Access Fund’s Conservation Team, the “Stewardship Gap,” and creating adaptive access in Colorado

The Climbing Advocate · Ep59: The "stewardship gap" and creating adaptive access with Access Fund's Conservation Team

This month’s episode features Loryn Posladek and Kyle Leihsing who are leading the charge on national stewardship efforts representing Access Fund’s Conservation Team. For the last five years, Loryn and Kyle have traversed the country dedicating themselves to assisting LCOs and other conservation partners on building sustainable trails and other critical infrastructure at our beloved climbing areas.

Loryn and Kyle highlight trends they have noticed over the years regarding stewardship participation, what can be done to continue to improve the experience for the participants, and how to get more climbers engaged in stewardship activities. There appears to be a large gap in the number of recreationists that consistently access public land for recreation purposes but don’t necessarily participate in the activities that are aimed at stewarding these resources.

We round out the conversation getting into the multi-year process they have been a part of creating adaptive access at the Thumb and Needle in Estes Park, Colorado.

6:31 - Loryn and Kyle’s intros

7:58 - Changes in the Conservation Team program

10:48 - What keeps them coming back year after year

14:28 - Current project in Rumney

18:21 - What areas are still left on the list to visit?

21:35 - Going from athlete to advocate

27:59 - onX Backcountry's Breaking Trails Report & the "stewardship gap"

42:58 - "Trail dogs" and the new archetype of climber

45:30 - Bridging the stewardship gap through mentorship

51:11 - Creating adaptive trails in Estes Park, CO

1:02:38 - 2024 plans for the Thumb and Needle

Access Fund’s Conservation Teams: accessfund.org/latest-news/meet-your-2024-climbing-conservation-teams