November 7,
2003
CLIMBER COMMENTS NEEDED BY DECEMBER 5
TO NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CLIMBING MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ROSS
LAKE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA IN WASHINGTON STATE’S NORTH
CASCADES
On October 28 the National Park Service
(NPS) announced that it will begin the scoping process for a
Frontcountry Climbing Environmental Assessment and Management
Plan (CMP) for the Ross Lake National Recreation Area (Ross
Lake NRA).
Over the past few years, rock climbers and
boulderers have been developing new routes and bouldering
areas in the Skagit River Gorge between Newhalem and Diablo
along the North Cascades Highway. Potential controversial
issues in the CMP may include bolting, cleaning of moss and
vegetation away from rocks, and clearing rock and debris to
create trails and improve bouldering landing zones. An
extensive website has been developed for one of the crags (www.misha.org/Climbing/Newhalem/Map1.html)
and word has spread quickly among the climbing
community.
There are many opportunities for additional
climbing routes and bouldering in the Frontcountry (i.e.
non-wilderness) of Ross Lake National Recreation Area (NRA),
given the ease of access and abundance of rock. Your comments
are needed
no later than December 5th to provide input
regarding the scope of the CMP.
The
Scoping Process
The NPS seeks public input to help
them identify issues and concerns concerning recreational
climbing in the Ross Lake NRA. Climbers should take this
opportunity to tell the NPS what they think are important
issues that the CMP should cover – that is, the “scope” of the
CMP. Once the NPS receives all the public input during this
scoping phase, it will then produce a “draft CMP” with range
of alternatives that progress from “no action” to increasingly
higher levels of regulation and/or management. Once the NPS
releases this “draft CMP” – later this winter -- the public
will again have the opportunity to comment, both in written
form and public meetings. Hopefully a final CMP will be in
place by next spring.
See the Access Fund’s scoping
comments to the Indian Creek Corridor Plan (http://accessfund.org/whoweare/COMMENTS/IndianCreekEA.htm)
for an example of how to write scoping comments.
The
NPS has identified the following preliminary issues that will
be addressed in the Ross Lake NRA CMP:
Fixed anchors
Climber paths
Route "cleaning"
Human waste
Cultural resources
Safety
New Climbing Routes
See http://accessfund.org/programs/RossLake-scoping-PR.htm
for the NPS press release announcing the scoping
process.
In addition to the issues specified by the NPS
noted above, the Access Fund also suggests addressing some of
these issues with more specificity:
-What level of
fixed anchor use is appropriate, and what process, if any,
should be used to authorize new fixed anchor placements.
-Should bouldering have its own set of management actions?
The physical extent of the CMP.
-What level of
cleaning, if any, should be allowed for the development of
climbing routes and bouldering?
-Where and how should
access trails be built, and by whom. Washington Department of
Transportation (WDOT) will need to be a partner on this aspect
of the plan.
-How and when should human waste management
issues be addressed.
-Where parking should be provided.
Both Seattle City Light and WDOT will need to partner on many
of these parking issues.
-Safety issues pertaining to auto
traffic, hiking access and parking.
-Natural resource
management actions.
Your scoping comments should also
indicate your name, where you live, why climbing is so
important to you, and why the climbing and bouldering at
Newhalem is so special. Make sure to comment during both the
scoping phase as well as during the draft CMP public comment
period. The more letters the NPS receives from reasonable
sounding climbers offering practical solutions to current or
potential impact issues the better.
Send you comments
by December 5, 2003 to:
Superintendent
North
Cascades National Park Service Complex
810 State Route
20
Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284
Comments may also be sent
via e-mail to: NOCA_Superintendent@nps.gov
Or by fax: 360-856-1934
If you have questions,
please contact Roy Mason Zipp, Natural Resources Specialist at
(360) 873-7490 extension 31 or e-mail roy_zipp@nps.gov.
Top of
Page
