By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER
Casper Star-Tribune
July 6, 2005 GILLETTE - There were fewer climbers on Devils Tower during June compared to
the same month last year, but there were also more rainy days.
Last year, 177 people made 342 climbs during June. This year 122 people made
283 climbs during June, according to monument officials. This year,
officials recorded 17 days of measurable precipitation for the month
compared to only seven days last year.
Monument managers are unsure whether climbers are more willing to honor the
voluntary no-climb policy in recognition of American Indian religious
reverence for the Tower during June, or if climbers simply don't like rain
and slick rock.
Whatever the case, some local climbers are urging the National Park Service
to take great care in deciphering what the numbers really mean as park
officials prepare to revise the climbing management plan at Devils Tower
National Monument.
John Gunnels of Gillette said he worries park officials see nothing in the
numbers but disregard for the voluntary closure, which might sway them
toward a mandatory rule.
"If 60 percent or 40 percent of the use are guided climbs, you're punishing
recreational climbers who are actually complying very well," Gunnels said.
In fact, 45 percent of the 283 June climbs were completed by two
professional guiding companies and their clients, according to monument
officials. That means compliance among recreational climbers is actually
much higher than it may seem, Gunnels said.
"Maybe commercial use should be a separate issue, because it is in their
financial interest to disregard the voluntary closure," he said.
Devils Tower National Monument Supervisor Lisa Eckert is in Denver this week
visiting with regional park officials about plans to revise the climbing
management plan. The process was initiated several years ago, but it petered
out. The effort is being revived now, three months after the defeat of
Eckert's effort to bestow the Bear Lodge Historic Landmark designation on
the monument, which would have given the Park Service broader powers to
limit climbing there.
Eckert has maintained that was not the intent of the designation. However,
she and Devils Tower chief park ranger Scott Brown would like to see higher
compliance with the voluntary no-climb rule. This year's 283 June climbs
translate into a 76.2 percent compliance rate. Devils Tower officials would
like to see it increase beyond the 85 percent compliance rate that was
recorded when the voluntary closure was first implemented in the mid-1990s.
"The premise behind the 1995 climbing management plan was that compliance
would continue to rise until there were no climbers in June," Brown said.
The "voluntary" foundation that is in the 1995 climbing management plan was
cemented in place through several years of contentious litigation.
Professional climbing guide Andy Petefish said it would take a
constitutional amendment to change it. He said one possible motivation for
revisiting the issue is for Eckert to gain some sort of political
recognition for taking on the issue.
Petefish noted that the court upheld the notion that recreational and
commercial climbing on the tower is protected under the First Amendment.
"You can't have preferential treatment of use of federal lands based on
religious preference or race," said Petefish.
"It's tolerance, it's not intolerance. And that's what (the Park Service) is
preaching, intolerance," Petefish continued. "Rock climbers are the best
stewards of Devils Tower. They're more in line with the American Indians'
spiritual religious beliefs than any other user group."
For now, the formal revision process is still in the gate. Eckert has said
the Park Service is engaged in internal discussions about what should be the
goal of the climbing management plan revision.
Gunnels insists the matter is best ruled by the heart, not the hammer.
"As long as they use the word 'voluntary,' I will abide by it. But as soon
as they use the word mandatory, break out the handcuffs because I'm going to
jail," Gunnels said.