Mission/Giving Statement: The Access Fund is the national advocacy organization that keeps U.S. climbing areas open and conserves the climbing environment. Founded in 1991, the Access Fund supports and represents over 2.3 million climbers nationwide in all forms of climbing: rock, ice, mountaineering, and bouldering.
Grantmaking Program Areas: Climbing Management; Mobilization; Stewardship & Conservaton; Land Acquistion & Protection; Education
Grantmaking Program Areas Descriptions:
Climbing Management Policy: The Access Fund works with federal, state and local officials; local climbing organizations; and land managers to develop and guide climbing management policies for public and private lands.
Local Support & Mobilization: When a local climbing access issue occurs, the best line of defense is always the local climbers who are familiar with the area and the issues. That is why a critical piece of the Access Fund’s work is encouraging, organizing, and supporting local climbers to join together. Each local climbing organization adds to the strength and voice of our climbing community. The Access Fund helps to pull these individual organizations together into a grassroots network that not only increases climbers’ influence on national policy issues, but acts as a channel for extending climbing advocacy and stewardship work.
Stewardship & Conservation: Envisions a world where climbers are seen as stewards of the land versus simply “users” of the land. To this end, we advocate for a balance between recreational access and environmental conservation, and we encourage climbers to respect and honor the places and policies where they climb.
Land Acquisition & Protection: Many climbing areas across the U.S. are either located on, or require access across, private property. When access is threatened or when a narrow window of opportunity presents itself, the climbing community must act swiftly to protect valuable climbing resources and environments. For this reason, the Access Fund provides resources for direct acquisitions, easements and other land conservation tactics.
Education: Educational work is a vehicle for building the capacity of individual climbers and local climbing organizations, empowering them to protect the lands they climb on. Our goal is to mainstream the climbing access mission through educational offerings that span the breadth of the Access Fund’s focus—from effective pubilc and private land management practices, to writing a climbing management plan, respecting and lessening impact on the climbing environment, political activism strategies, stewardship and conservation guidance, how to start a successful local climbing organization, and information about what's going on in your backyard. The Access Fund also works to educate public and private land managers and policy makers on the mechanics and culture of climbing, risk management, and how to lessen impact.
Applications Instructions: Grant application instructions online; E-mail applications to [email protected].
