The National Park Service’s plan for managing backcountry activities in Zion National Park, including some of the country’s most significant adventure big wall climbing, remains open for public comment through July 29. In May the park released its draft alternatives for managing 145,060 acres in Zion, which include recommended and potential wilderness, “and any technical rock climbing areas regardless of where they occur in the park.”

The Access Fund generally supports the park’s Proposed Action/Preferred Alternative B which continues existing policies (including seasonal closures to protect raptors and other protected resources) and will also “encourage . . . access to climbs on established and marked routes.” The NPS plan would not seek to monitor or otherwise limit the number of new climbs, but because of the wilderness management at Zion, the NPS will prohibit power drills and discourage excess bolting. Various other provisions in the draft BMP address overnight bivouacs, human waste, fixed ropes, access trails, and canyoneering (which faces increased restrictions) in the backcountry. For additional BMP details, see http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?.... The Access Fund’s comment letter on the Zion BMP can be found at www.accessfund.org/pdf/ZionBMP.pdf

The NPS at Zion will take comments to its proposed Backcountry Management Plan through July 29 at:

Zion National Park
Attn: Backcountry Management Plan/EA
Springdale, UT 84767

Or online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov.