Cave Vandalism from Sport Climbing

Click on the picture for a 141Kb JPG photo of climber's chalk marks in Skeleton Cave in central Oregon, USA. Photograph courtesy of Larry King.





Click on the left picture 102Kb or right picture 88Kb for a JPG composite photo showing how much damage has occurred in just one year!










These photographs are from Skeleton Cave, just a few miles outside the popular recreation city of Bend, Oregon, site of the 1983 NSS Convention. The cave is located on USDA Forest Service lands and is part of a larger system of caves known as the Arnold flow. It should be obvious that climber's chalk is as dirty as any vandal's spray paint. The Forest Service refuses to stop the destruction of this public resource. Read a local Newspaper Article describing the current situation in Central Oregon.

A January, 1994 survey of Hidden Forest Cave found 137 permanent bolted climbing anchors installed in a 50 foot by 80 foot area. Belay stations have been created by moving rocks into positions and back filling. Hidden Forest Cave has seen the greatest impact from rock climbing activities.

The survey found 49 bolted climbing anchors in Pictograph Cave. The climbing area is located near the Native American rock art found at the main entrance. The cave is one of Oregon's best known, and most vulnerable archaeological sites. During the survey, an obsidian "biface" blade was found at the base of one of the climbing routes.

In Charcoal Cave #1 the survey found 26 bolted climbing anchors. Several examples of Native American rock art was found in the cave during the survey. All total, the 1994 survey documented 223 bolted climbing anchors in seven caves.

A long six years after Congress enacted the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 the Deschutes National Forest and the Prineville and Lakeview Districts of the Bureau of Land Management decided the law applied to caves within its jurisdiction. In 1994 a Press Release announced these districts' guidelines that would enforce the law. The announcement came only after local cavers began to apply pressure to the land managers and document the cave vandalism caused by sport climbing.

The Guidelines describe eight specific activities that are prohibited in caves in these Forest Service and BLM districts. It also outlines how applicants must submit a written request for permission to engage in special activities. The guidelines do not describe what these activities may be, nor what requirements the applicant must meet, e.g. financial, insurance, restoration, etc, in order to obtain a permit. The guidelines are unfortunately open for a wide range of interpretations.

During the past year, with permission from the responsible federal agencies, cavers have removed the scarring, fixed anchors from two caves. One of the caves, Derrick Cave, was within a wilderness study area and was vandalized despite protection under statues proclaiming wildernesses. The perpetrators of these crimes remain at large today.

Today, the destruction continues. At another location on BLM lands, Pictograph Cave suffers under the climber's hand. This cave contain some of the only documented pre-colonial rock drawings of by early Native Americans in Oregon. The cave also has a documented bat population. If the climbing continues in this cave, these resources will soon be lost forever from the world. The BLM is currently writing its management plan for this cave. Please write to the responsible individual listed below and demand that Pictograph Cave receive the protection it needs under Federal Law.

Ric Carlson
Fort Rock Ranger District
1230 NE 3rd
Bend, Oregon 97701

Shaaron Netherton
Prineville District BLM
PO Box 550
Prineville, Oregon 97754

Links to pages documenting the destruction of Caves

NSS Conservation and Management Section Home Page

Cave Conservation in the UK

Cave Conservation in Australia

Comments: gp@europa.com