in North Carolina, the Access Fund was as integral to climbing and bouldering outdoors as magnesium carbonate. When my favorite bouldering area was closed for development, the Access Fund was there. When we had questions about how to deal with the National Park Service in order to create new trails, the Fund was there, when a new kiosk was needed at a local crag...you get the picture.
Whether you are a younger climber, perhaps just learning to climb or a seasoned teenager with more trips to Hueco than the average 30-something boulder toad, the Fund is your organization.
As the Access Fund ascends into its fifteenth year of operation, we realize how critical younger climbers are to our survival and are striving to capture their/your attention through awareness drives such as "The Boulder Project" and advertising campaigns such as the "Use Your Power" series that will premiere in Urban Climber magazine this September.
So read on...if you skim through this issue of E-News and are still unsure of "what is the Access Fund," please surf our website at accessfund.org for more.
Climb Strong,
John Heisel
Publications Director
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2. BLM Releases Indian Creek Recreation Plan - Public Comments Needed By August 31
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) just released its Draft Indian Creek Recreation Plan (www.blm.gov/utah/monticello/ICEA.pdf), which presents alternatives for managing camping and climbing at Indian Creek. The BLM's "preferred" Alternative B provides for self-management with a one-year no fees trial period. In areas where more developed facilities and services are provided, fees would be charged. These areas include Hamburger Rock Campground and the new Shay Mountain Vista Campground. If you support less management and no fees write the BLM by August 31 and urge them to select Alternative B for the Indian Creek Plan.
This will be the last time the public has an opportunity to comment on and influence the BLM's decision-making on how Indian Creek should be managed.
Preferred Alternative B
Climbing Management
Actual climbing restrictions are few. No climbing would be allowed on routes that may impact cultural resources. The BLM would also seasonally close and post climbing routes which adversely impact nesting raptors. The establishment of new routes and placing of bolts and anchors would be allowed.
Camping
Undesignated dispersed camping within the Indian Creek Corridor would be allowed. As needs are identified, closure of areas to dispersed camping would be addressed through revisions to the Resource Management Plan (RMP) or emergency closures. Such areas may include: areas which can only be accessed by crossing private land, areas in which camping is found to be in conflict with cultural resources, and/or areas in which camping is found to be in conflict with natural resources. Campfires are restricted to fire rings where fire rings are available. Where fire rings are not available, and in dispersed camping areas, fires would be subject to "Leave No Trace" standards. Wood collecting would be prohibited throughout the entire Indian Creek Corridor planning area.
The "Bridger Jack" and "Creek Pasture" camping areas would be designated and developed according to formal site plans. Facilities at these sites may include the installation of fire rings, educational kiosks or signs, delineated parking areas, campsite marker posts, and toilets. A one-year trial pack-in/pack-out policy would be enforced for handling human waste issues. If waste problems persist or increase, portable toilets would be required or restrooms would be installed. No fees would be charged for use of these areas unless it is determined that restrooms are needed. At that point, options for covering the cost of installation and maintenance of restrooms would be explored.
Dispersed camping at the "Cottonwoods Camp" and "Superbowl" camping areas would be allowed, but not encouraged. No facilities or services would be implemented, and therefore, no fees would be charged. A one-year trial pack-in/pack-out policy would be enforced for these areas. If at the end of the trial period, this policy were not found to be effective, a recommendation would be made that the Resource Management Plan close these areas to dispersed camping.
Sanitation and Garbage
A one-year trial period pack-in/pack-out policy would be enforced for all areas without restrooms and garbage receptacles. If problems with human waste persist or increase, portable toilets would be required or restrooms would be installed in these areas. Dog waste must be buried or disposed of properly.
The following standards would be applied and enforced during the trial period:
· Adherence to the Leave No Trace standards is required.
· Provision and use of a "wag bag" system or portable toilet is required.
· Use of cat holes for human waste is prohibited.
· Leaving or burying toilet paper is prohibited.
· Packing out all trash and garbage is required.
· Screening or filtering of grey water is required before dumping.
The pack-in/pack-out policy would remain in place as long as both the public and BLM think that it is working. If at any time in the future the BLM determines that the pack-in/pack-out policy is no longer effective, permanent restrooms would be installed and fees would be charged to cover the costs of construction and maintenance of the restrooms.
Donnelly Canyon
Donnelly Canyon would also be developed according to a formal BLM site plan. Adequate parking and restroom facilities may be installed depending on yet to be determined land ownership boundaries. The Donnelly Canyon site plan may also include the installation of educational kiosks or signs, and the establishment of recreational access trails. No fees would be charged for use of this area.
