As Threat Still Looms, National Trust for Historic Preservation Takes New Actions to Preserve Ancient Rock Art at Utah's Nine Mile Canyon
Formal Protest Challenges BLM's Proposed Sale of 16 New Leases Near Nine Mile Canyon and Legal Brief Asserts that BLM is Circumventing Environmental and Other Reviews
Posted December 8, 2008 | Contact pr@nthp.org or 202-588-6141
The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently stepped up its ongoing efforts to protect ancient cultural artifacts at Nine Mile Canyon with two legal actions; a formal protest of BLM's proposed sale of 16 new oil and gas leases around Utah's Nine Mile Canyon, and a brief challenging the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) approval of new well-drilling permits. Additional drilling permits and leases in the area around Nine Mile Canyon would increase the number of trucks traveling through the Canyon. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) conducted by BLM and issued earlier this year confirmed that dust generated from truck traffic damages the rock art, and a scientific report issued subsequent to the DEIS found that magnesium chloride-a dust suppressant used in the Canyon-is also causing permanent damage to ancient rock art in Nine Mile Canyon.
FORMAL PROTEST OF BLM'S PROPOSED SALE OF 16 NEW OIL AND GAS LEASES
On December 4, 2008, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, along with the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance, Nine Mile Canyon Coalition and Utah Rock Art Research Association, filed a formal protest of BLM's proposed sale of 16 new oil and gas leases in the area around Nine Mile Canyon. The lease sale, set to take place on December 19 th, would lead inevitably to increased truck traffic through the Canyon, and in turn, ever greater damage inflicted on the Canyon's cultural resources.
Due to objections raised by the National Park Service, BLM recently agreed to defer some of the parcels from the lease sale near National Park System units. And, on December 2nd, BLM announced additional lease deferrals around Nine Mile Canyon. Unfortunately, 16 parcels near the Canyon still remain in the sale, which, if sold by BLM, would send even more drilling rigs and heavy trucks streaming past the Canyon's ancient rock art panels.
"BLM took a step in the right direction earlier this month when it scaled back plans to sell some of the proposed lease sites around Nine Mile Canyon. Unfortunately, they didn't go far enough-leaving 16 lease parcels up for sale, and thousands of resources in the canyon at risk," said Richard Moe. "The National Trust for Historic Preservation urges BLM to remove the remaining 16 parcels from the lease sale."
AMICUS BRIEF CHALLENGES BLM'S USE OF "CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS"
The legal brief filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on November 21, 2008 argues that BLM's approval of new well-drilling permits near Nine Mile Canyon circumvents federal law and-by failing to subject the new wells to federally-mandated environmental review processes-puts irreplaceable artifacts at the Canyon in increased jeopardy. The new drilling permits, approved by BLM via a legal loophole of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 called "categorical exclusions," will add to the already heavy truck traffic through the Canyon.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation believes that BLM is using categorical exclusions in order to avoid complications or challenges that may arise from a more thorough review process, such as those spelled out in the National Environmental Policy Act or the National Historic Preservation Act.
"We see this as a backdoor legal tactic that allows the Bureau of Land Management to selectively ignore information that could delay approval of new drilling permits," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "BLM itself acknowledges that NineMileCanyon contains the highest density of ancient rock art in the country, and that dust from heavy truck traffic is damaging the Canyon's artifacts. We need a process that weighs the needs of the energy companies with the protection of these irreplaceable treasures. Cutting the public out of the process and failing to consider new information is not the right way to find a solution to this challenge, and I encourage BLM to halt its questionable use of categorical exclusions."
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately-funded nonprofit organization, works to save America’s historic places to enrich our future. www.PreservationNation.org
