Bolting In Wilderness Areas

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Bolting In Wilderness Areas

Environmental ethics in America is a fairly new train of thought in America. Few people in America even think about the ethics of what we do to the environment for our own needs and wants. The wilderness act of 1964 was made to protect a small peace of what is left of the truly natural environments left in our country. Big business, conservationists and the government are in a constant battle to decide what should and should not be allowed under this act. One of the issues that has come up in recent years is the issue of permanent bolting for climbers in wilderness areas. This issue can be seen from a couple of different angles. One can look at it from a human-interest point of view or one can look at it from a conservationist point of view.
Those who see bolting in wilderness areas from a human-interest point of view have a good argument. There are a lot of climbers mainly climb on bolted climbs. These climbers are known as sport climbers and they make up a big part of the people who climb in wilderness areas and therefor a big part of the money coming into wilderness areas. These climbers would be limited to the amount of climbs they could do in a wilderness area if bolting is banned. For this reason some sport climbers would fight for the right to put permanent bolts in wilderness areas. Another reason a climber might back permanent bolting in wilderness areas is safety. With fixed bolts in the rock one can climb with a higher degree of safety than with out.
The human-interest side of the argument has a lot of support not only from a lot of climbers but from big recreation companies as well. Together they have the money and

political power to fight for their cause. For example, on June 1, 1998 the Chief of Forest service, Michael Dombeck, announced a nationwide ban on...