March 15: Board Meeting Minutes

Western Colorado Climbers’ Coalition Meeting Minutes – March 15, 2021 –DRAFT

The meeting was conducted via Zoom. There were 25 participants on the call. Participants included: Board members Jesse Zacher, Paul Stoner, Rich Connors, Matt Lisonby and Eve Tallman. Other participants included: Cody Abshear, Michael Schneiter, Marty, Sam, Kent, Fritz, Daniel Garman, Thierry Legrain, Krystyna Dillard-Crawford, Amanda Bornschleger, Michelle, Dan Ben-Horin, Andrew, Ashton Johnston, Sara Brooker, Cameron Bourne, David Jenkins, Marlee, Abe Herman and other unidentified participants.

Rich began the meeting with a brief description of the communication channels the WCCC uses to reach out to the climbing community, including emails, Facebook posts, Instagram, and posts to the WCCC blogspot website. The board agrees it should aim for quarterly updates in addition to periodic messages to the community.

Jesse presented a brief history and an update on access to Escalante’s Cabin Wall, which is on ranch-owned private property. He talked about the recently-installed fence with a climber-specific no-trespassing message. Jesse talked about the increased traffic in the canyon and speeding vehicles. Rich suggested climbers were singled out because they present an easy target for the ranchers. Jesse described his conversation with the ranch owner and revealed the owner did not know about the fence and closure but was not surprised the ranch managers had taken that course of action. Jesse suggested the speeding vehicles were a specific concern of the ranch. Jesse reviewed the history of actions WCCC had attempted in the past, including offering to install signage, but he indicated the ranch was not interested. In the past weeks, the rancher had appealed to the sheriff and BLM law enforcement and tickets were issued to speeders and illegal campers.

The prospect of distributing the newly-printed WCCC leaflets encouraging climbers to drive slowly, respect private property, camp appropriately and more, was discussed.

Matt asked if WCCC should write a letter to the ranch owner. David Jenkins, a climber and official with the BLM, stated he had contacted the state BLM director and the National Parks and Conservation Association about the closure. Paul asked about what the closure is trying to accomplish. Kent recalled the changing nature of the relationship between climbers and the ranch managers over the past 20 years. He said the tone used to be friendly but now there are too many users. He suggested that speeding is the rallying point for the ranch. Kent concluded by giving the example of Joe’s Valley and how climbers can lead by good example as an exemplary user group. Sam stated he had experienced large groups of 30 and more people from institutions from the Front Range. Jesse said that Colorado Mesa University (CMU) sets a good example, training outdoor users to employ Leave No Trace ethics. Dan from the BLM stated that climbers are not well-represented in the 2017 resource management plan; he stated the main uses of the canyon are heritage tourism and picnicking. He said a three to five-year plan for camping management is underway. Dan was asked if he could provide statistics from the sheriff and BLM law enforcement officer regarding the types of tickets issued (speeding, illegal camping, etc.). Jesse asked if signage for the BLM climbing areas would be possible. Eve asked about limits to commercial group size and allowable use and whether there is a climbing management plan.

Marty presented his Adopt-A-Land program that will target the Nine Mile bouldering area in Unaweep Canyon. He stated there will be a training for best practices for the land stewardship project. He said he would like to expand the program to include Escalante. More information about the Adopt-A-Land program will be forthcoming.

Jesse brought up the board’s interest in recruiting new board members. Marty asked about anchor replacement and Jesse described the process by which anchors can be replaced with support from the American Safe Climbing Association.
The meeting ended at 7:15pm. --Submitted by Eve Tallman, Secretary [corrections or edits can be emailed to: western_co_climbers@hotmail.com]