For years, the New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has banned all climbing on the miles of cliff line at Minnewaska State Park Preserve, located right next to the Gunks, with the exception of the small Peterskill crag which was intended to serve as a test case for opening climbing in the park.
 The park is currently drafting a master plan that will establish long-term management policies for Minnewaska. The first draft of this plan proposes only a very limited increase in climbing access--insignificant when compared to the thousands of climbing possibilities through out the park.
The Minnewaska climbing ban is the largest closure of its kind in the nation. The Peterskill model showed that responsible climbing access at Minnewaska is possible while still balancing the protection of natural resources.
Land managers on federal and state lands across the country balance recreational access and resource protection, and there is no reason why Minnewaska cannot develop an incremental, adaptive management process that clears zones for sensitive resources before allowing climbing.
We are asking you to urge the New York Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to authorize a process for resource surveys that will determine appropriate climbing access in the park. New York residents should enjoy the same kind of public land access privileges provided nearly everywhere else.
Personalized messages are the most effective form of communication when making comments to policy makers. Therefore, please use the following editable paragraphs as a guide to help you explain why you think opening climbing at Minnewaska State Park Preserve is a good idea, but feel free to embellish the letter with your personal connection to Minnewaska and why the area is important to you.
This is an expired action alert. | 
