Today It seems like every issue of either Climbing, Rock and Ice or the Access Fund news letter have stories about other areas having access issues. Many of these issues are precipitated by either over use or by the proliferation of bolts by rappel bolters. The bolt war in Boulder Canyon, the problems at Hueco Tanks, TX, or even a tiny cliff called ³Twin Sisters² southeast of Pasco WA are getting climbers ³noticed² by the Powers-that-Be and usually not in a good way. Why? I wanted to figure out the answer to this question. I felt like I knew things from the climber perspective and after my very positive interactions with Robert Kent, I decided to talk to as many other Land Managers as I can. From the Access Fund news letter I learned of problems in Iowa that sound very similar to some of Robertıs concerns so I called up the local Land Manager, Bob Sheets and had an enjoyable conversation with him. Again, from the Access Fund news letter, I learned that Patrick Putnum, Chief Climbing Ranger, Red Rocks NV. was hosting a symposium for any and all Land Managers that had climbing in their areas. Again, I found a very reasonable Land Manager (in this case also a climber, a rarity amongst Land Managers) that was and is trying to make things better for both climbers and other users of the publicly held lands. From there things have progressed and I have had the pleasure of talking to several other land managers all over the west. From these conversations I have learned a great deal about land management from the Land Managerıs perspective and can report some common themes. By far the most common ³problem² is that very few Land Managers have specific budget to ³manage² climbing and all are very resource poor (to little money, to many people of any type to control). Thus managing climbing is just one more activity that they donıt have money or people to do. Thatıs why most of them tell me that they would be ecstatic if the climbers could ³manage² themselves. Even at the largest local climbing area, Smith Rocks OR., there is only ONE ranger to service all of the needs of over 500,000 visitors (climbers [50 to 60% of the visitors], hikers [they often follow the new hiking trails put in by the climbers] and general tourist) per year (that was the number Dave Slaght gave me). At the same time, several areas have climbers that have stated that they will not cooperate with the local Land Manager. This is suicide for climbing. If we donıt actively support the Land Managers, they will have little choice but to close areas. Think of the case of Robert, he has over 200,000 acres in the Quincy Wildlife area alone and that is not the only area he manages. If you were Robert and a lot of your problems were in one small (less than 500 acres) area, what would you do? If your spread that thin, there gets to be few options. What is an example of ³good² interactions? We can look at the case of Smith Rocks, OR. Dave Slaght, the Ranger at Smith, told me that he now had very good cooperation with many local climbers. He told me that 5 years ago it was a bit rough but with effort on both sides things are much better. So, love me, hate me, squeeze me, please me, but do get INVOLVED. The biggest thing Iıve learned over the past year is that you can make a difference. The January, 2000 meeting with Andy was the first time Iıd actively participated in a climbing access meeting of any type. Before that, I sent in my $100 check to the Access Fund every year and felt like I was doing my part. I WAS WRONG!!!! Yes, money helps but taking the time (yes, it will cost you some of your personal time) to get involved and champion how you think climbing should go is more rewarding than I can tell you. I use to think that the people that camp in the trees to stop logging were NUTS! Now I understand why they feel like its their duty. So if you take away from this web page anything, please take with you the desire to get involved, it will be worth it. While we are on the subject of things I was wrong about, letıs go to route cleaning. If you read or have read the ³old controversial issues² you will find out that we use to heavily clean routes. We were wrong. The amount of environmental damage is simply too great. We were wrong. What about the safety issue? Well, climbing in general and climbing specifically at Vantage will never be safe. You are taking your life in your (or some one elseıs) hands every time you go out. Thus it is not appropriate that we damage the cliffs, the ground below the cliffs and remove habitat in the quest for ³safe² routes. I want to apologize to everyone for my part in route cleaning. Why make a big issue of it? Because its wrong to do and many Land Managers are making an issue of it. After bolting itself, route ³cleaning² comes in number three on the Land Managerıs hit list of problems. I canıt change the past but I can do things better in the future. This means we wonıt be cleaning any more of our routes.