Act Now to Protect Sustainable Climbing Access in Tensleep
Photo by Chia-Hsien Hu.
Huge thanks to our friends at Access Fund for getting the word out with this Action Alert, originally posted on their site.
Climbers have an important opportunity right now to help shape the future of climbing access for one of America’s best climbing areas—Wyoming’s iconic Tensleep Canyon.
Bighorn National Forest is seeking public input on the Tensleep Canyon Climbing Management Plan (CMP) Draft Environmental Assessment (EA). The U.S. Forest Service has been working—since 2021—to develop a comprehensive plan that balances sustainable recreation access and infrastructure with the protection of natural and cultural resources.
COMMENTS CLOSE: TUESDAY, JAN. 20
The draft plan will guide how climbing is managed in Tensleep for many years to come, so climber engagement is critical at this stage in the land management planning process.
What’s in the Draft Climbing Management Plan?
The draft CMP outlines a framework to support climbing access while addressing potential impacts to sensitive national forest resources. Key goals of the plan include:
Providing a quality experience for climbers of all skill levels
Implementing a new route development permitting system
Improving parking and climbing access trails. Reducing erosion and sedimentation from social trails, staging areas, and dispersed camping
Protecting cultural resources and traditional values
Conserving sensitive natural resources, cliffside ecosystems and wildlife habitat
You can review the full draft CMP and accompanying story map to explore the proposed management approach in detail.
Key Issues Climbers Should Comment On
While the draft plan includes many positive steps, there are several important components where climber input can help improve outcomes for both access and conservation:
Support transparency for new route permitting: Ask the Forest Service to define clear criteria, timelines, and appeal processes.
Apply science to climbing infrastructure decision making: Existing climbing routes should only be closed or removed if quantitative scientific methods display measurable impacts. Replace proposed blanket closures (Leigh Creek RNA, bats, raptors) with adaptive, science-based, and site-specific management.
Clarify definitions and processes related to cultural resource protection: the plan needs to explain how Section 106 analyses and traditional cultural surveys will be implemented.
Thoughtful, constructive comments from climbers can make a real difference in the final outcome of this plan.
Take Action: Submit a Comment
Public comments are a required part of the Forest Service decision-making process—and they matter. Review Access Fund’s analysis and recommendations to support your comment here.
COMMENTS CLOSE: TUESDAY, JAN. 20
When commenting, focus on how sustainable climbing access, science-based wildlife management, and smart infrastructure improvements can work together to protect Tensleep Canyon for future generations.