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Interview: Access Fund National Conservation Team – Climbing the Nose of El Cap The Access Fund is a non-profit committed to protecting climbing access and the integrity of America’s outdoor rock climbing areas. They face issues like loss of areas as private land is lost to development, or public land managers regulate the areas, or climbers overuse an area and degrade it. The Access Fund focuses on a couple areas. Legal policy and advocacy for rock climbers. Land acquisition and protection Conservation and making sure the climber aren’t loving the crags to death Risk management and working with land owner in overcoming liability lawsuits Educating climbers on Leave No Trace Helping organize local support at climbing areas As you can imagine this is a herculean effort. One of the programs to help with this is the National Conservation Team. This year there are two young women who make up this team: Annabelle McClure from Colorado: a 26-year-old biochemist and Andrea Hassler from