A Sneak Peak at the CAN Education Program

Compiled by Hannah Provost, AAC Content Manager

This article originally appeared in Summit Register 005.

The Climbers Advocacy Network (CAN) is the new focus of the AAC Policy Team. The AAC envisions a network of empowered, passionate, and educated climbers who apply their love of climbing to protect our natural landscapes and advocate for equitable and sustainable access to the outdoors. Part of building a grassroots network of climbing advocates involves assessing the skills and capacity of our team and building skills where there are gaps. That is why the first step of the Climber’s Advocacy Network is CAN EDU. Below, learn more about the key takeaways from some of our CAN EDU courses and how you can take action!

Graham Zimmerman

Professional Climber, AAC Board President, POW Alliance Manager 

Climbers and Mountain Athletes are Ideal Storytellers and Advocates

Climbers are individuals who are making long-term investments of time and energy into wild landscapes. We have witnessed and understand the changes that are taking place due to climate change.

I find this particularly true for the high altitude and high latitude parts of our planet where climate change has been evident for decades, but it is also true for any crag or boulder in today’s world.

Our relationships to these spaces make us natural candidates for advocacy. Yes, this work is hard and uncomfortable, but, as climbers, we strive to do hard, intimidating, and frequently uncomfortable things. This means that we are uniquely prepared for this work by virtue of our collective stories about landscapes and our ability to put in the work. When we find ourselves aligned with the solution to a problem, in my opinion, it becomes our responsibility.

Your Climbing Stories are an Asset

I have always kept diligent journals of my climbing expeditions. They occupy a shelf in my office. Within them are hundreds of stories of success, failure, joy, and frustration. Looking back, I can also see stories that can be repurposed into advocacy. It’s been an invaluable resource for my work on climate, and I suspect it will continue to be for whatever the future brings.

So write down what you do, write down what you saw, write down how it made you feel. Your experiences in the mountains are exceptional, and reaching into them will forever be helpful when you are advocating for the protection of those places and the communities that rely on them for a healthy planet.

5 Tips for Creating Campaigns That Make a Difference

1. Define your goals, both long and short term.

+ Do everything you can to make those goals measurable so that you can provide a definitive assessment of what worked and what did not.

2. Bring along your friends and create room for new ones.

+ We are not in this alone. How can you bring others into the campaign?

3. Lean into opportunities to have your work amplified.

+ Make your goals, progress, and storytelling accessible to partners who want to help amplify your project. Don’t be afraid to leverage your connections.

4. Look for intersections with other campaigns or issues.

+ None of these issues exist in a vacuum. Understand how your work may affect others. At least make sure it doesn’t create harm. Better yet, consider how you can include others.

5. Take care of yourself.

+ Whether it’s social justice, climate, or whatever else, we will not solve these problems anytime soon. The most important thing that we must do is look after ourselves to continue to do the work. Take that break—it will make you stronger for doing more work tomorrow.

Chris Perkins

Senior Director at Outdoor Recreation Roundtable

Outdoor Recreation Can Be a Bipartisan Lever for Change

One of the reasons outdoor recreationists are so good at leveraging change is that the benefits of outdoor recreation are bipartisan. When we get outside, whether through climbing, hunting, hiking, boating, fishing, or a walk in the park, we feel improved mental and physical health, as well as connection to our public lands and waters. That’s attractive no matter where you are on the political spectrum.

Outdoor recreation has impacts on an economic and community level that are also bipartisan. Investing in outdoor recreation infrastructure, like trailheads or marinas, can be an economic development strategy. For communities that traditionally have relied on extractive economies that are more susceptible to boom and bust cycles, outdoor recreation development can provide a more stable strategy for communities to employ. Such strategies benefit locals and visitors alike. In this way, the benefits of outdoor recreation, including mental health, physical health, and economic benefits, can be benefits we all share.

This is THE MOMENT for Outdoor Recreation Policy

Movements that leverage the power and potential of outdoor recreation are having a moment on the Hill. This is partly due to the public health crisis of COVID and the need for safe, restorative places to gather, as well as the increasing visibility of climate impacts. Momentum is also building because of the need to redress inequitable access to green spaces. Americans of color have access to 44% less greenspace than white Americans, based on a study of park acreage in the 100 most populated cities in America.

Additionally, the outdoor industry is being recognized as a growing economic sector. In 2017, the Bureau of Economic Analysis began to measure the economic impact of the outdoor recreation economy. These impacts are substantial. In 2020, the outdoor recreation industry was a $689 billion industry, contributing 2% of US GDP and 4.3 million jobs.

4 Habits of a Climbing Advocate

1. Get Specific

+ Focus on three or four issues that are especially important to you. Go deeper into those four key topics and let other people be the champions of the issues you aren’t as connected to. Find a community of like-minded people who are agitating.

2. Be Fluent in the Value of Outdoor Recreation

+ A considerable part of your advocacy power is being able to tell compelling stories about why outdoor recreation, and the lands that sustain it, are important enough to be protected, prioritized, and equitable. If you are fluent in the reasons why, especially if you can identify the perspective of your audience and the kinds of arguments they might find most compelling, you will have more success.

