Advocacy

The Washington Climbers Coalition has been advocating for the preservation of public access to Washington climbing areas since 2004. We believe that climbers need a collective voice or our interests will be lost among the cacophony of concerns facing land managers, public policy makers, and private property owners who hold the keys to the land we so dearly love.

As we all know, funding for public lands is cut year after year. Forest roads frequently go without maintenance and many which are important to us will be abandoned or decommissioned if we don’t express our preferences and lobby in Olympia and Washington. We’ve also seen wildlife management programs trigger closures but we’ve learned to work with the agencies involved so that, in some cases, spring nesting closure areas have been narrowly drawn to meet the needs of the birds while allowing climbers to continue enjoying the rock nearby. In broader political discussions, climbers can promote wider recognition that outdoor recreation is good for public health, it fosters a general awareness of the natural world and political support for the preservation of wild places.

Crisis becomes opportunity at Index…