Hundreds of More Trucks Could Damage Rock Art in Utah's Nine Mile Canyon
By Margaret Foster | From Online Only | Apr. 30, 2008
Thousands of years ago, Native Americans from the Ute and Fremont tribes carved 10,000 images of people and animals in the walls of a Utah gorge now known as Nine Mile Canyon. Today considered one of the world's largest collections of rock art in the world, the canyon is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Yet the precious works of art—and the canyon itself—are literally being left in the dust.
A steady stream of trucks transporting supplies and water for natural gas exploration traverse the plateau above the canyon, stirring up clouds of dust. To suppress the dust, transportation companies deposit magnesium chloride on the truck route. Unfortunately, both the dust and the corrosive chemical settle on the rock art below. See the trucks in action on this video
Now a new plan could bring 400 more trucks to the plateau per day, a 416 percent increase. Known as the West Tavaputs Plateau Natural Gas Full Field Development Plan, it could last from eight to 28 years and result in up to 807 new natural-gas wells at 538 sites in the area.
"The rock art in Nine Mile Canyon is both a Native American treasure and a national treasure that spans thousands of years of human existence in the canyon," says Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "We have much to learn from the petroglyphs and pictographs etched into these canyon walls, so it is imperative we ensure that the current phase of human use in the canyon does not permanently erase the rich physical history of the people who came before us."
Conservators have noticed changes to the art already. In a report released to the BLM in January, Constance Silver, an art conservator at Preservar Inc., says that the magnesium chloride is adhering to and degrading the canyon's rock art panels.
The BLM has invited public comment on the project and its 500-page Environmental Impact Statement until this Thursday, May 1. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has encouraged members to e-mail the BLM; so far, more than 600 people have urged the agency to protect the canyon's rock art.
"We want them to consider alternate access routes. We want them to take that traffic out of the canyon," says Ti Hays, public lands counsel at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "These chemicals are perhaps causing more harm than good."
Nine Mile Canyon was included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2004 "because of this very probable development," says Barbara Pahl, director of the National Trust's Mountains/Plains Office in Denver. "We're married to it until we fix it."
Send an e-mail to the Bureau of Land Management today at UT_Pr_Comments@blm.gov and copy the National Trust at crc@nthp.org.
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Comments
Submitted by Anonymous at: May 17, 2008
It is obvious that the Bureau of Land Management has its priorities backwards. Instead of taking responsibility to the proactive preservation of Utah's Nine Mile Canyon, it is electing to destroy the artwork of native Americans which will be gone forever! Please work on a viable solution and make this a win-win situation for future generations. We have run out of negotiating time...you must ACT NOW, please! We asked nicely before; now we are DEMANDING social responsibility!
Submitted by Anonymous at: May 16, 2008
When are people going to understand the significance of historic areas and try to keep it as it is for future generations? Do something else with the trucks but disallow any further ruination of the area.
Submitted by report from the heartland at: May 1, 2008
I can say from personal experience that Nine Mile Canyon is a wonder. We marveled that it wasn't on lots of tourist lists but then realized it should be kept a bit of a secret since there was no way of protecting any of the artwork. This is quite distressing news. The artwork was more or less fine for a hundred years then corporate America flexed its muscle. Can the mining concerns be approached to take ownership of the damage they have done? Fund research to find out what can be done while using some less destructive way of settling the dust?