A Question of Standing: Institutional Change and Rock Climbing in Wilderness Areas

摘要

In trying to balance multiple uses, U.S. public land managers must confront the issue of standing—whose benefits and costs get to count. As an important illustration, this policy review examines the conflict between providing access to a growing recreational user group (rock climbers) and the preservation of wilderness character in designated wilderness areas. This conflict has given rise to new interpretations by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) of the legislative intent of the 1964 Wilderness Act, and to proposed restrictions in access rules for rock climbers. While the legal process will ultimately determine the question of wilderness access for rock climbers, it is argued that the question of legal standing is not easily separated from the empirical question of economic standing.