Statement by Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation About Nine Mile Canyon
Posted December 17, 2008 | Contact pr@nthp.org or 202-588-6141
When the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Nine Mile Canyon one of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, an irreplaceable piece of our shared heritage was in real peril. The situation hasn't improved since then - and now the federal Bureau of Land Management is taking steps to make it much worse.
What's at risk at Nine Mile Canyon is a cultural treasure of global significance: an estimated 10,000 ancient rock-art images, plus thousands of other important historic and prehistoric sites. This is arguably the most significant concentration of ancient rock art in the United States. Already, heavy truck traffic through the canyon is damaging these fragile artifacts, churning up clouds of dust and coating the images with a layer of corrosive grime. BLM's proposed sale of sixteen new oil and gas leases in the area will inevitably send many more trucks thundering through the canyon - and, also inevitably, put the rock art panels in greater danger.
This morning, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a coalition of environmental groups filed a complaint in federal court claiming that BLM's oil and gas lease sale scheduled for this Friday, December 19 circumvents federal law and will lead to further damage to Nine Mile Canyon's rock art. While this litigation is moving forward, we urge the Bureau to remove the sixteen parcels near Nine Mile Canyon from the December 19 sale. We also urge the immediate construction of alternate truck routes that would allow energy companies to access their existing leases without endangering the canyon's priceless rock art.
We need to find new sources of energy, of course. But we also need to protect the special places that tell America's story - and enrich our lives.
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
