Should Joshua Tree National Park allow the use of fixed climbing anchors in wilderness areas?/NPS file

Whether climbing anchors are appropriate in wilderness is a controversial issue Joshua Tree National Park staff is dealing with as it crafts a climbing management plan.

Back in January the park reached out for public comment on how it should manage climbing in the park. By the time the comment period had ended in mid-March, more than 4,000 responses had been received.

"Review of public scoping comments indicates fixed anchors in wilderness is a hot topic," a park release said this week. "Seventy-eight percent of the 4,184 correspondences had a comment on law and/or policy related to fixed anchors in wilderness. Comments ranged from concerns that in wilderness: all fixed anchors should be removed, all fixed anchors should be allowed, allow adding more fixed anchors, and everything in between."

The park does not have data on every climbing route or boulder problem, but an exhaustive review of Mountain Project and guidebooks provided documentation for 7,214 individual routes, the release noted. Here’s some beta on the data:

• 75 percent (5,389) of Joshua Tree National Park routes are not in wilderness, and not subject to legal constraints of the 1964 Wilderness Act.
• 25 percent (1,825) are in wilderness and are subject to the Wilderness Act.
• For the 25 percent of routes in wilderness, the park must review routes to consider which are appropriate in wilderness. Policy states wilderness routes should not be bolt intensive sport routes and that bolts in wilderness should be rare.
• In developing the draft categories (or determinations) for what’s bolt intensive, the park looked at all the different styles of climbing to define sport climbs, traditional climbs, and any potential combination of the two.
• The draft categories of climbing styles were shared with the public for comment; while the park received thousands of comments, none provided any alternative definitions than those shared with the public. 

Responses to Common Questions and Concerns

Are fixed anchors “installations” under the Wilderness Act?

NPS has determined that fixed climbing anchors, including bolts, are “installations” subject to Section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act. This conclusion is based on the definition of the term “installation” in NPS Reference Manual 41: 2013 NPS Wilderness Definitions and in common use and dictionaries.

NPS Reference Manual 41: Wilderness Stewardship Division (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

As installations, are all fixed anchors prohibited in wilderness areas?

Installations, including fixed anchors, are not flatly prohibited under the Wilderness Act. Under Section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act, installations in wilderness are allowable if they are “necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of the Wilderness Act.” NPS uses a Minimum Requirements Analysis (MRA) to determine: (1) whether a specific activity is necessary for the administration of the wilderness area to realize wilderness purposes, and (2) what level of associated 4(c) use best preserves the qualities of wilderness character.

With respect to Step 1, NPS believes that providing climbing opportunities in Joshua Tree wilderness areas is a necessary activity to realize wilderness purposes. Climbing has a rich and important history of use both in and out of park wilderness areas, and climbing activities offer unique opportunities for solitude and primitive and unconfined recreation that are appropriate in wilderness areas and further wilderness values.

With respect to Step 2, NPS will analyze alternative levels of fixed anchor use and their effects on different aspects of wilderness character, including the “undeveloped” and “opportunities for primitive recreation” qualities, to determine what level of fixed anchor use best balances these qualities to accommodate wilderness-appropriate climbing activities.

NPS policy (NPS Director’s Order 41: Wilderness Stewardship) recognizes that climbing is a legitimate and appropriate use of wilderness, stating that the occasional use of fixed anchors does not necessarily violate the Wilderness Act, but that “fixed anchors or fixed equipment should be rare in wilderness”, that “establishment of bolt-intensive face climbs is considered incompatible with wilderness preservation”, and that “climbing management strategies will address ways to control, and in some cases reduce, the number of fixed anchors to protect the park’s wilderness resources.” 

Park staff now moves on to crafting a draft environmental assessment around the climbing plan. It's expected to be released for public comment late this year or early in 2023.