Both the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service are proposing a ban on most fixed climbing anchors in wilderness areas/NPS file

Editor's note: This clarifies that the draft currently open for public comment is not a proposed regulation, but rather guidance for park managers.

A proposed guidance document that would ban most fixed climbing anchors in official wilderness in the National Park System has drawn criticism from a climbing organization that fears the proposal would jeopardize the safety of climbers.

The draft guidance open for public comment through January 16, 2024, would allow for the "emergency placement" of a fixed anchor, one that remains in the rock face, "if necessary to exit the climb in the safest and most expeditious manner possible."

But the National Park Service, as well as the U.S. Forest Service in a companion draft, added that "the combined impact of many fixed anchors in a single area or rock wall can have a significant effect on wilderness character. Therefore, fixed anchors constitute a prohibited use pursuant to the Wilderness Act §4(c) and may only be authorized if they are determined to be 'necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of [The Wilderness Act]' through a minimum requirements analysis (MRA)."

Leader of the Access Fund assailed the draft guidance, saying it "could jeopardize the safety of climbers around the country by deeming standard climbing practices in Wilderness as fundamentally prohibited until granted specific exceptions at each of the thousands of Wilderness crags that climbers love."

"Despite this national-level proposal, we are grateful for the unwavering support of local land managers, Congress, and the outdoor industry," added the group's interim executive director, Erik Murdock. "Access Fund looks forward to working with the administration to correct this mistake, and will continue to stand up for climbers, support public lands, and highlight the many contributions the climbing community has made to conservation and Wilderness protections.”

The debate over whether fixed anchors are appropriate in official wilderness has been ongoing for more than a decade.

Back in 2011, the Park Service was updating its approach to wilderness management and called for, and eventually settled on, a general ban on fixed anchors in official wilderness, and potential wilderness, found in the parks.

The establishment of bolt-intensive face climbs is considered incompatible with wilderness preservation and management due to the concentration of human activity which they support, and the types and levels of impacts associated with such routes. 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 or to preserve the “untrammeled,” “undeveloped,” and “outstanding opportunities for solitude” qualities of the park’s wilderness character. -- Director's Order 41, adopted May 2013.

The issue resurfaced early this year with legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, that would allow permanent climbing anchors to be used in designated wilderness areas in the National Park System as well as on national forest lands.

In speaking against the legislation during a hearing in April before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands, Mike Reynolds, the Park Service's deputy director for Congressional and external relations, voiced concerns that the "Protecting America's Rock Climbing Act" could dilute the Wilderness Act.

"...mandating particular uses in designated wilderness, as H.R. 1380 would do, has the practical effect of amending the Wilderness Act, which is not only unnecessary but could potentially have serious deleterious consequences," Reynolds said in his prepared testimony. "The [Interior] Department feels it has sufficient authorities under the Wilderness Act to fully support recreational climbing opportunities in designated wilderness in a manner that balances tribal, recreational, environmental, and wilderness preservation values and interests and therefore does not believe legislation is necessary."

The draft guidance issued earlier this month states that, "[E]xisting fixed anchors may continue to be used. Parks should evaluate all routes with existing fixed anchors when practicable, as funding and resources allow, through either a park, area, or route specific [minimum requirements analysis]."

“The proposed guidance will help provide a consistent process for installing new or replacing existing fixed anchors in wilderness and ensure that we are managing these important areas for the benefit of current and future generations," Park Service Director Chuck Sams said.

At the National Parks Conservation Association, Kristen Brengel, the group's senior vice president for government affairs, said that, "[F]or generations, we’ve agreed that some places are so special that their remoteness, wildlife, and natural and cultural resources should be preserved for visitors to enjoy. These are the places that receive the highest level of protection from Congress as wilderness. The Park Service’s guidance is a critical step to reaffirm the Wilderness Act, while also providing opportunities for visitors to enjoy rock climbing in these beautiful, wild places."

Lynn Hill, the first person to free climb The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, disagreed with the position taken by the Park Service and Forest Service.

“While simply gazing upon Wilderness areas is a powerful experience, they leave their most lasting impact on those of us who immerse ourselves in them,” she said in the Access Fund's statement. “I want future generations to have that same opportunity, which is why I’m so dismayed to see federal leaders propose policies that could erase historic climbs in places like Yosemite National Park.”

You can find the draft document, and leave your comments about it, at this site.