Climb Smart in October launches new format
FOJT is kicking off the climbing season in the fall with a totally revamped format for their annual event, in partnership with brands, athletes and the local Joshua Tree community. Now in it’s 13th year, This will be one not to miss, with more to do, more to see and more engagement with the Park than ever before.
October 22-24, 2010. Joshua Tree Community Center/Sportsmans Lodge complex
Click here to see a cool Climb Smart gallery to get a flavor for the event.
Speak Up… JTNPS is listening.
You can wait to react, or be part of the shaping process of your Park. The General Management Plan process has officially begun, but it’s a long process and your thoughts on what can enhance the Joshua Tree experience are welcome: see this invite from Park Superintendent Curt Sauer. Let the Park know your thoughts on the next 20 yrs of JTNP and how climbing and climbers will help. We can share some ideas here, if you aren’t sure you want to send yours quite yet… this site is a blog format, so use the comments section to vet some thoughts.
If you are ready to send in your ideas, comments and suggestions right now, click here and have at it. It’s fun, and can help steer policy in your Parks!
Most importantly, stay involved with the process and get excited about another 20 years of natural magic in Josh.
BOD of FOJT
Climbers take ACTION – NPS Planning Meetings for JTNP’s future
Save the Date(s)!
Come to a Joshua Tree National Park General Management Plan Open House NEXT WEEK and represent for the climbing community
See JTNP public invite http://www.nps.gov/jotr/parknews/gmpopenhouse.htm
You are invited to participate in a process that will help guide the
management of Joshua Tree National Park for the next 15 to 20 years. We are
beginning the development of a new park management plan and we welcome your
involvement. Come and meet the planning team, learn more about the general
management plan and planning process, and most importantly, discuss your
ideas and concerns for the future of climbing in Joshua Tree National Park.
Please attend one or more of these open houses. We look forward to seeing and
hearing from you!
Monday May 17, 6-8 p.m.
Mizell Senior Center
480 South Sunrise Way
Palm Springs, CA 92262-7641
Tuesday May 18, 6-8 p.m.
University of California, Riverside,
Palm Desert Campus
75080 Frank Sinatra Drive
Palm Desert, CA 92211-5202
Wednesday May 19, 6-8 p.m.
Onaga Elementary School
58001 Onaga
Yucca Valley, CA 92284
Thursday May 20, 6-8 p.m.
Twentynine Palms Community Center
74325 Joe Davis Drive
Twentynine Palms, CA 92277
Friday May 21, 6-8 p.m.
Joshua Tree Community Center
6171 Sunburst Street
Joshua Tree, CA 92252-2147
Towers of Uncertainty closed for Raptor nesting season
Please take note that the Towers of Uncertainty climbing area in the Geology Tour Road area is closed to climbing starting Friday, March 26th until after nesting for raptor protection. This includes Lava Dome, Reef Rock, Cave Rock, Crow’s Nest, Demon Dome, Gravity Rock, Two Bolt Rock, but not Mission Rock. Please respect this closure and encourage others to do so as well so we can help the long term preservation of the fauna of the park and climbing access.
Calendar Items for April/May in JTree
*April 3 Movie Night at Sportsman’s Lodge, 7pm. Touching The Void, free for all attendees thanks to our generous sponsor Joshua Tree Outfitters.
*Joshua Tree National Park Social Trails restoration project
Friends of Joshua Tree is looking forward to hosting a social trails restoration project in the Joshua Tree National Park during the middle of May. We will post more details as we get them.
March 1 – April 15, 2010 - NPS Raptor Survey – this is a project that JTNPS is conducting to assess the presence of active raptor nests in and around popular climbing areas of the park (16 in total). We are in close communication with NPS on this issue and we are advocating that climbers have a way to feed back on any closures that may result from this first-time comprehensive survey. We believe in protecting the critical raptor populations in the park… and a proactive approach to identifying nesting sites makes sense. Steer clear of any survey work being done if you see it, and let the park know you support a reasonable program to protect key species in the park during the spring nesting cycle. If you have issues or comments, please let us know and/or contact the NPS Wildlife Ecologist Michael Vamstad.
Eagle Mountain landfill on hold
Plans for Landfill Near Joshua Tree Stalled
by Lauren Hasler
Plans to move in a new neighbor next to Joshua Tree National Park were stalled when a southern California appeals panel ruled to temporarily halt development of what would be the largest nonhazardous solid waste landfill in the nation.
The proposed Eagle Mountain Landfill would draw trains from Los Angeles County with an estimated 20,000 tons of waste each day for 117 years. The total capacity of the proposed landfill, an abandoned iron ore mine, is approximately 708 million tons.
According to NPCS, the landfill would pose many environmental consequences, including harm to Bighorn sheep and endangered desert tortoises, contaminated groundwater, poor air quality, and other visual, noise and night lighting impacts in the park. Photo: Flickr/sebastien.b
For two decades, Ontario-based Kaiser Ventures Inc. has been fighting to develop the 4,654 acres surrounded on three sides by the park and located one-and-a-half miles from Joshua Tree.
Mark Cipra, the California desert program manager with the National Parks Conservation Society (NPCS), called the ruling “a landmark victory for Joshua Tree National Park’s bighorn sheep, desert tortoises and the 1.3 million people who come here every year to enjoy our beloved national park.”
Kaiser Ventures acquired the land during a swap with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1997. MSNBC reports that two jojoba farmers sued to stop a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) deal necessary for the development 20 years ago.
The NPCS later joined the case. This panel upheld a lower court’s ruling that the BLM’s appraisal of the land was not accurate because it did not take the future use of the land as a lucrative landfill into consideration.
Kaiser Ventures and the BLM now have the option of appealing the decision to the full appeals court.
Lauren Hasler
Lauren is a journalism major at the University of Missouri with an interest in environmental sustainability education.
John Bachar, legend of Joshua Tree and American Climbing
Among elite rock climbers in the world, John Bachar represented the cleanest, boldest style that inspired a generation of highball and extreme on-sight athletes of today. John died last weekend in a fall while soloing on the Dike Wall, near Mammoth.
Perusing a JTree guidebook of old, you will find plenty of Bachar references and FA’s, including Baby Apes (FFA was also Free Solo), Hot Rocks and the Acid Crack. His style was enigmatic, and his ethics representative of the highest standard in clean climbing, using minimal fixed gear on bold FA’s like the heady Bachar-Yerian on the Medlicott Dome in Tuolumne. I imagine he inspired (knowingly or not) several in the new wave of ultra clean traditional climbing; Eric Decaria, Sonny Trotter, and others of a new generation.
The Friends Of Joshua Tree honor John Bachar III with these words from his father, John M. Bachar Jr. :
Thank you for your expressions of condolence to me and my family regarding the tragic death of my son. John III on July 5, 2009.
There is solace in knowing that he lived to the hilt in following his passion. He left his huge footprint in the world of climbing forever.
We could not have said it any better. RIP, Johnny Rock.
For a compilation of obits and a letter from the family to the climbing community, click this link
Obituaries and tributes for John.pdf
Weigh in on CA State Park closures
Here are just some of the climbing areas threatened with closure due to state budget mismanagement: Mt. Diablo, Mt. Tamalpais, Castle Rock, Castle Crags, Mt. San Jacinto, Stinson (Mickey’s) Beach, Patrick’s Point, Mt. St. Helena, Emerald Bay, Point Dume, Malibu Creek, Lake Perris/Big Rock, and Stonewall Creek… not to mention numerous surf spots and other outdoor rec havens. Please make your opinion known here via the Access Fund Action Center
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