Northern Rockies Section. In September, Doug Colwell, after close to 10 years as Section chair, passed the baton to Brian Cabe. Much thanks to Doug for his past and continued service to the Club.

Zone II of Castle Rocks State Park opened to new route development on October 29, with orientation at the Castle Rocks Ranch House. Several members attended and completed new routes. Castle Rocks State Park is located in Idaho, adjacent to the City of Rocks National Reserve. In conjunction with the Access Fund, members of the American Alpine Club were instrumental in developing the climbing management plan for Castle Rock State Park, which opened for the first time to the public in May 2003. For additional information on the area, see: http://www.idahoparks.org/parks/castlerocks.aspx; http://www.accessfund.com/regions/state/id.

Section members worked with Jason Keith of the Access Fund to develop a climbing- oriented response for the scoping phase of the new Zion National Park Backcountry Management Plan. The Access Fund sent a letter to the Park Service in October.

Brian Cabe worked with the Zion Canyoneering Coalition to craft input and solicit support for comments for the scoping phase of the ZNP Backcountry Management Plan. Brainstorming at meetings with the ZCC board resulted in a letter generator, which produced over 100 comment letters. According to ZNP, the Draft Backcountry Management Plan/EA should be available for public review and comment in the fall 2006.

Several section members supported and provided input at a planning meeting hosted by the Access Fund concerning the BLM’s Indian Creek Corridor Recreation Management Plan in conjunction with the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2005. Indian Creek, located 50 miles south of Moab, Utah, is one of the worlds premier crack climbing destinations. See also Friends of Indian Creek: http://www.moabdesertadventures.com/foic.htm.

Local Organizations/Web sites of interest to climbers in our territory: http://www.boise- climbers.org, http://www.saltlakeclimbers.org, http://montanaclimbers.org, http://www.serac- club.org, http://wasatchmountainclub.org.

Brian Cabe, Chair