11 Most Endangered
Nine Mile Canyon
Year Listed: 2004
Location: Utah
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
Located in a remote part of Utah, Nine Mile Canyon is often called "the world’s longest art gallery" as it contains more than 10,000 images carved onto canyon walls by Native Americans. The canyon also contains many historic sites - including stagecoach stations, settlers' cabins, ranches, and iron telegraph poles installed by the famed 19th-century Buffalo Soldiers - that stand as reminders of the area's pioneer history. Now this historic canyon is under increasing pressure from tourism, recreation, and energy development that threaten its significant prehistoric and historic resources.
Update
This renowned area continues to be threatened by increased tourism, recreation and demands for domestic energy production. Although previously developed for oil and gas, the area is under increasing pressure by burgeoning demands for energy which could transform the historic landscape into an industrial zone with heavy industrial trucks rumbling through the narrow canyons in close proximity to fragile Native American rock art. Currently proposed projects for energy development and exploration would result in tens of thousands of trips by these trucks, in addition to thousands of wells being drilled. Without a thorough inventory of the cultural resource sites at risk and adequate measures for protection, these activities could result in the destruction of irreplaceable cultural sites. This stretch of desert landscape, much larger than its name implies, is patrolled by a single ranger who seeks to protect the petroglyphs from well-meaning, but often destructive, tourists and recreational enthusiasts. A sustainable balance between increased tourism, energy development and cultural-resource protection must be found or these irreplaceable cultural and historic resources will be lost forever.