Alternative B is a really good deal for climbers, especially considering what might have been proposed. It is clear that the Monticello BLM seeks to establish a model land management plan where public preferences are emphasized. We control the future of Indian Creek. While a few "improvements" will be made to designated camping locations at Bridger Jack and Creek Pasture, the thrust of Alternative B will allow climbers to self-manage themselves by requiring folks to pack out their own waste. Nearly all of the dispersed camping will be retained and there will be no fees charged for access to or camping at Indian Creek, at least until the BLM determines that facilities are needed to mitigate unacceptable human sanitation and garbage impacts. In short, Alternative B has very few restrictions while still providing a vision for limiting future user impacts. The community that uses Indian Creek (climbers) will be able to control the level of BLM management by showing that we can take care of the area without fees or restrictions. As long as we take care of the place it will remain largely undeveloped and free.
So, if you support self-regulation, less BLM involvement in your Indian Creek experience (while still retaining access to your favorite camping sites), no fees, and a plan for preserving the existing primitive character of the area, write the BLM and urge them to select Alternative B for the Indian Creek Plan.
Comments should be sent by August 31 to the Monticello Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management: Attention, Scott Berkenfield Supervisory Outdoor Recreation Planner, Box 7, Monticello, Utah, 84534 or by email at Scott_Berkenfield@blm.gov.
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3. Elected officials in Provo are paying $200,000 to keep the rocks in Rock Canyon, UT
(Story reprinted from The Salt Lake Tribune)
To prevent more excavation at a quarry in the bucolic canyon east of the Provo LDS Temple, City Council members Tuesday approved giving $200,000 to Red Slab LLC, a Provo group that will use the cash to purchase a half-interest on 84 acres from owners Greg Sperry and Design West.
Provo, in turn, will get a conservation easement on the land from members of Red Slab - Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem; his legal partner Phillip Lowry; and Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo - to preserve the land in perpetuity. The trio also has committed to raising cash to buy the remaining 50 percent interest on the land from quarry owner Richard Davis.
If the matter winds up in court, Red Slab will pay for litigation.
"This is remarkable," Mayor Lewis Billings said. "There isn't going to be any windfall of millions of dollars of profits in anyone's pockets. [Red Slab members] are doing this because they want to preserve this for the community."
After negotiations with the city to purchase his land fell through, Davis paid Michael McPhilomy and son Michael McPhilomy Jr. last October to begin quarrying rock from the entrance of the canyon between Squaw Peak and Y Mountain, a popular hangout each day for hundreds of hikers and rock climbers.
Provo responded by pressing charges against the father-son team for excavating without the proper permits. City legal experts also began researching a way to stop Davis, who has a mining claim.
An avid rock climber, Valentine was incensed in February when he saw the excavation and its destruction of Table Rock, one of his favorite climbing formations. To prevent further damage, he and Lowry organized Red Slab, named for the area jeopardized by Davis' quarry.
"Rock Canyon is a jewel," Valentine said at Tuesday's meeting. "We do this because we believe passionately in saving this entrance to a very beautiful canyon. This canyon is something of very great importance to the future of this city. It provides the vistas. It provides the views. Provo City would not be the same without the beautiful mountains to the east. If those mountains are torn down, or if they become a rock quarry, that is something that all of us in future generations will rue the day we didn't take care of it."
Besides a haven for hikers and climbers, Rock Canyon is vital for Provo, which taps streams in the area for part of its water supply.
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4. You're Invited: 2004 Access Fund Annual Dinner
Our annual dinner is a vital tool for building financial support to advance our mission; keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment. We rely solely on membership fees, corporate sponsors, individual donors and foundations to fund our mission. This year's dinner will contribute resources for our key initiatives. We hope you will join us for a wonderful evening of sharing adventures with friends about climbing in Yosemite.
Event Details
When: Thursday, September 23, 2004
Where: San Francisco, Golden Gate Club, On The Presidio
Who: Allen Steck, Hans Florine, Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden; Access Fund board members, staff and friends.
What: An evening of dinner and conversation with speakers from three generations sharing their climbing adventures in Yosemite.
Invitations for the event and registration will be made available on the Access Fund website.
For more information, visit https://www.accessfund.org/events/annual_dinner.html
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5. Vertical Times #59 (August Issue) is Now Online as a PDF
The June issue of Vertical Times (volume 58) is online as a PDF file for downloading. The issue offers additional news and photos (not included in the Access Fund E-News). It can be downloaded directly (700 KB file) at https://www.accessfund.org/pdf/VT59.pdf
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6. NEW Membership Incentive Program Gifts
Access Fund is proud to announce updated Membership Incentive Program items. Members contributing $50 or more will earn exciting new benefits such as the new stylish Access Fund Beneficial T-shirt! To check out what's in store for the next year, visit https://www.accessfund.org/secure/joinnow/join_indiv.php
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