Howdy Friends!
Here are some highlights of what we have been involved with this past year.
Indian Creek Climbing Stewards 2024 season
Friends of Indian Creek and our partners have funded the climbing stewards at The Creek since the inception of the program in Fall 2021. Since then, the stewards have logged over 15,000 interactions with visitors at the climber coffees and crag chats. Programs like this are “boots on the ground” and help to further our mission by educating climbers about best camping and climbing practices. Steward-Climber interactions also foster good relationships with local land managers. The climber coffees have featured guests such as the Bears Ears Partnership, BLM archaeologists and wildlife biologists, The Nature Conservancy, and Friends of Indian Creek to name a few. These groups are there to showcase the work being done in the Creek or to educate climbers about what (besides climbing) makes the Creek so special. In turn, when climbers respect raptor closures and archeological sites, it keeps climbing regulations minimal and access open. Learn more about the Access Fund Climbing Stewards. Please consider donating to help us fund the climbing steward program.
Moab Trail Ambassador Climbing Stewards 2024 season
Friends of Indian Creek has also been involved in tabling with the Moab Trail Ambassador Climbing stewards through our partnership with Grand County Active Transportation and Trails GCATT. The first GCATT Climbing Steward Launch happened in Fall 2022 following success with the Trail Ambassador program. The Grand County Trail Ambassador program became the first Gold Standard Leave No Trace designated program in November 2023. GCATT Climbing Stewards have been educating locals and visitors about preventative search and rescue, cryptobiotic soil, pooping in the desert, and wet rock- all onsite at climbing crags around Moab. Last year, the climbing ambassadors made over 3,000 educational contacts with climbers. Learn more about the Moab Trail Ambassador program.
Research Projects
Also completed by Friends of Indian Creek, through an Access Funds Climbing Conservation Grant, is the Indian Creek Dispersed Campsite Inventory and Monitoring Study, a continuation of the inventory that began in the Fall of 2020. Sites that were surveyed in Fall of 2023/Winter 2024 include the Indian Creek Falls and Hamburger Rocks areas. This baseline inventory helps FOIC and the BLM keep track of camping in the greater Indian Creek area.
The Bears Ears National Monument Management Plan
Climbers know Bears Ears National Monument for the world-class cracks of Indian Creek and more remote climbing adventures in areas like Valley of the Gods. But this 1.3+ million-acre monument means far more than recreation for Indigenous Tribes who advocated for its creation.
The BLM and Forest Service jointly manage the monument in collaboration with the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (Bears Ears Commission). Friends of Indian Creek welcomes the extensive Indigenous Traditional Knowledge that was built into the planning process and hopes climbers will support preservation of this sacred cultural landscape through responsible climbing, camping, and hiking following Visit with Respect principles.
This year, we were involved in drafting comments with other Climbing Organizations for the much-anticipated Draft Bears Ears National Monument Management Plan. The final plan went into effect in January of this year. Running more than 1,000 pages in length, this plan will direct future management of Bears Ears for decades to come. However, many details of future management will be worked out in the coming years via Recreation Area Management Plans (RAMP). Climbers look forward to continued collaboration and partnership with BLM, the Bears Ears Commission, and other stakeholders.
Some things you should know about the plan regarding Climbing and Camping:
- The Plan will use management zones (see map below) and area plans to manage visitation and other recreation uses in a manner that protects BENM objects, which could include increased permitting and restrictions on group sizes as well as limitations on dispersed camping.
- The plan allows for continued use and maintenance of existing climbing routes in the monument. All bolts, anchors, and fixed gear must be painted to limit visual contrast. (matte stainless steel has been acceptable in the past).
- The addition of climbing bolts, anchors, or fixed gear on new routes now require approval from the BLM. Climbers interested in a permit for new fixed anchors, can Jeremy Martin, Outdoor Recreation Planner for the Bears Ears National Monument/Monticello Field Office: j4martin@blm.gov. Include the location of the route including GPS coordinates, why you want to develop a route at that location, access to the location, or other information such as whether crossing private lands would be necessary.
- The BLM may issue access closures, in accordance with applicable law, when necessary to protect BENM objects and resources. This could include, but not limited to, protecting special status species populations, habitat, connectivity, forage, prey base, and/or cultural resources.
- If site-specific impacts to BENM objects exist, climbing routes may be closed and access trails and staging areas may be rerouted. Climbing closures will be identified via physical infrastructure and/or kiosks/signs, in accordance with applicable law.
- Raptor Closures will continue to avoid disturbance to wildlife during the nesting season from March 1 to August 31. No activity will be allowed on or near any wall included in the seasonal climbing avoidance areas. The areas included in the avoidance areas will be periodically updated during the season by the BLM. These updates will be contingent on the results of standard wildlife surveys conducted throughout the nesting season.
- Camping is restricted to designated areas/sites or developed campgrounds in the Front Country Zone. Designated Dispersed Camping will be delineated in the Outback Zone in the Indian Creek RAMP. Until then, limit camping to existing dispersed campsites.
- Campfires are restricted to metal fire rings in Front County Zones and/or Fires Pans in Outback Zones. Gathering of wood is prohibited in the Indian Creek Management Area.
- Pets must be leashed at all times.
- The BLM will not require permits for private day and overnight use in all areas such as at Indian Creek.
- Human and other waste: Visitors are required to use existing toilet facilities or pack out solid human waste and dispose of it at appropriate facilities. All cans, trash, organic garbage, and refuse, including toilet paper, must be carried out. Liquid garbage may be discarded 200 feet from any water source. Dishwater must be strained and discarded 200 feet from any camps, trails, and water sources.
- Cross-country hiking: The public is encouraged to stay on designated or existing trails when hiking in BENM, and the BLM will inventory existing, undesignated hiking trails in BENM. The development and designation of hiking paths and trails may be allowed if consistent with the protection of BENM objects.
- Recreational facilities: In general, development of facilities would be allowed in Front Country and Passage Zones and where necessary.
- The following activities are prohibited: launching or landing of paragliders, hang gliders, base jumpers, and wing-suit flyers, highlining, geocaching, and rock stacking.
Please consider Getting Involved or Making a Donation to support our Volunteer efforts. Your contributions help protect The Creek and climbing access through stewardship, education, research, and outreach. Learn more at Friendsofindiancreek.org
Be Safe out there!
Rachel Nelson
Executive Director
Friends of Indian Creek
