Attention Poptire Cave Climbers! Voluntary climbing closure effective immediately.

Attention Poptire Cave Climbers! From our friends at HawkWatch International (HWI)... the Golden Eagles near the Poptire Cave have settled on their nest site. The nest they have chosen this year is near the cave, and likely to be disturbed by anyone climbing at the cave. A voluntary climbing closure effective immediately near the nest will help these raptors at this sensitive nesting time.  HawkWatch will monitor the nest regularly to release the site from the voluntary closure as soon as possible. Disturbing nesting eagles is prohibited by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, a federal regulation.

Please use these birds' behavior as your guide so as not to disturb them when visiting this area. An eagle flying back and forth and calling repeatedly is telling you that you are in its territory, and may be disturbing its nest. If you notice defensive behavior from a raptor, please report it to SLCA or Jordan Herman at Hawkwatch (jherman@hawkwatch.org) so that we can let other climbers know which areas to avoid. Self-regulation preserves access and limits human disturbance on raptor habitat.

HawkWatch’s mission is to conserve our environment through education, long-term monitoring, and scientific research on raptors as indicators of ecosystem health.