Cave Rock: Climbers, Courts, and a Washoe Indian Sacred Place

Chapter Seven: Common or Uncommon Ground

58 In฀the฀late฀1990s฀the฀Access฀Fund฀found฀itself฀in฀what฀its฀leaders฀saw ฀ ฀ as฀ a฀ no-win฀ situation.฀ In฀ the฀ fund’s฀ 1997฀ online฀ newsletter,฀ Senior฀ Policy฀Analyst฀Sam฀Davidson฀expressed฀concern฀that฀the฀rising฀incidence฀ of฀conflicts between฀Indians฀and฀climbers฀at฀Cave฀Rock฀was฀damaging฀ climbers’฀standing฀in฀the฀eyes฀of฀the฀public.฀He฀portrayed฀the฀climbers฀ as฀beleaguered,฀saying:฀“Even฀our฀best฀and฀most฀compassionate฀efforts฀ are฀causing฀our฀reputation฀to฀suffer.”฀His฀“compassion”฀came฀into฀question ฀in฀the฀following฀sentence฀when฀he฀termed฀the฀disputed฀properties฀ “so-called฀‘sacred฀sites’”฀and฀went฀on฀to฀ask฀if฀there฀was฀anywhere฀climbing ฀could฀be฀pursued฀where฀traditional฀Native฀Americans฀would฀not฀be฀ offended.฀Should฀climbers฀abandon฀“every฀rock฀that฀Native฀Americans฀ assert฀has฀spiritual฀value?”฀Regarding฀Cave฀Rock,฀which฀in฀the฀traditional฀ Washoe฀view฀was฀a฀crossroads฀between฀the฀spiritual฀worlds฀above฀and฀ below฀the฀earth,฀he฀wrote:฀“It’s฀tough฀to฀be฀a฀force฀great฀enough฀to฀upset฀ ‘the฀equilibrium฀between฀earth฀and฀the฀spiritual฀realms.’฀”1 The฀next฀Access฀Fund฀newsletter฀featured฀protests฀from฀several฀climbers ฀regarding฀Davidson’s฀comments.฀“The฀claim฀that฀Native฀Americans฀ are฀‘picking฀on’฀climbers฀since฀we฀are฀seen฀as฀a฀‘repressed฀and฀politically฀ powerless’฀group฀is฀ludicrous,”฀wrote฀one.฀Another฀agreed:฀“The฀Native฀ American฀community฀has฀been฀so฀brutally฀raped฀that฀its฀few฀surviving฀ members฀couldn’t฀possibly฀represent฀a฀threat฀to฀the฀climbing฀community .”฀Objecting฀to฀the฀Access฀Fund’s฀defense฀of฀climbers’฀rights฀at฀Cave฀ Rock,฀the฀writer฀continued,฀“This฀is฀not฀a฀question฀of฀legality.฀It฀is฀a฀question ฀of฀ethics฀and฀respect.”฀Another฀writer฀found฀Davidson’s฀editorial฀ snide฀and฀lacking฀in฀respect฀for฀the฀religious฀beliefs฀of฀Native฀Americans.฀ Calling฀ the฀ piece฀ “imperialistic฀ garbage,”฀ the฀ writer฀ concluded:฀ “I฀ am฀ totally฀appalled฀at฀the฀position฀you฀have฀taken฀on฀this฀issue฀and฀wish฀to฀ be฀removed฀from฀your฀membership฀roster.”2 s e v e n Common฀or฀Uncommon฀Ground common or uncommon ground 59 Davidson฀responded,฀in฀the฀same฀newsletter,฀that฀he฀meant฀no฀disrespect ฀to฀Native฀Americans.฀Climbers฀should฀support฀the฀efforts฀of฀Native฀ people฀to฀revive฀their฀cultures,฀he฀said;฀but฀he฀wanted฀to฀see฀climbing฀values ฀preserved฀as฀well.