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andrewsolow
Apr 23, 2010, 12:45 PM
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Subject: Park Service plans to destroy Christmas Tree Pass climbing area
This is a much bigger problem than I thought.
The "PLAN" actually applies to thousands of square miles of the Lake Mead NRA, not just to Christmas Tree Pass.
If we let the Park Service get away with chopping over 200 bolts and destroying 40 established climbing routes in one established area, what's to stop them from chopping all of the bolts in Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Red Rocks, etc.???
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By proposing to remove all bolts installed near Willow Springs, LMNRA is proposing to destroy the entire Christmas Tree Pass Climbing Area.
I believe that Willow Springs is the approximate location of Dali Dome.
Though Christmas Tree Pass is not all that popular, a lot of climbers have passed through there during the last five years. And, the Rock Climbing.com website has had thousands of hits. See: http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/Nevada/Southern_Nevada/Christmas_Tree_Pass/
Andy Solow cell 415-722-3047
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Better to send three copies: by US Mail, by Fax and by Webmail
For Submission of Objection by Webmail - use comment link below
Lake Mead NRA: LAKE Draft Wilderness Management Plan
OFFICIAL COMMENT LINK
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?parkID=317&projectID=16820&documentId=33282
Sample Text of Objection Letter
Lake Mead National Recreation Area – (702-293-8990)
Park Superintendent – (702-293-8920)
601 Nevada Hwy
Boulder City, NV 89005-2426
Via Fax to: 702-293-8936
SUBJECT: Objection to LAKE Draft Wilderness Management Plan/EA -
April 2010
Demand for Extension of Comment Period to July 1, 2010
I strenuously object to the LAKE Draft Wilderness Management Plan/EA - April 2010 - as written because it discriminates against Rock Climbing, Rock Climbers and wilderness camping.
Because the Lake Mead NRA failed to inform the Rock Climbing community [including but not limited to the Access Fund - http://www.accessfund.org/] that it was planning to constructively prohibit rock climbing in thousands of square miles of the Lake Mead NRA:
I demand that the comment period for the LAKE Draft Wilderness Management Plan be extended to at least July 1, 2010.
• Grape Vine Canyon, where there are significant historical resources, is at least two miles away from the main Christmas Tree Pass rock climbing area.
• The area of Christmas Tree Pass where Rock Climbing has been an established recreational activity for the last 35 years has zero sensitive historical resources.
• Constructively prohibiting climbing by prohibiting climbing bolts in the Christmas Tree Pass established rock climbing area tramples on the right of rock climbers to use public lands for recreation.
• Climbing bolts are virtually invisible to the naked eye from even a short distance away. In fact, finding the bolts while climbing is frequently very challenging.
• In most other USA National Parks and Recreation Areas including Yosemite National Park, climbing bolts are permitted as long as they are at least 50 feet from any historical resource [i.e. Petroglyphs].
• There is no rational basis for prohibiting new climbing bolts and/or removing existing climbing bolts in Christmas Tree Pass, NV, or anywhere else in the Lake Mead NRA.
If the air space above and around Spirit Mountain is a sensitive historical resource, why did the National Park Service allow the placement of at least a dozen large Cellular Telephone Towers at the tops of the peaks immediately adjacent to Spirit Mountain? Clearly, these Transmission Towers are a much greater disturbance of the air space around Spirit Mountain than a bunch of virtually invisible climbing bolts more than two miles away.
If climbing bolts are prohibited in Christmas Tree Pass, more than 40 multi-pitch rock climbs and many shorter climbs established in Christmas Tree Pass over the last 35 years would be rendered unclimbable.
Prohibiting climbing bolts in Christmas Tree Pass while allowing climbing bolts in Yosemite National Park and hundreds of other National Parks and Recreation Areas throughout the United States is capricious and arbitrary and is a violation of rock climbers’ equal protection rights.
If the Lake Mead NRA finds that climbing bolts are disturbing the “sensitive historical resources” of Christmas Tree Pass, then the LMNRA must also apply the same logic to the Christmas Tree Pass Cell Phone Towers.
Without climbing bolts, there will be virtually zero climbing in Christmas Tree Pass, Nevada and throughout thousands of square miles of the Lake Mead NRA where there are smooth rocks that do not have natural cracks.
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Attachments:
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LMNRA..LAKE Draft Wilderness Mgmt. Plan..objection.4.22.2010.doc
(33.5 KB)
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LMNRA..LAKE Draft Plan...Climbing & Rock references.4.22.2010.doc
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sonso45
Apr 23, 2010, 7:30 PM
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Thanks for the info Andy. I've sent my comments into the NPS website. I recommended camouflage rather than removal.
