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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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May 29, 2011 - 05:27pm PT
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Heading up in a bit to boulder, is it muddy?
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 29, 2011 - 05:31pm PT
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No.
Rock on, brother.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Jun 30, 2011 - 10:37pm PT
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Okay, gang. This afternoon at 4:00 pm (July 30th), Paul Minault and I attended a working group RSVP meeting at the Santa Clara County Parks office in Los Gatos. Unfortunately, we came back empty handed again. Paul tried to introduce a compromise seasonal closure of Summit to allow the Peregrines to nest and raise their young there from July to December. However, two Park and Recreation Commission members, who were also members of the local chapter of the Audubon Society (and unaffiliated with the national organization), wouldn't hear a word. When Paul talked about a compromise seasonal closure, he was greeted with NO WAY. We did have a few people there who were more reasonable. But Paul says that he's going to the national Access Fund and have them spear head a petition drive. The Santa Clara Board of Supervisors may be more amenable to a compromise solution because they are elected. It became obvious that the Audubon Society regards climbers as a menace to bird habitat. Don't quote me. That's certainly my subjective impression of course and we do have to work with these guys. The Rangers emphasized that they are not anti-climber, but are bound by the recommendations of State Fish and Wildlife.
Paul says that he's put $20 grand of his legal business time into this issue and now it's time to go national and enlist the resources of the national Access Fund. We did give them stacks of paper showing that Peregrine closures are seasonal throughout N. America so that info is on the public record. Paul also gave them a book on Peregrines by the world's leading authority on peregrines, who concluded that climbers have appeared to have had no effect on peregrine breeding habits.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad tiding after all this build up. So much work and they're still standing in the way of compromise. For example, the Ranger ecologist stated that even if the Peregrines departed today County Parks would have to wait 3 years minimum before reopening Summit to climbing. Whatever compromise Paul suggested, the authorities found a way to block it. On to the national Access Fund and the petition drive, I guess.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 30, 2011 - 11:13pm PT
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For example, the Ranger ecologist stated that even if the Peregrines departed today County Parks would have to wait 3 years minimum before reopening Summit to climbing. Whatever compromise Paul suggested, the authorities found a way to block it. On to the national Access Fund and the petition drive, I guess.
What a bunch of bureaucratic, environmental bullshit! Keep us posted, Bruce.
I've always hated liberal crap like this, and I hate to bring politics to this thread, but apparently politics and rabid environmentalism has hit this thread.
One bird can nest and deprive multiple peoples of nature and fun. One f*#king nest!!! And they aren't endangered!
Liberalism is a mental disorder...
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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It ain't 'liberalism'. It's 'bureaucratism'. In all honesty it should be
pointed out that bureaucrats do tend to hybridize with liberals pretty freely.
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just_one
Mountain climber
CA
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thats fvcking lame. thanks for all of your efforts bruce and paul. lets hope the AF can help.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Just seems to be a classic committee room power play, whatever name you want to give it, Blue: Ultra Liberal, Neo-Stalinist, Aggro Nature Nazi? One small group, the Birders, have grabbed power and are beating up on their supposed anti-nature natural enemies: i.e. the climbers. They've got the right end of the whip handle, for now at least. Going national with the Access Fund in Boulder sounds like the appropriate next step. I like the idea of a petition drive.
Also, incidentally, don't imagine that County Parks and the Audubon Society are not watching this SuperTopo forum. The self-described woman Ph.D. ecologist showed me a print out of strings on this site to prove that climbers were irresponsible and liable to injure birds just to get back into an area. She'd experienced this kind of 'bad behavior' in other areas before, she insisted. The ecologist ranger also had read this blog and responded by saying that County Parks was not "anti-climber". All I'm saying is that you should watch what opinions you put in cyber space here. County Parks and the Audubon Society are taking notes. Any indication that you will willingly break rules and violate closures can be used against us later on. Doesn't create a good image that lets the Access Fund negotiate confidently with the authorities.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 1, 2011 - 11:51am PT
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Good points, Bruce.
It just pisses me off when we (climbers) are portrayed as destructive, when in reality, we police that place more than the rangers do!!!
