Comment from Sam Lightner Jr.

To Whom it May Concern My name is Sam LIghtner Jr. and I have been climbing, all over theworld, for 45 years. I am writing to express some opinions on theExplorers Act and PARC Act. I very much appreciate that the two above acts have been passed and made into law. My first concern is that some agencies may be considering placing restrictions on certain activivties that could put climbers in deadly danger. Specifically, I have read where some might want to stop all replacement of aging anchors until a “climbing management plan” (or some-such policy) is put into place. I have been involved in the discussion-of and creation of climbing management plans in multiple federal agencies. These include but are not limited to, BLM in southeast Utah, Arches and Grand Teton National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, and multiple districts of the National Forest. I can tell you from experience that these processes have taken many years to complete. By putting a restriction that allows for replacement of aging equipement only after a climbing management plan has been created, you would be putting the climbing public in danger for ptoetnially many years. When an anchor is found to be defective it should be replaced immediately, not 2-5 years from now when a plan is fiinally created. My second concern is placing a limit on the number of anchors in a given amount of space, ergo “5 bolts in 100 feet. Rock climbing is done on a very chaotic medium that makes the amount of gear placed variable. Some routes may not need 5 in 100, while other may need seven. To place a restriction on this is to limit a climbers ability to make his/her ascent as safe as possible. Limitations with such specificity should be avoided. I would like to see all federal agencies promote the use of the most advanced modern hardware. Stainless steel and titanium should be a requirement, and epoxy anchors, that can last for many decades without replacement, whould be promotoed. Finally, there should be no restriction onequipment used to get these modern anchors in place. There is an argument against power drills as they have an electrict motor. True, but there is far less noise affecting the environment when a drill runs for 30 seconds versus a hammer banging away on a hand-drill for an hour for the same hole. The modern equipment makes for a better finsished product and is, on the larger scale, less noisy. Thank you for reading my comments. Sincerely Sam Lightner Jr Wind RIver Canyon, Wyoming