As you know, I have done a bit of climbing there. I've bolted one two pitch route (stairway to heaven) and ascended a multi-pitch crack (NE face of MDM Dome aka saddle dome) that had not been previously summitted. Here's Stairway to Heaven, 5.11c:
The area is huge and I have yet to climb some of yours and Dick Richardson's classics. I would hope to be able to do so in the near future. Hopefully others will use the information you have posted to help keep the NPS from doing something totally unnecessary and unprecedented such as removing bolts.
Please email or call to ensure that we can continue to climb in this beautiful area.
(This post was edited by sonso45 on Apr 23, 2010, 7:35 PM)
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Access_Fund
Apr 23, 2010, 7:51 PM
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Thanks Andy, for all of the detailed information. The Access Fund is reviewing the plan and putting together a strategy for mobilizing climbers and drafting public comments. Please stay tuned.
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andrewsmunoz
May 5, 2010, 5:05 AM
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Hello everyone,
We want to make sure everyone has a chance to submit their input on the proposed wilderness mangement plan. So we've extended the comment period to July 2, 2010. The website will be updated soon to reflect the new deadline.
Andrew Munoz
Public Affairs Officer
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
National Park Service
(702) 293-8691
andrew_munoz@nps.gov
(This post was edited by andrewsmunoz on May 5, 2010, 5:44 AM)
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nkane
May 5, 2010, 5:13 AM
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I think the NPS should be commended for both extending the comment deadline and coming to the climbing forums to let us know our voices are being heard.
But I also think the bolt-chopping plan is poorly conceived and I hope they change their minds before the final rule comes out.
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desertwanderer81
May 6, 2010, 8:39 PM
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andrewsolow wrote: If we let the Park Service get away with chopping over 200 bolts and destroying 40 established climbing routes in one established area, what's to stop them from chopping all of the bolts in Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Red Rocks, etc.???
Isn't RR BLM not NPS?
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andrewsolow
May 6, 2010, 9:18 PM
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The Christmas Tree Pass Climbing area is located primarily in the Bridge Canyon Wilderness area. land that is managed jointly by the Lake Mead NRA and BLM. So, the NPS and the BLM share jurisdiction. See: http://www.wilderness.net/...01843776&zoom=12
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desertwanderer81
May 6, 2010, 10:13 PM
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Right, but does it share jurisdiction over Red Rocks?
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andrewsolow
May 6, 2010, 10:58 PM
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Yes. But, not exactly. I don't think that Red Rocks is in the Lake Mead NRA. So, this specific plan does not appear to apply to Red Rocks. See next post below for details.
(This post was edited by andrewsolow on May 7, 2010, 7:47 AM)
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andrewsolow
May 7, 2010, 7:46 AM
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Hello Everyone,
Earlier today, I spoke with the Public Affairs Officer for Lake Mead NRA and one of the Access Fund attorneys at length.
The following is my interpretation of what I heard during these two telephone conversations:
Current Status - 5/6/2010:
In my recent conversation with Lake Mead NRA Public Affairs Officer Andrew Munoz, I learned that Andrew Munoz is a very nice person. Unfortunately, I also learned that Lake Mead NRA is refusing to withdraw their bolt chopping plan and re-write it so that Rock Climbing bolts are permitted at Christmas Tree Pass, NV.
That means that all we got out of Lake Mead NRA so far is polite conversation and an agreement to delay bolt chopping until after July 2nd.
So, the constructive ban on Rock Climbing at Christmas Tree Pass, NV is still on the table. And, we still need to submit Objections to the bolt chopping plan.
This will be a precedent setting case for Rock Climbing nationwide. If the NPS in the guise of the Lake Mead NRA succeeds in constructively banning Rock Climbing at Christmas Tree Pass by banning climbing bolts, you can be sure that NPS, BLM and USFS will try to ban bolted climbing in a lot of other places throughout the USA.
Lake Mead NRA: LAKE Draft Wilderness Management Plan
OFFICIAL COMMENT LINK
hthttp://tp:/...amp;documentId=33282
(This post was edited by andrewsolow on May 7, 2010, 12:25 PM)
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Attachments:
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LMNRA..LAKE Draft Wilderness Mgmt. Plan..Form Objection 5.3.10.doc
(33.5 KB)
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LMNRA..LAKE Draft Wilderness Mgmt. Plan..Form Objection.5.6.10.doc
(33.5 KB)
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andrewsolow
May 8, 2010, 7:03 PM
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Christmas Tree Pass BOLT CHOPPING Update
As of Saturday, May 8th: The two primary issues for Rock Climbers are still Bolt Chopping and Native American Treaty Rights. Here's why:
On Thursday, May 6th, a local climber from Bullhead City, AZ met with a particular Lake Mead NRA Park Planner (who I believe to be the source of the bolt chopping plan) at Christmas Tree Pass, NV, took him on a tour and showed him some of the main formations and routes.
