Access Fund, a national advocacy organization dedicated to creating and protecting access to rock climbing areas, honored Blue Ridge Conservancy (BRC) with the 2025 Land Conservation Award in March, and recently announced the Conservancy is a recipient of a 2026 Climbing Conservation Grant. Both awards are related to BRC’s decades-long efforts to purchase and protect the Howard Knob boulders in Boone, North Carolina. The area, now officially named The Knob Boulders and Nature Preserve, was purchased by BRC in December of 2025 and will be open to the public in the near future.

"The closure of Howard Knob in 1993 was one of the earliest major climbing access issues taken on by the Access Fund," says Daniel Dunn, Access Fund's Eastern Regional Director. "While those initial efforts weren't successful, they helped spark a region-defining movement. Over the following 32 years of effort, climbing advocates created the playbook that has become a staple of Access Fund's land protection model, all with the hope of one day regaining access to this historic boulderfield. That day has finally come, and this win is a testament to the power of organized climbers, locally and nationally."

BRC’s Eric Hiegl accepts the award at the 2026 Climbing Advocacy Conference in Fayetteville, West Virginia. He is seen here with Carolina Climbers’ Coalition Executive Director Mike Reardon, who has been instrumental in climbing access wins in North Carolina, and has been an advocate for BRC’s work on Howard Knob.

According to the Access Fund, the focus of the Climbing Advocate Award is to “recognize the stewards, conservationists, community organizers, and advocates who bind the climbing community together.” Hiegl accepted the award on behalf of BRC earlier this month at the 2026 Climbing Advocacy Conference in Fayetteville, West Virginia.

“Thanks to the Access Fund for supporting and advocating for the conservation and reopening of the Howard Knob boulders,” says BRC’s Eric Hiegl, Senior Director of Land Protection and Conservation Planning. “Protecting access to this site was the original reason Blue Ridge Conservancy was formed, and the Access Fund understands its importance among bouldering locations in the Southeast.”

Access Fund’s Climbing Conservation Grants are awarded annually to organizations working on specific climbing access projects across the country. The grant will go towards purchase and maintenance needs at Howard Knob.

Access Fund Honors Blue Ridge Conservancy’s Efforts at Howard Knob