Who picks up the glass and garbage from the bottle-chuckers? Who tells the brats to quit disturbing wildlife?
The rangers are never around. It's the climbers who regulate that area!!! Or used to anyway.
To shut down an entire recreational area year-round for a bird is ridiculous. I see falcons all the time on Central Expressway in Mountain View. This bird really NEEDS Summit Rock to nest?
People should be allowed back in. The falcon will adapt and survive as others have done.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 1, 2011 - 12:46pm PT
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Who you ask.. how about Shipoopi and Potter. How about Potters climb of the Arch. How about Cosgrove and Smith power bolting their way up the Muir wall.
There are idiots in every crowd, and momentary lapses of reason. But overall...
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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At the meeting yesterday I asked the Rangers specifically if they were doing anything to mitigate the negative effects of graffiti painters, bottle breakers and drunks at Summit Rock? One of the County Park Rangers replied that so far this year they had issued over 50 tickets in Sanborn-Skyline County Park. Well, maybe down below in the lower half of Sanborn-Skyline County Parks where there is drive in camping they issue tickets. But another Ranger said it would be "too expensive" to patrol Summit Rock after dark. Well, there you have it: It sure isn't too expensive to print larger metal signs banning climbers from Summit and instituting a weekend horse patrol to keep climbers off the rock though, is it? What did it cost to have all those Ph.D.'s, Rangers and bureaucrats gathered at County Parks Headquarters yesterday? The point is that I've rarely seen any Ranger presence out at Summit Rock and environs. What Blue is saying is true with respect to Summit: Climbers are the only ones who've ever organized cleanups to remove the bottles and trash there and they are the ones who've chased off the bottle breakers and drunks. Summit has become a much more eco-friendly place due to the presence of climbers who don't want drunks throwing bottles down on their heads from above. The ecologist Ranger at the meeting even admitted as much.
It just seemed to me that a little local splinter group of the Audubon Society has ensconced themselves as a simple majority on the Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Commission (that has a advisory role only I might add) and are actively pursuing an anti-climber, no compromise agenda. When the lady Ph.D. ecologist said, "We've run into this problem before", I wanted to ask her directly, "Where? Is this part of a national policy on the part of your group?" Obviously, there is some kind of agenda these people are pushing. How come there are no trail runners, dog walkers, equestrians, mountain bikers, or climbers on the Recreation Commission? There is not one representative on that Committee who is an active outdoor sport athlete. The head of the committee is even an officer in the local chapter of the Audubon Society and often works weekends as a docent leading bird watching trips in the local open spaces and nature preserves.
Well, I think the Access Fund is going to call for a real scientific study of the nesting pair of Peregrines at Summit headed by one of the leading experts on them in the world. According to his book, which Paul presented to the County Parks resident biologist, Peregrines show no sign of being disturbed by the presence of climbers in their territory. None whatsoever. A study group like this would unite climbers, ecologists and biologists and might pave the way toward an adjudicated compromise solution. A seasonal closure is reasonable. A blanket year-round closure is unprecedented and probably indefensible.
Paul offered a whole list of compromise solutions including a seasonal closure and re-opening Summit to climbing only on Saturdays during the off season to see if it bothered the falcons. He even proposed building an alternate nesting site near Summit but not actually on the rock itself. The bird lady and her allies would have none of it. All I do know is that Paul is notifying the President of the Access Fund advising him to issue a full national Access Alert followed possibly by a petition drive to be presented to the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors. At least they're elected officials and have to answer to the voters.
When I mentioned that climbing had gone on at Summit for probably over 60 years and that the climbs there were part of a historical progression chronicling development of the sport I was greeted with smirks, sneers and a stony silence. The only solution the Birders offered was building an outdoor artificial wall some place else to teach children climbing skills. The tradition of Summit as a climbing area obviously meant absolutely nothing to these people. Well, on to the next level!
I think it's like William Blake says, "One law for the Lion and the Ox is tyranny!"
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J. Werlin
Social climber
Cedaredge, CO
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Bump from a former local. Thanks Bruce.
