Shenandoah
Rock Outcrop
Management Plan (see status update from NPS)
A revised General Management Plan has been released by Park Service, and is supposedly available here. (Having trouble downloading it? Yeah, we did too. For your convenience, we put a copy on our server so you can get it from there. Click the "Documents" button to the left.)
After review of the plan, Friends of Great Falls has sent the NPS a letter, in which we say: "...we are pleased to see that the NPS has clearly taken into consideration many of the suggestions made by Friends of Great Falls and other local climbersand climbing groups.... Generally, we think that the discussion of the potential environmental impacts from recreational climbing is reasonable ..."
The plan calls for creation of a Climbing Management Plan, and our letter states: "While FOGF is not convinced of the need for a Climbing Management Plan, we – along with other local climbing groups – would expect to be actively involved in thepreparation of any Climbing Management Plan should this be developed. "
Click here to see the full letter.
Background: In September 2005, the National Park Service (NPS) released a draft General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (GMP/EIS) for Great Falls Park, Virginia. The draft Plan contains proposals with potentially serious implications for climbing at Great Falls, including the closure of cliffs, permits to climb and permanent anchors. Such proposals seem excessive given the current level of impact that climbers have on the park.
In response to the draft Plan, climbers in the VA\MD\DC area formed Friends of Great Falls to mobilize climbers to comment on the draft plan and research the basis for the NPS proposals. Friends of Great Falls includes representatives of the Blue Ridge Section of the American Alpine Club, the Access Fund, and the Potomac Mountaineering Club as well as individual climbers.
In the meantime, Friends of Great Falls remains in existence and is continuing to work actively to safeguard local climbing opportunities. If and when the NPS moves forward with a Climbing Management Plan, we'll make sure to stay involved!