rock climbing might be a new tool for conserving the public land that bolsters michigan’s annual $20 billion tourism industry.

the sport is gaining traction as outdoor enthusiasts look to experience nature differently, especially after indoor climbing gyms closed during the pandemic.

already, there are 7 million climbers in america, and the sport’s popularity is growing.

for the first time, sport climbing appeared in the august 2021 tokyo olympics. the word “climbing” peaked in popularity on google during that event.

“the nature of the outdoors user continues to evolve over time,” said brad garmon, the director of michigan’s office of outdoor recreation industry.

“we shouldn’t get stuck in certain ways, where certain activities are legitimized and others not. let’s figure out what people want to be doing in the outdoors and how we can support it,” garmon said.

rock climbing isn’t widely recognized in michigan and the rest of the midwest because most people don’t expect to find exceptional rock climbing here, garmon said. that’s one thing that makes rock climbing so exciting: it can reshape how people perceive the state’s outdoor recreation opportunities.

michigan’s outdoor recreation industry is responsible for 110,000 jobs and $5 billion in wages and salaries annually, according to the agency.

“the outdoors is part of michigan’s heritage. it’s part of our economy and our communities. we’re an outdoorsy state,” garmon said.

michigan’s first climber-owned “crag”: slugg’s bluff

just this year, slugg’s bluff in the upper peninsula became the first climber-owned area in the state.

the popular crag – lingo for a climbable rock face – is about 20 minutes southwest of marquette.

people have been climbing there since the 1970s, said bill thompson, a board member of the upper peninsula climbing coalition, a nonprofit group protecting sustainable climbing.

the arbelius family, who had long owned the 10 acres that is slugg’s bluff, recognized that climbers maintained the land and donated it to them, thompson said.

climbers as environmental stewards

climbers clean up the trash – anything from broken bottles to fridges – that local nonclimbers toss off the ledge.

craig kasmer, a park interpreter at michigan’s department of natural resources and a former rock climber, said the heightened awareness that climbing demands lends itself to a deeper connection with nature. that means climbers can play a key role in conserving an area.

“climbers are aware of their surroundings. with, say, a cyclist, it’s exercise. you need to go from point a to point b and you’re passing by trees and you’re not even looking at them.

“the slower the activity, the better. you have to be slow and meticulous when you’re rock climbing. and so you have time to stop and look at things, to be involved with the nature around you.”

as climbers ascend a wall of rock or ice, their focus is on finding the route. they must be extremely present in the search for different holds, whether with their hands exploring the rock or an ice tool testing the ice.

the michigan ice fest

it’s this awareness and connection to nature that has led organizers of the popular michigan ice fest to set a goal of net zero emissions over the next three years.

the event is held in munising and initially had 10 climbers in 1991.  now, it attracts over 1,000 people from around the world.

“our passion relies on consistently cold weather, and that’s being threatened by climate change,“ said matt abbotts, a co-organizer of the ice fest. “if winters are milder or shorter, that means less ice climbing.”

the festival takes place an hour east of slugg’s bluff, and ice climbers of all levels have come for the past 30 years to climb on the banks of lake superior.

“climbers might not be the biggest community, but it’s a group of strong-willed, passionate individuals who are never afraid of doing the hard work,” abbotts said.

rock climbing in michigan

the upper peninsula has the most climbing opportunities in michigan, with over 300 documented roped routes and a myriad of boulder problems –  unroped climbing at lower heights. but the lower peninsula is home to some crags, too.

in grand ledge, about 10 miles outside of lansing, climbers try to protect one of the only crags in the lower peninsula. the part of the park that allows climbing – oak park – is city-owned, and officials aren’t good about managing the area, said ben poulson, a grand ledge climber.

there are competing demands for public dollars, so city management at the ledges has fallen onto the back burner, said bruce bright, a member of the grand ledge parks & recreation commission.

“in some respects, i would characterize the management of oak park as being one of benign neglect,” bright said.

so, who maintains it? climbers.

rock climbers upkeeping crags

“climbers are the best stewards,” poulson said. “if you ban climbing, you’re banning the best environmental stewards from that area.

