I agree that hikers are going to be more involved in all this stuff but I find it unlikely that they will fight for regulations that restrict their access to an area to make it more safe for themselves.
All that sort of documenting would be a nice job I think although a bit excessive.
As to the first, it seems like I've seen that play out in several ways, a number of times.
On Rainier, they got together to support a climbing fee increase that paid for the climbing rangers program, that was soley for climber support/safety. Those rangers could restrict access when they thought it neccessary. That program still has wide climber support.
I guess we'll see what happens on Half Dome.
As to the second, having to do that on every Trail on the Sierra was the effect of the hikers' lawsuit. For several years, little maintenance got done.
