The Bitterroot National Forest is undertaking the development of a comprehensive climbing management plan (CMP), with the purpose of promoting sustainable climbing activities on national forest lands into the future. The plan aims to reduce user conflicts, minimize impacts to resource values, and protect the unique climbing attributes found here on the Bitterroot National Forest.
Conflicts and disputes between different user groups on public lands is not an uncommon occurrence on our nation’s national forests and the Bitterroot National Forest is no exception. There is no question that many legitimate public uses are at cross purposes with each other and some are even mutually exclusive. One of those legitimate uses is by rock climbers. But like all the other activities allowed on our forests, from skiing to snowmobiling to biking and hiking, rock climbing can have a negative impact on the environment and on other people’s use of the forest, especially as ever larger numbers of people are sharing the same ground. These occasional conflicts can be shrugged off and overlooked for a long time. But as the number of people involved in all these activities grows, the conflicts become harder to ignore and harder for some people to endure.
Controversy over the use of fixed safety anchor bolts on climbing routes, for instance, and whether it was consistent with the 1964 Wilderness Act and should be prohibited, arose early soon after passage of the bill. The controversy became centered around whether fixed safety anchors should be classified as “installations” (which are prohibited) or “necessary safety precautions” (which are allowed). In 1998, it was decided that the Forest Service would initiate negotiated rulemaking to clarify national policy around permanent fixed anchors for rock climbing in wilderness areas. In 2000, the Secretary of Agriculture established a negotiated rulemaking committee to develop recommendations for a proposed rule regarding the use, insertion, and removal of fixed anchors.
This committee, called the Fixed Anchors in Wilderness Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee, included 23 people representing a cross section of interests with a definable stake in the outcome of the proposed rule. Four meetings were held between June 27 and September 19, 2000 but, unfortunately, the issue proved to be too contentious to resolve to a final policy decision. It was, however, recommended that where rock climbing and the use or potential use of fixed anchors is applicable, units should prepare climbing management plans to address resource issues and that these plans need to be completed with full public involvement.
This has led to a good deal of variety in management policies across the National Forest System, with some locations restricting the placement of fixed anchors (e.g., Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Sawtooth National Forest, Idaho) and others where new bolts are permitted subject to limits on the number of climbing routes in a given area (e.g., Mount Charleston Wilderness, Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada).
The Bitterroot Valley is blessed with some really good canyon walls for climbing and was suffering from these same hard-to-resolve issues. The valley’s got a lot of great learning spots for beginners, and some very good climbing for intermediates and even some very challenging climbs that have become “destination” points for serious climbers around the region. But the fast growing popularity of the sport eventually erupted into enough of a conflict, including threats and destruction of property, that in February of 2020, Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor Matthew Anderson stepped in to address the situation with some regulations that brought a loud response from some elements of the public.
Anderson addressed the public response to the regulations in a letter which states that this “is a revision and supersedes those regulations” in order “to provide more clarity around the intent, expected process, and to address safety concerns regarding development of a climbing management plan for the Bitterroot NationalForest.”
He announced at that time that the forest was undertaking the development of a comprehensive climbingmanagement plan, with the purpose of promoting sustainable climbing activities into the future and said the forest was also seeking “to reduce the potential for conflict between user groups while the management planis being developed.”
“During this period,” he wrote, “ there will be a suspension of any further unauthorized fixed anchor route development as well as any activities that impede the use of trails to popular climbing areas. These actions areonly serving to increase the conflict between groups and do not serve the interest of furthering the cooperation and collaboration that will be needed to move forward successfully with a comprehensive climbing plan.”
“To be clear,” he stated, “this suspension of unauthorized fixed anchor ,route development is a step in theprocess to developing a climbing management plan, not the solution to climbing management.” Anderson made it clear that violators of the regulations would be subject to criminal prosecution, whether they were putting in prohibited new fixed anchor climbing routes, or trying to impede use of existing fixed anchor routes.
Stevensville District Ranger Steve Brown said the agency began by working with a focus group including representatives from the Western Montana Climbers Association, as well as the Audubon Society and the Wilderness Society, as well as local community members, both climbers and non-climbers, to begin pulling information together from all quarters and from all kinds of stakeholders and come up with a good description of the situation so that they could take it out to the larger public and begin looking for solutions and make a plan for addressing the issues. He said the fact that it has been so quiet over the last two years and no one has been prosecuted is an indication that the process they have embarked on is working.
As a result of all the focus group collaboration, the agency recently published a Story Map about the process of making the plan on the internet. The website can be used as both a progress tracker and an information hub so that all interested parties can readily obtain information on the process and the status of the CMP development.
According to Brown, the purpose of the information contained on the site is to start to define the issues as they are identified, providing a means for an inclusive, collaborative process where interested members of the public can assist in highlighting issues that the Forest may have overlooked and provide recommendations for management solutions. He said the groups tried to put something together that could give the public a good view of the social concerns involved as well as the natural resource issues. He said it was an attempt to just describe the situation to the broader public so that they could help in forming a management plan.
The Story Map contains insight into the “why” of climbing here in the Bitterroot as well as some of the resource concerns brought on by increased use in these sometimes fragile environments. The website explores management issues around recreational climbing and provides examples of how some other areas around the country have chosen to handle the management of climbing to see if their approach meets local needs.
“As we go forward we will also develop a proposal for climbing management on the Forest through feedback from people involved both personally, and virtually through this Story Map,” said Brown. He said all of the information used in this process will be available on the web site for all to access.
The Forest’s desire is that this Climbing Management Plan (CMP) will be built by the community so that it reflects the conservation and recreation values held by all those affected by the guidelines. In order to accomplish that the Bitterroot National Forest is inviting interested members of the public to come together and cooperatively define how climbing will be managed on the Bitterroot National Forest. The CMP will ultimately describe the desired condition for responsible climbing activities across the Forest, considering the need for maintaining recreation access while also providing for appropriate natural and cultural resource protections.
The issues identified through public feedback on the information contained in the Story Map will form the basis for follow up public meetings to discuss recommendations for management actions. These meetings will be virtual to facilitate participation by a broad audience and will be held monthly. In each meeting, 2-3 issues will be addressed and worked through together. Once meetings are scheduled the information for each meeting will be posted on the Story Map as well as available through a press release from the Bitterroot National Forest.
“I’m really appreciative of all the help that we’ve had from the community in putting this Story Map together,” said Brown. “It has been a lot of work and is exciting to see it all come to fruition. I’m confident that it will help us to get through the CMP development process smoothly and efficiently.”
There will be more opportunities beyond the Story Map for members of the public who want to participate and provide input during the planning process.
To view the “Developing a Climbing Management Plan” Story Map, visit https://arcg.is/riqW5.
To get involved or for more information about the CMP, contact SM.FS.BRFClimbing@usda.gov or call the Stevensville Ranger District at (406) 777-5461.