At Patagonia we have long maintained that climbers have an active role to play in conservation. In the “Clean Climbing” essay published in the 1972 Chouinard Equipment Catalog, Yvon Chouinard and Tom Frost stated, “We believe the only way to ensure the climbing experience for ourselves and future generations is to preserve (1) the vertical wilderness, and (2) the adventure inherent in the experience.” This assertion laid the foundation for modern climbing ethics and is at the heart of our own philosophy. No adventure is possible without humility before the natural world and prioritizing the dignity of wild spaces before the desire to send. Climbers share a responsibility to show restraint in Wilderness, to respect Indigenous rights, to protect wildlife and to be a voice against threats to the wildness of the places we climb.
It is from this core position that we address the National Park Service and US Forest Service’s recently proposed new Federal guidance on Fixed Anchors in Wilderness. We are aligned with the intent of the proposed guidance, but we don’t believe that the Minimum Requirements Analysis (MRA) is an appropriate process for assessing fixed anchors. Instead, we advocate for an alternative proposal that supports the Wilderness Act more strictly and describes a more coherent and enforceable policy for fixed anchor management in Wilderness.
This is a critical moment where we could better define types of fixed anchors and appropriate use cases of each within Wilderness; a more appropriate process for managing fixed anchors; and guidance that provides greater autonomy to each Park and Forest Service to administer per the unique needs of the lands they steward. We ask that recreation and Wilderness interests collaborate on a solution that protects Wilderness values while describing a concrete and enforceable guidance for fixed anchors in Wilderness. Our concern with the new proposed guidance is that an MRA is designed only to assess installations made to administer Wilderness, defined as “improvements” to Wilderness. Fixed anchors never fall into this category.
Climbers and Wilderness stewards need a management process for fixed anchors that more appropriately defines what fixed anchors are and that clearly protects Wilderness from any kind of development, honoring the capacities and needs of different land management agencies.
We see the Wilderness Act as a powerful tool for land protection. Fixed anchors should be used only out of necessity in Wilderness, not comfort, to preserve both the experience of the adventure and the wilderness character of the landscape. We hope this moment can be a reminder to climbers to return to the clean climbing principles that brought forward the highest ideals and possibilities of modern climbing. Let’s create a culture and a system where climbers lead the way in Wilderness protection far into the future.
Let the National Park Service and United States Forest Service know that you support an alternative updated guidance to manage fixed anchors in Wilderness that has stronger Wilderness protections in place. Please note that the agencies require all fields to be completed in order to submit a comment.
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