verve

to fern Do you know what journal the paper by Howie Richardson was published in? I'd like to read it. Thanks.

To Dr. Jay The Niagara Escarpment is a 725 km long band of limestone cliffs. There are at least 10 seperate climbing areas (including Lion's Head - which may be the best limestone climbing in N.A.) besides the bouldering area you mentioned. You only made reference to the "Niagara Glen".

To Dru, I am not Michelle.... To others,In case you didn't know, the Niagara Escarpment has been designated a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. The reserve supports 1177 species of the native flora of Ontario with greater than 70% of those species considered to be rare in the regions through which the escarpment passes. 72% of all bird species recorded in Ontario (69% of the known breeding birds in the province), 49 native mammal species, 39 native reptile and amphibian species and 98 butterfly species are also found in the reserve. Almost 150 of these faunal species are considered to be of provincial concern (i.e. endangered, threatened, vulnerable or rare). We're not just trying to protect old trees here. The reserve contains both privately and publicly owned land. The rock climbing that occurs on the Escarpment is on public land within designated conservation areas. As conservation managers have no control over what happens on the privately owned areas, they must act to ensure that the sites under public control are managed such that this diversity is not threatened. The study by McMillan and Larson has shown that the impact climbers have extends futher than the ancient cedars into the entire vegetation community. As the habitat becomes denuded in these areas fragmentation increases, the distance between pristine areas increases, and the ability of the system to continue as a biodiversity reserve is threatened.

The reason the trees have lived to be 1000 years old on the cliff face is not just because they weren't logged. When the same trees grow on the plateau or in your backyard they'll likely reach maximum ages of a couple hundred years.... it's the cliff face environment that's so special. The growth of the tree is constrained such that the tree may only produce one or two bands of cells that account for an entire years growth. It's this slow growth and small, stunted development that prevents them from just growing big and falling over - like trees on a horizontal substrate would. True, if some wacky logger rapped down the cliff face and lopped them off, that would also prevent them from reaching ages of a thousand years or so.... A thousand years old.... think about that for a second, if a tree germinated in the year 1002...what was the world like then? It's just insane to consider all that's happened in the world in it's lifetime.

To reply to Mattp and Dru, If I was going to drive north of Superior to climb, it would likely take 15 hours! Plus, the climbing season would be either very short, or very cold. I've ice climbed up there, but for a 15 hr drive, I'd rather head south. It's true that Bon Echo is pretty close - I mean, not for an afternoon of climbing close - but closer than Kentucy, but if your looking for something other than run-out slabs, Bon Echo is NOT the place to be. Getting to the 'gunks in New York is still a fair drive away - likely the same distance away as KY. So yes, compared to most places (other than prairies) we're pretty devoid of cliffs here - and shutting down the escarpment would really suck. And I'm pretty sure that dolphin's wouldn't be typing any messages on a climber's forum. They lack the digits necessary to utilize a keyboard.

There are definitely a shortage of cliffs in the area. Besides the Niagara Escarpment (which contains about 10 separate crags), there really isn't anything climbable except a whole lot of "buildering" and the climbing gyms. Basically you'd have to drive to Kentucky (7-12 hrs aways depending on where along the escarpment you live) to find anything outdoors to climb. Now that the study has been released to prove that climbing is having an impact on the entire cliff face community, hopefully climber's attitudes and practices will change - but basically the damage has already been done at the established crags in the area (and despite what someone wrote earlier, it will not regrow in 10 years)... It'd be a neat trick if we could get hundred year old trees in ten years! Despite all the media attention about this study now, it's quite unlikely that there will be any limits to new route developement. There are so few people in the Ministry of Natural Resources that there isn't anyone to patrol the cliffs or police any of the climbers. The guidebook is also pretty out of date (we've been expecting a new one to come out for years), so it would really be quite difficult to determine whether climbers were even putting up new routes.

I don't know where everyone is getting the idea that they're trying to ban climbing on the Niagara Escarpment. The recommendations of the study are to do exactly the opposite. The cliff ecologists want to keep those areas that are already climbed (and have therefore already been damaged) OPEN to climbers. They know that if you close a crag, it's likely that the climbers will find another section of the escarpment to "clean" and "protect". All of the "climbed" portions of the cliff in the study are on government owned conservation land already, so no one has to worry about any land seisures. What the paper was hoping to do was simply to answer "Are rock climbers affecting the cliff face community?" I mean anyone could say "if people are trampling and burning off the moss, then ya, they're having an impact", but until you do a properly designed, scientific study, you don't really know. Many of you are stating that if the climbers were educated about the ancient forest and unique nature of the cliffs, they would likely respect it more. There has been knowledge about the ancient cedars for close to fifteen years now. The guidebook to the Escarpment has a section about the ecology of the cliffs and the ancient forest on it. There have been numerous talks given at the national parks and conservation areas discussing the cliffs. Pamphlets are found at all the climbing outfitters in the area and at the local climbing gyms. Talks have been given to University climbing clubs in the area. Yet- we still find, year after year, more trees rippid out of the cliff face, more branches sawn off and shiny new bolts where communities of plants used to be found. I am a climber myself and I know that when any study that threatens access is published, we (as a community) are likely to get defensive. What I'm hoping is that all of you will think twice before putting up new routes along the Escarpment. There are hundreds of "classic lines" and lots of areas where the damage has already been done. I'm glad to see that such a lively discussion has come about on this topic. If you're interested in learning more about the cliffs you should check out the website www.uoguelph.ca/botany/cerg/