Federal agencies are taking steps to protect established rock climbing routes, everywhere from the Wind River Range in Wyoming to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, and they’re asking climbers to weigh in.
On June 15, the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released new draft guidance around managing rock climbing and officially allowing the use of “fixed anchors.”
These are often permanent metal bolts hand-drilled into rock walls or slings wrapped around trees. After ascending the wall, climbers use them to return to the ground safely when walking down isn’t a good option.
“All of the routes that were established over the last 100 years are going to be allowed,” said Erik Murdock, deputy director at the Access Fund, a climbing advocacy group. “People don't have to worry about the federal government removing their routes or prohibiting standard climber safety tools.”
This was something climbers were worried about a few years ago. In 2023, NPS and USFS released draft guidance that could have limited fixed anchors in wilderness areas.
Some conservationists argued fixed anchors violate leave no trace ethics, while thousands of climbers said they’re critical for safety.
Then, the U.S. Congress backed the climbers up and protected existing fixed actors. In late 2024, it passed the Protecting America’s Rock Climbing (PARC).
The act also mandated federal agencies to develop climbing guidance. That’s what we’re seeing now.
This is the first-ever climbing guidance for the USFS, although individual forests have passed their own policies.
Murdock said the guidance is a win for climbers, since it allows climbing routes established before Jan. 4, 2025, to be used and maintained in perpetuity. However, he said there’s still unknowns about what we’ll see on the ground when it comes to developing new routes.
“Because the federal policies are giving a lot of decision-making power to the individual forests, to the individual parks, we're gonna see different policies developed in different places,” Murdock said. “Some might be good, some might be bad, but we'll have to see.”
The Access Fund is calling on the federal agencies to better align their definitions of fixed anchors, among other technical tweaks.
Members of the public have until Aug. 14 to submit public comments on the NPS, BLM and FWS proposals. The USFS public comment period goes for 30 days, or until mid July.
Hundreds of people have already submitted comments.
The agencies released the draft guidance along with a request for information on existing wilderness stewardship policies, not specifically related to climbing. Some environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, said this opens the door to the Trump administration weakening longstanding wilderness protections. But Murdock said that has yet to be seen with this specific request.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