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dfinnecy
Social climber
'stralia
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another bump from another ex-local. Between this and the impending CRSP closure it could be a dark time for south bay climbers. Lexington and Alameda Reservoirs anyone?
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couchmaster
climber
pdx
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It sounds like everyone's best hope at this point is to ensure that these bureaucrats have less money, not more. Seriously, defunding them is the best option IMO. Let them go get real jobs and learn to be productive members of society.
I spent yesterday climbing at an area that the FS doesn't know of. The climbers know of a nesting pair of Peregrines and voluntarily avoid that area. The birds successfully nested and the young have fledged and although all of the birds are flying around the area and you hear them making their Peregrine cries as they fly, climbers are still leaving that section in peace. The birds don't care that climbers are nearby. If the government just banned climbing in the area because climbers were so close to the birds, it would cause a lot of resentment and anti-government feelings to arise, and people would say nasty things online. Even if they didn't really mean them.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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What gets me is that the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Commission is supposed to support and facilitate recreational activities and facilities in the county. However, there is not one person on the Parks and Rec Commission who represents the interests of mountain bikers, trail runners, rock climbers and equestrians. In fact, there is a triumvirate, including the Chairperson, who are all members of a local splinter group of the Audubon Society and who seem to want to prevent those activities in County Parks. Not one of the people on that committee are engaged in any form of active outdoor recreation. At the meeting last week, myself and the Access Fund attorney were both told by the Birders that we would have to take into account other people's interests besides ourselves. The only "other people" that she was referring to, it seemed, were her and other members of the local Audubon Society chapter. It's like the Access Fund attorney told me in private afterwards out in the Parking Lot: They gave us 'The Finger'. The meeting, which we were invited to by County Parks, was obviously just a forum for County Parks to repeat the same message we had received last month at a meeting of the Parks and Recreation Commission down at City Hall in San Jose: No compromise! Get lost you evil anti-nature rock vandals! At least, there wasn't any talk about chopping the bolts on pre-existing routes to prevent climbers from rapping in and disturbing the Peregrines as there had been down at City Hall off the record.
It seems to me that vandalizing pre-existing recreational resources in Santa Clara County is not exactly a legitimate function of the Parks and Recreation Commission no matter what their chairperson says off the record. Oh well! Just have to wait and see what course of action the national Access Fund recommends.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 3, 2011 - 04:12pm PT
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Isn't that the unfortunate irony of this sh#t-sandwhich. A Peregrine Falcon nesting year after year on top of San Jose City Hall, yet one on a rock on skyline Blvd in a recreational area, is to be protected and fondled over.
I think the agenda is clear. It is not about the bird. It's crazy Audubon leftists and a power struggle.
Vote wisely, my friends.
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climbingcook
Trad climber
sf
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I think the agenda is clear. It is not about the bird. It's crazy Audubon leftists and a power struggle.
Rather than spouting this sort of pointless drivel, how about you contact your county supervisor and try to convince them to work on this issue? http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/scc
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Yes, the Access Fund is going to work on the issue via the County Board of Supervisors. But first we're going to try to replace political rhetoric with science by having a very well respected biologist in the field conduct a real scientific study of the Peregrines at Summit Rock. The real problem is that some younger scientists up at State Fish and Wildlife in Sacramento recommended to County Parks that Summit, because of its small size, be closed to climbing year round. The only way to do an end-field run around the bureaucratic blockade is to appeal to a higher authority, who will, hopefully, make an alternative recommendation (i.e. a seasonal closure). It appears to be a minority opinion, but some people at County Parks and on the Rec. Commission are not against a seasonal closure. We just are in need of some real science upon which to base an alternative conclusion. Until then, County Parks is going to continue with the year-round closure of Summit.
Of course, I do understand your frustration, Blue. This whole closure business is just plain nonsense. It seems to me that what the Audubon Society wishes would happen is that the Peregrines breed and spread to all the rocks on the Skyline so they can shut all of them to climbing. But that's just my paranoia coming out!
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Forest
Trad climber
Denver, CO
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Perhaps some climbers with the time should make an effort to get a seat on these boards?
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