Top Climbers Visit Capitol Hill for National Parks

As many climbers know, some of America’s most important National Monuments are at risk under the new American federal government.
Top climbers Tommy Caldwell, Sasha DiGiulian, Alex Honnold, Kai Lightner, Caroline Gleich and Libby Sauter visited Capitol Hill on Thurs. May 11 to speak with members of the American Senate about what’s at stake.
In April, America’s new president signed an executive order to examine the antiquities act and new National Monuments since 1996.
The American Alpine Club notes that under the executive order, millions of acres of land, including National Parks, are at risk of being opened to resource extraction.
Of the 27 listed monuments, Bears Ears National Monument, which includes using the land for rock climbing, is at the top as it was the last one created by Barak Obama.
Other Monuments to be reviewed: Basin and Range Nevada, Bears Ears Utah, Berryessa Snow Mountain California, Canyons of the Ancients Colorado, Carrizo Plain California, Cascade Siskiyou Oregon, Craters of the Moon Idaho, Giant Sequoia California, Gold Butte Nevada, Grand Canyon-Parashant Arizona and Grand Staircase-Escalante Utah.
The other monuments are Hanford Reach Washington, Ironwood Forest Arizona, Mojave Trails California, Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks New Mexico, Rio Grande del Norte New Mexico, Sand to Snow California, San Gabriel Mountains California, Sonoran Desert Arizona, Upper Missouri River Breaks Montana and Vermilion Cliffs Arizona.
Caldwell, Honnold and DiGiulian spoke at Capitol Hill to the American senate about the importance of the National Monuments and Parks. You can find information on how to help here: accessfund.org, climbthehill.org and americanalpineclub.org.
“We’ve been in meetings talking about the economic infrastructure that climbing brings to areas, new job opportunities, the reason that we need to protect public lands, meeting with a lot of powerful people, which is intimidating, but also exciting,” said DiGiulian.