Casey Fellhoelter
Casey Fellhoelter started climbing nearly a decade ago in the hills of East Tennessee where he fell in love with the sport. Since then, Casey has traveled the country climbing and working to better our public lands and recreation opportunities. He cares about conservation and responsible recreation, his best feline friend, Spooky, and the beautiful places in the Eastern Sierra he’s come to call home. He’s excited to help protect the areas we love.
Kara Flowers
Kara Flowers began climbing in western North Carolina, where she worked in outdoor education guiding adventure trips through the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. For the past few years, she has traveled up and down the West Coast climbing full-time on beautiful granite, exploring the mysteries of the desert, and meeting inspiring climbers and adventurers. She is excited to be back in Bishop diving deeper into the climbing community and helping to preserve this magical land.
About the Program
Climbing has exploded in popularity and our public lands are seeing the effects.
The Bureau of Land Management Bishop Field Office, the Inyo National Forest, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) support a multi agency climbing ranger program. Sierra Forever is the nonprofit partner that manages and operates the program mainly through hiring two seasonal climbing rangers to patrol the increasingly popular climbing and bouldering areas in the Bishop area. Additional help from the Bishop Area Climbers’ Coalition, Bishop Area Chamber of Commerce, Friends of the Inyo and individual donations have helped support the two climbing ranger positions.
The Bishop Climbing Rangers work seasonally from October to May. The rangers patrol the Tablelands, the Happys and Sads, the Buttermilks, Pine Creek Canyon, the Owens River Gorge, and the Druids, providing education to climbers about where to park and camp, Leave No Trace principles, and climbing etiquette.
Climber Coffee is held every Saturday at the Pleasant Valley Pit Campground (November-April) to help develop a community forum for climbers in the area. Check on Bishop Climber’s Instagram (shown below) for the latest updates on Climber Coffee.
The climbing rangers also track visitor use patterns including documenting parking and camping uses, tracking changes over time and overseeing restoration and stewardship activities such as campsite clean-up, trail delineation, educational signage, planting native plants in heavily used areas, etc. They coordinate volunteer events and look to remedy issues such as off-road travel and otherwise recommend long-term solutions to increase use patterns.
Thank you to everyone that has contributed funds so far for this important program. Funding this program is ongoing, please consider donating if you’re able.
Join us as we ensure climbing on our public lands continues to be done with as little impact as possible.
For updates, current conditions, and stewardship opportunities, follow us on Instagram!
Thank you to the following sponsors for their generous support of the Climbing Ranger program:
