We are America’s Climbing Advocates

 Access Fund, the national advocacy organization for sustainable access and conservation of climbing landscapes, is calling on climbers to speak up in response to newly released climbing management guidance from the U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture. The guidance—issued by the National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS)—stands to shape how America’s climbing is managed for decades to come.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has advanced legislation that would repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule across most national forests, putting nearly 45 million acres of backcountry landscapes at risk. Many of these roadless areas contain climbing routes, alpine terrain, and remote approaches that define the climbing experience. We're breaking down what this proposal means for climbers—and how Access Fund is working to protect America's climbing landscapes.

The Bureau of Land Management has repealed the Public Lands Rule, weakening a key framework that helped balance conservation, recreation, and land health across millions of acres of public land. For climbers, access depends on far more than whether a cliff remains open—it relies on sustainable approaches, campsites, roads, wildlife habitat, cultural resources, and the surrounding landscapes that make climbing areas possible in the first place. We’re breaking down what the repeal means for climbing stewardship, access, and the long-term management of some of America’s most important climbing landscapes—and how Access Fund will continue working to protect them.