“if you allow climbing, you’re allowing people who very much care about that area to be there and to police it,” he said.

bright said members of the climbing community put down wood chips and topsoil and even installed makeshift wooden rails to prevent erosion.

people who spend time outdoors feel a shared responsibility to protect it. that’s why it’s so important to get people outside, said chris winter, the executive director of the access fund, a land trust protecting and preserving crags across america and based in boulder, colorado.

“when you connect to the larger landscape, you start really caring about conservation and stewardship,” winter said.

liability concerns with rock climbing

still, some landowners with crags on their property resist climbing.

a section in michigan’s natural resources and environmental protection act protects landowners from liability for those injured on their land if they were there without paying and for recreational purposes. it mentions activities like hiking, hunting, fishing and camping but groups remaining outdoor activities as “any other outdoor recreational use.”

the vague language fails to mention rock climbing, thus raising questions of liability.

the climbing coalition’s thompson said rock climbing is often perceived as dangerous.

but it’s one of the few activities that has never seen injury or death in presque isle, one of marquette’s most visited parks. other allowed activities – scuba diving, kayaking, hiking, mountain biking – all had injuries and deaths at the park, thompson said.

even devil’s lake state park in baraboo, wisconsin, which has what some climbers consider the best climbing in the midwest, isn’t maintained for climbing.

it has over 1,600 climbing routes and 1,500 boulder problems detailed in numerous guidebooks.

despite that kind of exposure, officials neither permit nor punish climbing in the park.

climbers maintain the crags there, too.

the local wisconsin climbers association partners with the access fund to ensure access to climbing spaces. they keep the crags free of graffiti and trash, in addition to implementing erosion control.

in michigan, the grand ledge climbers coalition and the upper peninsula climbing coalition both partner with the access fund to conserve local climbing crags.

the access fund’s winter said, “it’s not only the specific places we like to spend time as climbers, but also the larger landscapes around those places. it’s those larger landscapes that are so inspiring.”

like any outdoor activity, climbing can adversely impact an area. but instead of banning an activity, we ought to bolster management efforts to accommodate it, bright said. after all, resources have long been exploited in the name of economic development.

“sometimes i think people are overly critical of our visitors. if the rock is damaged by overuse, is that really such a crime compared to what’s taken place over the last 100 years?” bright said.

winter said that climbers have always played an integral role in protecting the lands that all people – climbers and non-climbers – love and enjoy.

“as we look to the future, in the bigger picture of conservation, we have to be tackling these big environmental challenges of our time,” winter said.

“we have to do that both to protect outdoor climbing but also to protect the environment more broadly.”

reporter cameryn cass has climbed at grand ledge in michigan, devil’s lake state park in wisconsin and the red river gorge in kentucky.

to help reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, michigan officials have created a 100,000 acre project in the pigeon river country state forest that will sell carbon credits to businesses interested in offsetting emissions.

through such programs, big businesses and corporations can buy credits to offset the impact of their emissions that contribute to global warming. one carbon credit equals 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide emission – that’s about the weight of a great white shark.

a similar program – the wolverine-copper country project – is underway in charlevoix and emmet counties in northern michigan and in keweenaw county in the western u.p. on keweenaw lands, it might cease harvesting altogether to allow trees to capture carbon as they grow, said david price, a forest planning and operations manager at michigan’s department of natural resources.

according to price, the focus in charlevoix and emmet counties is on restoring hardwood forests that have been severely impacted by the emerald ash borer, an invasive species of beetle, and beech bark disease, caused by another invasive species of insect as well as the subsequent fungal infection that the insect causes.

the programs make up michigan’s big wild forest carbon project. the one in pigeon river country is the first in the nation on state lands, though similar projects in michigan on private lands date back about a decade, price said.

a divisive issue

critics call the big wild carbon project a scam.

