An Update On Exit Strategies

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Planning for July's "Exit Strategies: Managing Human Waste in the Wild" conference is moving right along as the date approaches. Here is the latest update from AAC board member Ellen Lapham and conference chairman Roger Robinson:

INSPIRATION: Some years ago the AAC donated $6,000 to Denali National Park to develop and run the first "clean mountain can" program. That seed project has been very successful - not only has the mountain been cleaned up, but it has inspired many around the world to undertake their own human waste projects. The AAC's investment also motivated Denali climbing ranger Roger Robinson to build his own expertise. Today, he is moving mountains to bring the world's human waste experts to Golden.

GOAL: To preserve and protect the places we love to climb, we climbers have to be proactive in reducing user impact on fragile environments. Exit Strategies is focused on dealing with one obvious and persistent problem, human waste. In late July 100+ people will meet in Golden to work on solutions and share their practical experience. This conference will build a large body of current knowledge and wisdom about human waste that is actionable. It will establish a worldwide community of experts, land managers, researchers and major user groups who can continue to share and improve techniques.

On July 30 and 31, 2010 there will be two days packed with talks at the American Mountaineering Center. On August 1 there is an optional field trip to Rocky Mountain National Park to see solutions in action for wilderness solar toilets and the pack out kiosks at Lumpy Ridge.

• To date we have top people in the human waste field on the program. They include land and parks managers and experts from Argentina, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and the US. In addition to products and technologies for use in the field, the program will deal with important behavioral and health issues.

• Attendees to date come from all over the globe and range from the president of the Indian Mountaineering Foundation to a graduate student from Scotland to the Wilderness Coordinator for the National Park Service and the head ranger from Mount Kenya NP. The conference has also attracted major user groups including the AMGA, the Backcountry Horsemen of America, International Mountain Guides (WA) and the Boy Scouts. Western National Parks are represented with leaders from Denali, Rocky Mountain national Park, Grand Canyon, Mt. Rainier, Grand Teton, Yosemite.

• To insure attendance by key people from around the globe we have provided some support for attendees who would not otherwise be able to attend. We are still raising funds to bring in parks people from China and Argentina.

• We have received wonderful support by way of publicity and/or funding from the Alpine Club of Canada, the American Mountain Guides Assn., Leave No Trace, and the UIAA, and the National Park Service, to name a few. LNT, for example, has underwritten scholarships for 10 students.

• We have met our initial goal of raising over $28,000 in funds and in-kind donations for the conference.

AAC EXPOSURE: This conference has been organized and run by AAC volunteers, with Roger Robinson as Chairman. The AAC is the conference presenter and has donated services including two days use of conference space in the AMC, IT support/web pages hosting, publicity, accounting and acting as 'banker' for conference registration fees and expenses. The AAC will also host a beer and chips reception at the conference closing on Saturday evening, at the Mountaineering Museum. We have designed this event to be revenue neutral and not require AAC funds.

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS:

FUNDRAISING:
To date, we have raised $25,250 for the conference. All funds have been raised by volunteers. -$15,750 from government agencies for conference and speaker costs. - $7500 from non-profits. - $500 in grants (AAC's Fisher Conservation grant) Funding has come from the National Park Service, US Forest Service, US Bureau of Land Management, and the government of New Zealand. Non profit supporters are Leave No Trace, the Access Fund, Alpine Club of Canada, American Mountain Guides Association, the New Zealand Alpine Club, and the AAC. - $1500 from five commercial firms in the human waste field

PROGRAM:
• AAC member speakers include UIAA president Mike Mortimer who will open the conference, Conservation Committee Chairman Ellen Lapham, and the AAC's Executive Director Phil Powers.

• AAC members/expert presenters: Conference Chair Roger Robinson (Denali Clean Mountain Can), Adam French (Cordillera Blanca, Peru), Rolo Garibotti (Los Glaciares, Argentina), Jesse MacGahey (NPS, Yosemite big walls), Eric White (USFS, Mt. Shasta pack out system), Greg Sievers (Rocky Mountain NP pack out program)

• Keynote speakers are Dawa Steven Sherpa on Mount Everest environmental expeditions and Gary Oye, Chief of Wilderness and Stewardship, US National Park Service

• Program speakers have breadth and depth of experience and expertise. They include the following:

• Dr. Doug Whittaker, behavioral expert, American Whitewater Association
• Brenda Land, USFS and national expert on remote toilet systems
• Shirley Slatter, Aoraki Mt. Cook NP in New zealand, behavioral research on trekkers and climbers
• Capt. John Leffel, US PUblic Health Service, handling waste expert
• Dr. Tomio Suzuki, Japan, inventor of remote alpine systems for large scale use
• Pet Antos-Ketcham, the Green Mountain Club, developer of moldering compost systems

ATTENDEES: We expect over 100 attendees including speakers/presenters, students, land managers, climbers, researchers.  

Find out more information and register here.