the story
The Access Fund Land Conservation Campaign (AFLCC) is the first-ever multimillion-dollar revolving loan program that provides local climbing organizations and other agencies with the funds and expertise needed to act quickly to save threatened climbing areas.

As climbers, we love the places we play— the mountains, crags, and boulder fields that challenge and fulfill us. Today, many of these wild, beautiful places are at risk of being lost to development or closed for other reasons. With private land pressures increasing every day, the single greatest challenge facing the American climbing community is the loss of our vertical environments.

"Over the years, we’ve seen more private climbing areas changing hands, some of them lost to cash-ready developers. Local climbers don’t always have the money or the resources to save these climbing areas. This program was designed to help them,” says Brady Robinson, Access Fund Executive Director.

The Access Fund works with a national network of over 70 local climbing organizations (LCOs). These volunteer-run organizations are the first line of defense when a climbing area is threatened. But rarely do they have the capacity or the capital to react quickly to purchase endangered lands—leaving irreplaceable climbing resources vulnerable to cash-ready developers. That is why the Access Fund has launched a bold new campaign to save endangered climbing locations.

The Access Fund Land Conservation Campaign (AFLCC) is the first-ever multimillion-dollar revolving loan program that will give local climbing organizations the money and power they need to act swiftly to protect valuable climbing resources. The AFLCC will provide LCOs with short-term loans and transaction expertise to enable them to rapidly protect at-risk climbing locations through direct acquisitions, leases, easements, and other tactics. By providing this expertise and bridge financing for timesensitive projects, the AFLCC gives LCOs opportunities to finalize take-out strategies or raise money over a longer period of time. The AFLCC will also offer grants for direct conservation efforts, including acquisitions and other projects that protect climbing areas on private land.

"AFLCC is the first-ever  multimillion dollar loan program dedicated to saving climbing areas"

While a portion of the Fund’s focus and revenues has always been allocated to acquisition and protection of threatened land (see acquisition history), the new AFLCC program will expand on this capability, arming local climbing organizations to take on the ever-growing threats of development and protect our climbing resources from landowners who are not climber friendly.

The Access Fund has been fundraising for the campaign for 14 months and is over halfway toward its goal of $2.5 million. To date, the AFLCC has been supported by a number of generous individuals and companies within the outdoor industry. “From an outdoor industry prospective, as the bar gets higher and more complicated in maintaining access to multi-recreational areas, we need to step up and support initiatives like the AFLCC for both future generations of users and for the long term sustainability of our businesses,” says Bill Supple, President and CEO of Mammut Sports Group.

Across the country, projects are already underway to protect threatened climbing areas and serve as leading examples of the power of the Access Fund Land Conservation Campaign. Please join us in this landmark campaign, and be a part of protecting the places we play—for ourselves and for future generations.