“it’s not going to reduce carbon emissions or increase sequestration by a single cubic centimeter and the dnr acknowledges that,” said marvin roberson, a forest ecologist with michigan’s chapter of the sierra club.

unless the forest landowner – in this case, michigan’s department of natural resources – is cutting harvest levels and increasing reforestation efforts as a result of the payments they receive, the program is meaningless, roberson said.

the dnr’s website says the carbon project won’t adversely affect management and timber harvest levels from the forest. this concerns critics because carbon offsets only work if the landowner is doing things to sequester carbon beyond what the forest already does, roberson said.

this concept is called “additionality” and is a requirement for a successful carbon offset project, according to a 2010 report by the ecological society of america.

after all, there’s no need to pay for something that would happen anyway.

a better approach is to simply cut emissions, roberson said.

going to the source

targeting pollution at its source would force responsible businesses to clean up local practices, thus mitigating environmental injustice concerns that carbon offset programs often raise, roberson said.

instead of encouraging greener practices, offset programs allow business as usual in places often populated by marginalized groups of people, according to the sierra club michigan chapter.

price disagrees.

next year, a new forest management plan – which is revised every decade – will allow some trees in pigeon river to grow longer and larger through big tree management practices, which offers further sequestration, price said. at minimum, the state will harvest less than is grown.

the state doesn’t want to sell credits to a company that has no intentions of reducing its carbon footprint – and dte energy does, he said. dte energy is a detroit-based energy company. 

dte officials say that by next year, the company will close 11 of 17 coal plants and replace them with a mix of sustainable energy sources and continue similar swaps in the future.

price said these closures will positively impact those living near the plants, thus addressing environmental injustice concerns.

additionally, the company aims to have net zero gas emissions by 2050 on a supplier and customer level, cutting its carbon emissions by 6 million metric tons each year, said megan tener, a marketing specialist at dte energy.

in the pigeon river country state forest, dte energy is finalizing a nearly $18 million purchase of all the carbon credits for the first decade of the 40-year project, price said. that will knock almost 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide off the company’s total emissions.

how that money will be spent is yet to be determined, but it will go into the state forest development fund, which is generally responsible for forest management, price said.

but is that money helping to sequester any additional carbon from the atmosphere?

roberson says no and that calling it a carbon sequestration project is dishonest.

the future of carbon sequestration in michigan

as it stands, the state has made no changes to its forest management practices. even though there are plans to let some trees grow longer, there has been no action and nothing is concrete, roberson said.

“they’re big on giving the carbon credits but not very big on actually sequestering extra carbon,” he said.

the department of natural resources acknowledges that the program isn’t intended to be a silver bullet solution. but, it helps companies achieve carbon goals while taking other actions to reduce emissions, price said.

nevertheless, the sierra club suggests mandating emission reductions at a local level will minimize environmental injustice concerns.

in addition to cutting emissions, managing bigger, older trees like white pines would be more effective at reducing carbon levels in the atmosphere, roberson said.

white pines can grow to be 300 years old, but after 100 years growth starts to slow. michigan harvests them at 100 years to grow them at the fastest rate possible, he said.

“it’s the economic way to go, but that’s 200 years of carbon sequestration we’re getting rid of,” roberson said.

even if the state allows some of the trees to grow longer – an extra 40 or 80 years – it still halves their carbon sequestering potential, he said.

in short, cutting emissions instead of trees is a sure way to reduce the carbon problem, he said.

“with any of these projects, the question is, will the payments to the landowner result in less harvesting?” roberson said. “if the answer to that question is not yes resoundingly, then the project is meaningless.”

michigan businesses interested in reducing their carbon footprint are looking to build with large wooden panels instead of steel or concrete.

nationwide, demand for what is called “mass timber” tripled between 2018 and 2021, according to sandra lupien, director of masstimber@msu, a research and education group promoting mass timber in the great lakes region.

there are different kinds of mass timber, but the term refers to multiple wood panels either nailed or glued together and that are strong enough to replace concrete and steel, which contribute 8% to greenhouse gas emissions, according to canadian architect michael green.

mass timber is more sustainable, green said in a 2013 teded talk.

nearly half of america’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the building industry. since a little more than a cubic yard of wood can store one ton – about the weight of the liberty bell– of carbon dioxide, mass timber is a great way to reduce our footprint, said lupien.

