Perspectives on Rock Climbing Fixed Anchors Through the Lens of the Wilderness Act: Social, Legal and Environmental Implications at Joshua Tree National Park, California Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Murdock, Erik Daniel Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 30/09/2021 06:56:24 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194151 PERSPECTIVES ON ROCK CLIMBING FIXED ANCHORS THROUGH THE LENS OF THE WILDERNESS ACT: SOCIAL, LEGAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS AT JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA by Erik Daniel Murdock _____________________ Copyright © Erik Daniel Murdock 2010 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES STUDIES In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2010 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Erik Daniel Murdock entitled Perspectives on Rock Climbing Fixed Anchors Through the Lens of the Wilderness Act: Social, Legal and Environmental Implications at Joshua Tree National Park, California and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 26, 2010 H. Randy Gimblett _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 26, 2010 D. Phillip Guertin _______________________________________________________________________ Date: April 26, 2010 Krystyna A. Stave Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: April 26, 2010 Dissertation Director: H. Randy Gimblett 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Erik Daniel Murdock 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Prof. Randy Gimblett, my indispensable research advisor and mentor, convinced me to pursue this study in the fall of 2001 and politely listened to hundreds of hours of ideas and theories over the next decade. I can’t thank him enough for his help with every phase of this project, from grant writing to dissertation editing. Prof. Phil Guertin helped with conceptual issues, GIS, statistics, and field work. He also has become a trusted climbing partner. Prof. Terry Daniel was instrumental in introducing me to the field of environmental psychology. Prof. Krystyna Stave was helpful with wilderness policy considerations and was quietly motivating throughout the process. She also became a good climbing partner. I thank the Access Fund for financial support in the form of two grants, and for being an excellent clearinghouse for all things climbing. I thank NPS staff Pat Suddath, Judy Bartzatt, Scott Fischer and Dan Messaros for their continued support. Pat fought hard to get this project off the ground. Special thanks also goes to NPS Superintendent Curt Sauer. The NPS funded the majority of this research. My volunteers included climbers, hikers, wilderness advocates, economists, family members, and folks of questionable origins and intentions. Special thanks to Bill Souder, my most qualified volunteer (aerospace engineer). Sal Wilson, Bob Jensen, Jeremy Murdock, and Dan Walsh withstood tough conditions during resource inventory. Dino Banco provided a lot of the Split Rock resource inventory. Maggie Lucas and Shawn Matusewicz were spirited volunteers. Chris Sharp assisted with the monitoring equipment installation and was a valuable peer throughout the project. James Hilger was of great assistance during a two-day statistics session in Berkeley, CA. He too became a dependable climber partner. Many other volunteers helped in various ways and I thank them all. I also greatly appreciate the donations from the outdoor industry. Industry supporters include Chessler Books, Metolius, Nike ACG, Patagonia, Sterling Rope, Summit Hut and Voodoo. Most of all, I thank my wife Estee. Without her, this would never have been completed. Erik Murdock, April 2010 5 DEDICATION To Rose Murdock (1943-2010) who once said that there are only two types of dissertations: completed and uncompleted. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………... ……………………………………………………………...……10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION....………………………………………….…………. 12 1.1 Background of Problem…… ……………………………………………………...12 1.2 Fixed Anchors…………………………………………………………………….. 14 1.3 Fixed Anchors in Designated Wilderness………...………………………………. 21 1.4 Statement of Problem……………………………………………………………... 24 1.5 Purpose of Study………………………………………………………………….. 30 1.6 Research Questions……………………………………………………………….. 31 CHAPTER 2. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES AND LITERATURE REVIEW...…… 33 2.1 The Wilderness Act and the National Park Service………………………………. 33 2.2 The Wilderness Act and Fixed Anchors………………………………………….. 51 2.3 Wilderness Management Research Related to Rock Climbing…………………... 67 CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODS………………………………………………... 72 3.1 Research Design…………………………………………………………………...72 3.1.1 Climbing Resource Inventory ………………………………………………... 72 3.1.2 Wilderness Visitor Monitoring ……………………………………………….. 77 3.1.3 Wilderness Climber Survey …………………………………………………... 80 3.2 Data Analysis……………………………………………………………………... 90 CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH FINDNGS…………………………………………………. 93 4.1 Wilderness Climbing Resource Inventory………………………………………... 93 4.1.1 Rock Climbing Routes ……………………………………………….……….. 93 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued 4.1.2 Wilderness Climbing Approach Trails ………………………………………. 98 4.2 Wilderness Visitor Inventory……………………………………………………. 101 4.2.1 Wilderness Access Monitoring Results ………………………………………101 4.2.2 Wilderness Cliff Time-Lapse Photography Results ………………………… 105 4.3 Wilderness Climber Survey Results………………………………………..…… 107 4.3.1 JTNP Climber Attributes …………………………………………………… 108 4.3.2 Reported Climbing Destination Sites and Climber Attributes ……………… 113 4.3.3 Spatial Distribution of Wilderness Climbing Destinations, Fixed Anchors and Climbers ..……………....……………………………………………….. 120 CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION………………………………….. 124 5.1 Management Options……………………………………………………………. 124 5.1.1 Regulating Fixed Anchors …………………………………………………...126 5.1.2 Managing Visitor Flow ……………………………………………………... 131 5.2 Political Considerations…………………………………………………………. 133 5.3 Legal Considerations……………………………………………………………. 136 5.4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………. 138 APPENDIX A. STAGING AREA STUDY…………………………………………… 142 REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………… 147 8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Typical modern climbing bolt (2.25” long) and Petzl hanger………………… 15 Figure 2. Natural resource legislation progression……………………………………… 25 Figure 3. JTNP climbing resource locations………………………………………….…. 29 Figure 4. Number of climbs at JTNP by YDS grade……………………………….…… 75 Figure 5. Monitoring equipment locations (climbing formations in red)..……………… 78 Figure 6. Adventure Model……………………………………………………………… 84 Figure 7. Climber Model………………………………………………………………....88 Figure 8. Map of fixed anchor distribution and density……………………………….…97 Figure 9. South Wonderland of Rocks climbing approach trails…….………………… 100 Figure 10. Daily use of wilderness access locations………………………………..….. 103 Figure 11. Difficulty vs. visitation at photographed climbing sites……….…..……….. 106 Figure 12. Quality vs. visitation at photographed climbing sites…….…………..……. 106 Figure 13. Type of protection vs. visitation at photographed climbing sites….……….. 107 Figure 14. Level of Engagement distribution for survey respondents……...…..……… 112 Figure 15. Normalized distribution of available and reported climbs…………………. 113 Figure 16. Level of engagement vs. difficulty………………………….……………… 115 Figure 17. Percentage of climbers by level of engagement in backcountry, midcountry and frontcountry zones……………………………………………………. 118 Figure 18. JTNP wilderness climbing locations, fixed anchors, and high-use areas…... 121 9 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Base condition category table…………………………………………….……. 73 Table 2. Wilderness climbing approach trail classification system………………….….. 76 Table 3. Time-lapse camera locations……………………………………………….….. 80 Table 4. Climber Model Attributes……………………………………………………… 87 Table 5. Example of climbing route database…………………………………………… 95 Table 6. Select Wonderland of Rocks inventory results………………………………… 95 Table 7. Wilderness monitoring location information…………………………………. 102 Table 8. Overview of climbing route choices at cliffs sampled by time-lapse cameras.. 105 Table 9. Survey question