The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced a new regulation limiting the distance between climbing bolts to no more than five feet (1.5 meters) on all sport climbs located on federal lands. This decision also mandates that existing sport climbing routes be retrofitted to comply with the new rule.
The DOI, which oversees many iconic climbing destinations like Yosemite, Red Rock, Zion, and Joshua Tree, has not fully explained the reasons behind the new regulation. However, a DOI spokesperson mentioned to Climbing that the decision stems from a growing need to improve safety. The spokesperson cited staffing shortages on federal lands, which are expected to impact search, rescue, and recovery operations. Despite a federal judge recently ruling that thousands of fired government employees, including park rangers, be rehired, the current administration is challenging this decision in the Supreme Court.
“The increased budget allocated to preserving wilderness areas is a burden on taxpayers,” said the spokesperson. “With reduced staffing levels and an increased focus on resource extraction, we need to ensure visitors are safe, especially with fewer rescue services available.”
The spokesperson emphasized that the regulations were not intended to restrict outdoor activities, but to “make climbing safer” for outdoor enthusiasts.
In addition to this new law, the DOI is reportedly considering a potential ban on traditional climbing, citing the risks associated with placing removable protection. The spokesperson expressed concerns that traditional climbing, while rooted in the past, poses unnecessary risks and that climbing should be a safer, more accessible activity. “In this case, ‘tradition’ equals risk, and that’s unacceptable,” the spokesperson added. “The outdoors should offer benefits to people, not put them in danger.”