half of the weight of a tree is from stored carbon in its wood, and the rest is water, oxygen, hydrogen and a mix of other elements. in other words, wood is a carbon sink. building with it can prevent or delay carbon from being released into the atmosphere when a tree dies or burns, lupien said.

building a better future

last year, michigan state university opened one of the first mass timber buildings in michigan. already there are two more mass timber projects underway in the state, one at a k-12 school in kalamazoo and another at the great lakes boat building school in cedarville.

another 27 projects in michigan are on the drawing board plan to incorporate mass timber.

at minimum, the building in cedarville will have a roof made of mass timber, though those involved with its construction are hopeful to build the whole building out of it, said nikki storey, the president of the great lakes boat building school.

the only thing stopping them is funding.

“that’s part of the problem with mass timber: i don’t know that the economy of scales exists yet to be able to get good pricing on it,” storey said.

since mass timber comes in sheets that are easy to put together – lupien equated it to building with lincoln logs – its use can save builders a lot of time. but since there are no mass timber manufacturers in michigan – the closest is outside of chicago – it’s not always easy to obtain.

typically, mass timber products are made from softwood trees, such as coniferous trees like evergreens, which make up 30% of michigan’s forests. the remaining majority of michigan trees are hardwood, meaning they’re deciduous and lose their leaves, lupien said.

researchers at michigan tech university are experimenting with making mass timber out of hardwood instead, a niche that might provide economic opportunity.

an untapped opportunity

“michigan is a forestry state,” said conan smith, the president of the michigan environmental council. “if we can advance the construction materials that are rooted in wood, it’s to our economic benefit.”

“it’s not just a great environmental opportunity, it’s a great economic opportunity for the state of michigan,” smith said.

each year, the state removes 30% to 40% of the forest’s growth,” said brenda haskill, a forest marketing and outreach specialist at michigan’s department of natural resources.

that still provides enough capacity to harvest for mass timber and manage forests sustainably.

“we’re at a really interesting place in terms of moving the forest industry forward,” haskill said.

talks of attracting a mass timber manufacturer to michigan are underway. however, an aging workforce and the rising cost of diesel fuel mean a decline in logging firms, haskill said.

according to haskill, making sure there are enough loggers to harvest trees and get them to the mill is really the biggest concern.

“i’m hopeful, but there’s a lot of pieces that need to be addressed,” haskill said.

michigan is in the same boat as the other midwestern states; there’s more mass timber manufacturing and interest out west, haskill said.

another challenge is michigan’s outdated building codes, said brian craig, the board chair at the michigan forest biomaterials institute.

the most recent version of the international building code is from 2021 and offers more flexibility and clarity for how high you can build and how much wood can be exposed with mass timber, craig said.

right now, michigan follows 2015 codes, making it two cycles behind the current thinking on mass timber and fire safety, craig said.

but mass timber doesn’t behave like a 2 x 4; instead, it behaves like a tree. think of an unsplit log in a fire pit, and how it chars on the outside: that’s what mass timber would do in a fire, lupien said.

craig said that timber can be even safer than steel when it burns.

“think about what happens when steel gets hot. it sort of turns into spaghetti, whereas mass timber’s surface chars and then protects the rest of the timber,” craig said.

lupien said that even with the outdated building codes, builders in michigan are still able to use mass timber, and they should.

where sustainability meets beauty

people using the buildings – at least the one on michigan state’s campus– express the aesthetic benefits of bringing nature indoors, lupien said.

“there’s actually a word for that. it’s called biophilia,” lupien said.

that’s a greek word that translates to “love of life.” it taps into our inborn desires of being close to nature. biophilic design – like incorporating wood into buildings – has even been found to promote human wellness and productivity, according to the natural resources defense council.

putting the more sustainable, attractive alternative into michigan buildings is a question of price and supply.

“it’s been used in europe for better than a decade now,” smith said. “it’s a product that’s far better for the planet than concrete.”

“why we’re not using it more, i don’t know.”