Cave Rock climbers get a boost from lawyers

Wednesday, May 28, 1997 | 10:48 a.m.

"The government attorneys felt the original order would be difficult to defend against some of the arguments brought up by outside climbing groups," said Colin West, recreation and engineering staff officer with the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

"We changed it under (the Access Fund) suggestion that we modify the order to only prohibit the installation of new hardware," he added.

Forest Service officials on Friday issued an order saying climbers could use existing bolts at the popular recreation area, but could not put in additional anchors.

In February, the agency instituted a temporary climbing ban before determining a permanent solution to preserve what is a historical and spiritual site for the Washoe people.

A Washoe Tribe spokesman characterized the decision as one more blow to a community that has nothing left to give.

"The tribe members feel some sense of betrayal and disappointment with the U.S. Forest Service and the United States in general," said Brian Wallace, chairman of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. "The original order gave them some hope, but now the elders are saying, 'Why should we have expected anything different?"'

Climbing advocates argued the closure order was a violation of the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment, which prohibits favoring any one group's freedom of religion, said Paul Minault, Access Fund regional coordinator for Northern California.

"What the Forest Service had done was unconstitutional, because they closed public property to public access in order to protect the religious uses and beliefs of a particular group," he said.

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