2022 USFS Climbing Access Technician Supported by REI
REI grant funds have once again enabled the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance to facilitate and fund a Climbing Access Technician position within the Salt Lake Ranger District of the United States Forest Service on the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest.
The Wasatch and its climbing areas are being highly impacted from a lack of recreation infrastructure to handle the increase of use from climbers. The outdoor environment where Utahns and visitors love to play is under immense stress from increased use leading to poor watershed health and environmental impacts are constantly on the rise. The goal of the position is to support the planning processes required under the National Environmental Protection Act for climbing resource improvements and maintenance at popular climbing areas in the Wasatch. This effort lays the groundwork for the SLCA to implement stewardship projects in conjunction with the Forest Service in order to reduce human impacts on the natural environment. If we as a user group fail to act now, access and appeal to the places we love to climb will be diminished. This is the fourth year for this position to exist with proven success. The SLCA’s effort to continue this position within the Forest Service will help plan for and ultimately protect Wasatch climbing and the natural environment.
The 2022 USFS Climbing Access Technician’s season will be primarily focused on providing crew oversight and project management for the Jacob’s Ladder reroute to Lone Peak Cirque. A highly popular alpine climbing and hiking area in the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest, the new segment will switch back across the slope rather than climbing directly up it, allowing for frequent drainage opportunities, and thus decreased erosion. Planning for this project began in 2018 and in September of last year we brought in professional trail crews to begin the build. Crews will return to the worksite at the beginning of May, 2022 with a completion date in the fall of 2022.
Other projects for the 2022 season will include mapping the locations of staging areas, user created trails and parking on the Uinta Wasatch Cache national forest and developing localized climbing management guides for the Pleasant Grove, Salt Lake, Evanston, and the Heber-Kamas districts. The Climbing Access Technician position is funded through an REI grant awarded to the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance in partnership with the Salt Lake Ranger District of the United States Forest Service on the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest.
Prepared by Lindsay Anderson, USFS Climbing Access Technician and Julia Geisler, Executive Director of the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance
April 17, 2022
