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Access article - Magic Wood. 2-Aug-2018 At 6:13:21 PM kieranl

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On 2-Aug-2018 FatBoy wrote:

>Very concerning since that is precisely the path we're headed down. It
>might be better to just accept that areas of heavy use (like Trackside),
>are permafu(ked and give up.

I don't think that it's as negative as that. That paper also suggests that management for such intensively used areas can be effective as impact doesn't greatly increase over time. That's just my reading from a quick scan. And this is just one paper found with one quick google search by a person not trained in research.

I found a heartening piece of research here :

Chattanooga Climbing Impact Report
UTC Tourism Center June 2016
https://www.utc.edu/health-human-performance/pdfs/climbingimpact16.pdf

While this is primarily a study of economic impacts of climbing visitors, it includes a survey of climbers on responsibility on Page 20 :

" climbers were also asked who, specifically, should be responsible for caring for and maintaining the natural areas which
support recreational climbing. Below is a chart detailing climbers’ responses. It is very clear
that climbers possess a personal responsibility to ensure the preservation of climbing sites in which they recreate... Climbers should be commended for their ownership of the areas and the sport. "

This is heartening stuff as it suggests that there is plenty of goodwill out in the climbing community to be harnessed.