After wandering around CTP for a couple of hours, the Park Planner orally agreed that the bolts are virtually invisible and that 95% of the bolts are in the Bridge Canyon Wilderness, NOT in the Spirit Mountain Wilderness where the mountain itself is a designated cultural resource which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Based on his meeting with the Park Planner, the local climber reported that the Park Planner seems to have changed his opinion; and he no longer believes that chopping bolts at Christmas Tree Pass is a good idea.
However, the Lake Mead NRA has NOT withdrawn their bolt chopping plan. And, Lake Mead NRA has specifically told both me and one of the Access Fund attorneys that Bolt Chopping is "Still On the Table"
That local climber agreed with me that all we can do for now is keep sending in Objection letters in opposition to bolt chopping and give the Access Fund, the Las Vegas Climbers Liason Counsel (LVCLC), the local climber from Bullhead City, AZ and others a chance to consult with Lake Mead NRA and the indigenous Americans with treaty rights in the area and try to negotiate a new wilderness management "Plan" that permits rock climbing bolts.
The local climber specifically requested that we be polite so that the Lake Mead NRA personnel don't get their hackles up.
The new deadline for Objecting to the bolt chopping plan is July 1st.
Will post another update as soon as I learn anything new.
Lake Mead NRA: LAKE Draft Wilderness Management Plan
OFFICIAL COMMENT LINK
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/...amp;documentId=33282
(This post was edited by andrewsolow on May 21, 2010, 3:07 AM)
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kobaz
May 9, 2010, 4:27 AM
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Reasons like this is why the access fund exists. If you have never joined the access fund, please consider joining (it's not expensive at all, and it goes to a *very* good cause). Or if you are a member... don't forget to send in your renewals.
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with the Access Fund... I just think it's very important that every climber try and be a part of it.
Oh... and send in your letters to protest this travesty in the making.
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andrewsolow
Jun 28, 2010, 7:55 PM
Post #13 of 18
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Registered: Sep 10, 2005
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LAST CHANCE TO POST AN OBJECTION TO THE BOLT CHOPPING PLAN.
The comment period closes on Friday 07/02/2010 at 11:59 PM.
Lake Mead draft Plan Comment Link:
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/...amp;documentId=33282
The draft Lake Mead Wilderness Plan as published proposes comprehensive bolt removal and constructively bans all rock climbing in the Bridge Canyon Wilderness by banning climbing bolts which provide 95% of the leader protection in this area. No other form of leader protection is available on the featureless rock walls of Christmas Tree Pass.
Though the Lake Mead NRA has been consulting with the Access Fund about rock climbing at Christmas Tree Pass, they have refused to rescind their bolt chopping plan as published back in April 2010.
If Lake Mead NRA succeeds in perfecting their constructive rock climbing ban, places like Yosemite and Joshua Tree will be next.
Access Fund Action Alert & Comment Link:
http://www.accessfund.org/...208267&aid=14437
From the Access Fund CTP Action Alert
In reply to: This wholesale removal of climbing anchors is unprecedented.....
There is no rational basis for this constructive rock climbing ban.
In their response to a recent FOIA request, Lake Mead NRA admitted that the Native Americans who have treaty rights in this area have not complained about the presence of climbing bolts at Christmas Tree Pass. And, as far as I know, neither has anyone else.
Don't let one irrational Park Planner ban rock climbing at Christmas Tree Pass and set a precedent for banning rock climbing nationwide. Submit your objections today!
(This post was edited by andrewsolow on Jun 28, 2010, 8:13 PM)
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shoo
Jun 28, 2010, 9:14 PM
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andrewsolow wrote: If Lake Mead NRA succeeds in perfecting their constructive rock climbing ban, places like Yosemite and Joshua Tree will be next.
Let's not get carried away with reactionary rhetoric, here.
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billcoe_
Jun 28, 2010, 10:52 PM
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We need to defund them if they have that much extra money to waste. I'm dead serious. Let them all go get real jobs where they can be productive members of society. I wrote my congressman and senators on this issue, it's total bullshit.
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zeke_sf
Jun 29, 2010, 12:07 AM
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billcoe_ wrote: We need to defund them if they have that much extra money to waste. I'm dead serious. Let them all go get real jobs where they can be productive members of society. I wrote my congressman and senators on this issue, it's total bullshit.
I have to agree. What a monumental waste of resources.
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kobaz
Jul 11, 2010, 5:02 PM
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Anyone have any updates?
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areyoumydude
Jul 25, 2010, 6:09 PM
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Who are they going to get to chop these bolts? I can't imagine a climber destroying an area for money.
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