3. Be A Role Model

+ Being a climbing advocate starts with taking care of the crags you frequent. Be conscious of your habits and footprint. The Leave No Trace ethics you practice are replicated by others. When we are good stewards, it is easier to educate other climbers on their own impact.

4. Be Part of the Problem Solving Process

+ When there are opportunities to interface with land management agencies about solutions to manage visitation at your home crags, show up when you can. If recreationists are seen as a group that takes and takes and doesn’t give back, we could lose recreation access. Be part of the problem-solving process.

Andres Esparza

Grassroots Engagement Director, Conservation Lands Foundation

Identify Key Partners Before Launching a Campaign

A coalition is a group of people or organizations coming together for a mutual cause. You accumulate power and possibility through working with partners, but it is all too easy to default to the same people or organizations.

When we only rely on go-to partners, we can miss out on the perspectives of other partners and communities. You should always ask: whose land is this, and are they being represented? This might include Indigenous communities, ranch owners, farmers, oil companies, climbers, and other outdoor recreationists. Map out where each of these potential partners lies in terms of opposition or support of your campaign. Even if you don’t officially partner with them, ask: What is their influence? What do we have to learn from them?

We all connect to landscapes in some way. For some people, it is a means to financial security, whether by extraction, farming, or ranching. For others, it’s a place to escape and recreate. And for others, it’s a profoundly spiritual and sacred place. You can better understand many of the folks involved in your campaign if you consider that a landscape can mean many things to many people.

Coming from this place of learning ensures you don’t make assumptions about potential partners and alienate them. Don’t assume that the partners you hope to engage have the same needs or desires as you. Instead, ask.

Your Local Climbing and Conservations Organizations are Your Best Friend

Local climbing organizations (LCOs) tap you into a community of passionate climbers who are advocating for the crags in your backyard. Encourage your LCOs to engage with local conservation groups, like Friends of Cedar Mesa or Utah Diné Bikéyah. They are in the know about resource management plans and threats to the landscape. These kinds of organizations are on the leading edge of what’s possible or what’s coming.

Don’t Be the Asshole Local

As climbers and skiers, we can get protective of our local places—but we need to welcome visitors. By being those asshole locals who are unfriendly to visitors, nobody wins. Yes, there is an increased impact on the landscape, but we can manage that. We can build trails and infrastructure. By being welcoming, you’re building love for a place across the larger community.

Through this love and the partnerships it creates, we will win when we need to protect a local area. We can’t be the asshole locals and alienate our potential allies.

4 Questions to Ask To Build Strong Campaigns and Coalitions

1. Start with: WHY?

+ Simon Sineck writes that we should always begin with: Why are you doing what you do? Too often, we jump into the how and what before we fully establish why we are participating in a project. We need to soul search, as individuals and as organizations, and determine if campaigns or coalitions we are joining align with our own goals. We don’t have to say yes to every campaign. In fact, that’s not very strategic. Starting with “Why?” allows us to assess when we need to walk away and other times when we need to dive in.

2. What perspectives are you missing?

+ Always ask, “Whose land am I on?” to think expansively about all the stakeholders in any given campaign.

3. Do you have the power to accomplish your goal?

+ Thoroughly conduct a campaign viability assessment. Is this the best time? Who are the decision-makers that have an impact on this matter, and who has power over the decision-makers? Do we have the tools at our disposal to influence the people who have power in this matter? If the answer to these questions is discouraging, you don’t necessarily have to back away. Frequently, the campaigns that look the least likely can be the most transformative. However, a realistic assessment of your power is crucial.

4. What support will you need—and actually have access to—to do this work?

+ This includes people power, but crucially it also raises the question of how the campaign will be financially supported. Be realistic. And most importantly, be mindful of how you utilize your volunteers and staff in order to be respectful of their time and mental labor.

It’s 2022: Stay Current and Take Action!

Keep an eye on these upcoming opportunities to support policies and initiatives that matter to climbers.

Graham Says...Vote in the Midterms

In 2018 the country had its largest midterm voter turnout in four decades, with a dismal fifty-three percent of the citizen voting-age population voting. Voting is our most straightforward and most important tool for driving change in the United States. So show up and make sure that your community does as well. If we do, we can change the country.

Chris Says...Ask Your Senators to Support the Upcoming Recreation Package

This bipartisan recreation package encapsulates many of the bills that the AAC policy team has been advocating for over the years, including the SOAR Act, SHRED Act, Recreation Not Red Tape, and new Outdoor Recreation Act. Take action by calling or writing your senators, especially those who serve on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee.

Andres Says...Advocate for the Outdoors for All Act and the Transit to Trails Act

These two acts combined could massively change the accessibility of outdoor recreation for historically underserved communities. The Outdoors for All Act would create a dedicated source of funding for projects that overcome obstacles to practicing outdoor activities. In the climbing world, that might mean funding public gear libraries and guided trips run through community centers. The Transit to Trails Act compliments this by funding projects that make public transportation to green spaces and public lands more accessible.