฀He฀feared฀a฀domino฀effect฀if฀climbers฀voluntarily฀ agreed฀not฀to฀climb฀at฀sacred฀sites.฀Davidson฀cited฀the฀Devil’s฀Tower/ Bear฀Lodge฀precedent,฀with฀its฀voluntary฀June฀closure,฀as฀a฀well-balanced฀ and฀commendable฀solution฀to฀such฀problems฀and฀hoped฀it฀would฀be฀used฀ as฀a฀basis฀for฀other฀negotiations.3 The฀chances฀of฀the฀Access฀Fund฀winning฀a฀similar฀resolution฀at฀Cave฀ Rock฀rested฀with฀the฀man฀who฀would฀make฀the฀decision:฀Juan฀Palma,฀the฀ newly฀appointed฀acting฀supervisor฀for฀the฀Forest฀Service’s฀Lake฀Tahoe฀ Basin฀Management฀Unit.4฀Palma฀had฀a฀degree฀in฀business฀management฀ from฀Oregon฀State฀University฀and฀a฀master’s฀degree฀in฀environmental฀sciences ฀from฀the฀University฀of฀Nevada.฀At฀the฀time฀the฀Western฀Regional฀ Office appointed฀Palma฀the฀acting฀supervisor฀for฀Lake฀Tahoe,฀his฀experience ฀included฀stints฀as฀a฀budget฀officer,฀administrative฀officer,฀district฀ ranger,฀and฀deputy฀forest฀supervisor.5 When฀Palma฀took฀up฀his฀post฀in฀spring฀1997,฀climbing฀at฀Cave฀Rock฀ was฀already฀a฀topic฀of฀conversation฀in฀distant฀venues.฀A฀May฀18฀article฀ in฀ the฀ Chicago฀ Sun-Times,฀ for฀ example,฀ reflecting the฀ Washoe฀ perspective ,฀commented:฀“The฀Washoe฀Indians,฀watching฀rock฀climbers฀crawl฀ over฀one฀of฀their฀most฀sacred฀sites,฀wonder฀how฀the฀visitors฀would฀feel฀ if฀teenagers฀slung฀ropes฀over฀the฀Western฀Wall฀[in฀Jerusalem]฀to฀practice฀ rappelling.฀Or฀if฀rock฀climbers฀took฀to฀scaling฀the฀steeple฀of฀the฀National฀ Cathedral.฀What฀if฀dirt฀bike฀racers฀rumbled฀each฀weekend฀through฀the฀ Gettysburg battlefield?”6 When฀ the฀ previous฀ supervisor,฀ Robert฀ Harris,฀ had฀ instituted฀ the฀ temporary฀climbing฀ban฀at฀Cave฀Rock,฀the฀Forest฀Service฀had฀received฀ considerable฀public฀input—most฀of฀it฀from฀climbers.฀The฀Access฀Fund’s฀ strategy฀to฀eliminate฀the฀ban฀included฀mobilizing฀its฀constituents฀to฀overwhelm ฀the฀decision฀makers฀with฀protests.฀The฀group฀had฀put฀out฀a฀call฀ for฀responses,฀exhibiting฀sample฀letters฀online฀that฀its฀members฀might฀ copy฀to฀send฀to฀the฀Lake฀Tahoe฀Basin฀Management฀Unit.฀The฀Access฀ Fund฀had฀already฀appealed฀the฀closure฀to฀the฀Forest฀Service’s฀Western฀ Regional฀Office before฀Palma฀took฀his฀new฀position.฀The฀actions฀created฀ pressure฀on฀the฀new฀Lake฀Tahoe฀supervisor฀to฀act฀quickly.7 Palma฀later฀said฀of฀the฀process฀involved฀in฀his฀decision฀making:฀“I฀deal฀ with฀a฀lot฀of฀issues฀like฀[Cave฀Rock]฀every฀day฀of฀my฀life...