Some of the nearly 10,000 ancient images in Utah's Nine Mile Canyon. (AP photo)
A corporation that wants to add 800 gas wells to an area of Utah known for its rock art has reached an agreement to protect those petroglyphs, Paul Foy of the Associated Press reports here.
The only way for drilling and other equipment to reach the high plateaus where the wells will be located is along a road through Nine Mile Canyon, which has been called the world’s longest art gallery.
The canyon, which is actually 78 miles long, has thousands of ancient drawings.
Bill Barrett Corp., the company developing the gas fields, has agreed to changes to limit abrasive road dust that can damage the art. The federal Bureau of Land Management will monitor the canyon from rim to rim.
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Nine Mile Canyon contains more than 10,000 prehistoric rock carvings and paintings of bighorn sheep, owls, a two-headed snake, spear-wielding hunters and warriors engaged in hand-to-hand combat.
“The rock art and archaeological sites on the West Tavaputs Plateau are everyone’s heritage,” says Wilson Martin, Utah’s historic preservation officer. “They are priceless.”
Gwen Florio
Tags: Bill Barrett Corp., buffalo post, Native American news, Nine Mile Canyon, Rock art, U.S. Bureau of Land Management
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