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Nine Mile Canyon
Report by Amy Corbin HistoryOver 1,700 years ago, the Fremont and Archaic cultures, and later the Ute tribe, created rock shelters, granaries and rock art on the bottom and sides of Nine Mile Canyon, a stretch of canyonland in Duchesne and Carbon Counties that spans many more miles than its name implies. The over 10,000 petroglyphs make the area the “highest concentration of monochromatic prehistoric rock art in North America,” according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The rock art includes both carvings and drawings of hunters with spears and nets, abstract designs, and wildlife like elk, snake and mountain sheep. Archaeologists and other interested persons have been cataloging and studying the sites for 110 years. While the rock art gets the most attention, Nine Mile Canyon represents the entire spectrum of the life that was lived there thousands of years ago. There are the remains of villages full of pit houses, which were mostly underground with some walls and roof above ground. Granaries are hidden in indentations in the rock walls. The canyon also bears the traces of the more recent history of westward expansion in the form of stagecoach stations, cabins and iron telegraph poles erected by “Buffalo Soldiers” in the 1800s. Contemporary tribes which value the canyon as a place of spiritual heritage include the Ute, Northern Cheyenne and various Pueblo communities, including the Hopi, who have been active in protection efforts. Local residents, archaeologists and tourists all revere the place for its unrivaled glimpse into native art and culture, as well as its stunning natural beauty. In the early 1990s, concerned citizens formed the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition to protect the area from vandalism. At first, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — which oversees the federally-owned area — encouraged this group, but recently the agency pulled a staff archaeologist off the drilling review process, claiming his affiliation with the group represented a “conflict of interest.” ThreatAmidst record-breaking growth in permits for oil and gas exploration in Utah, the Bill Barrett Corporation of Denver, Colorado, received BLM permission in March 2004 to begin seismic testing on 57,500 acres near the Nine Mile Canyon. The project, known as the Stone Cabin 3D geophysical testing project, used underground detonation and vibration to detect the location and extent of natural gas reserves which lie beneath the canyon. However, tribes and preservation and environmental groups worried that the vibrations caused by the seismic equipment could destroy untold numbers of petroglyph panels. While the company agreed not to drill within 300 feet of petroglyphs or rock structures, archaeologists point out that only a fraction of sites (5-10%) are documented, leaving countless others in the vicinity of drilling. Steve Block, attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, asks, “When they say they are going to avoid known locations, to me that begs the question, ‘What about the sites they don’t know about?’ I think we’re talking about a transformation of the canyon.” Many observers say the greatest danger — not only from the testing phase but from all development near the canyon — is from the thousands of trips taken by large industrial trucks on precarious roads and whose weight, vibrations and dust are felt near the rock art. (A more minor, but constant, threat comes in the form of tourists and recreational explorers whose movements take an increasing toll on the fragile canyon.) Barrett did relocate a road that went too close to a well-known site, the Hunting Panel. The BLM claims that Barrett Corporation’s promises to avoid known areas and limit new road construction are adequate protections. Because of these concerns, groups including Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Utah Rock Art Research Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council have filed suit against the BLM, arguing that instead of approving each stage of the testing with a simple Environmental Assessment (EA), the federal agency should instead commission a more thorough Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). In July 2004, a federal judge ruled that the groups failed to prove there would be significant damage, and found that the company’s mitigation measures were satisfactory. The judge cited the pre-project tests and the presence of an archaeologist, ground motion monitor and environmental expert during all work. A second stage of testing was also approved in July 2004 (based on an EA), and is known as West Tavaputs Plateau Drilling Program. Here, the BLM allowed an additional 22 exploratory wells to measure oil and gas reserves. This project was expected to be finished by early fall 2004, but as of this writing it is still underway. The BLM’s approval of these two projects is only for the testing of oil and gas reserves; extraction will require a full EIS.
The BLM appears to be driven by the Bush administration’s policy of fast-tracking energy development projects. Indeed, a spokesperson for the BLM admitted that the agency has felt pressure to develop this area. In July 2003, the Price Field Office (which includes Nine Mile Canyon) issued a memo stating that evaluating Barrett’s proposal was its “No. 1 priority.” This is in spite of the fact that the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that only several weeks’ worth of energy would be gained from oil and gas deposits contained in all the wilderness areas of the Price Field Office. Perhaps the most alarming development is the politically motivated removal of a long-time BLM archaeologist from the development review process. Blaine Miller, who had worked in the Price Field Office for two decades and participated in the local Nine Mile Canyon Coalition group, was taken off the project for “conflict of interest” after he issued a report suggesting that there would be “significant” impact on Nine Mile Canyon. This report led to the initial rejection of Barrett’s first proposal of seven wells in June 2003. After the company complained, an ethics inquiry was launched leading to Miller’s dismissal. Kevin Jones, Utah state archaeologist, said, “If the person who knows the most is taken off the project, it sends the message that perhaps he knew too much.” In addition to the undue influence of politics, Nine Mile Canyon is difficult to protect because land ownership in the canyon is split between the BLM, state and local governments, and private citizens. Recognizing the multiple threats to the area and the challenges of management, the National Trust for Historic Preservation placed Nine Mile Canyon on its 2004 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. At present, there are two major documents which will determine the future of Nine Mile Canyon. The BLM’s Price Field Office has released a draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) for its entire area. The RMP sets the parameters for development of a large stretch of Utah wilderness, balancing the competing interests of corporations, residents, outdoor adventurers and environmentalists. Unfortunately, the draft RMP and the BLM’s recommendations are heavily skewed toward resource extraction. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) notes that 98% of the Price “wilderness quality” land (that which is included in the proposed America’s Redrock Wilderness Act) is not given any protection; the only areas which are cordoned off from oil and gas drilling are those which have already been designated as Wilderness Study Areas by Congress. SUWA is also concerned about the lack of regulation of off-road vehicles which can damage fragile soils and saturate the area with noise. In the proposed RMP, Nine Mile Canyon is to be designated an “area of critical concern” but this will only protect the canyon bottom from drilling on its surface. It will still be open to resource extraction through directional drilling, or drilling in the plateau which surrounds the canyon through the ground to the bottom of the canyon. In addition, it would be left with the debris, toxic dumping, and industrial roads which are by-products of resource extraction. While the RMP sets the agenda for a large area of Utah wilderness, Nine Mile Canyon will also be the subject of its own EIS. SolutionIn the immediate future, the RMP needs to be revised to provide more protection to the Redrock Wilderness lands. Specifically, Nine Mile Canyon needs to be protected from any drilling that will reach into the canyon bottom or sides. Public comment is needed to urge the BLM to consider an alternative based on SUWA’s Castle Country Heritage Plan (see below). Then, the forthcoming EIS needs to take seriously the idea of protecting the canyon as a complete entity, not just protecting a few highly visible rock art panels. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has also called for the BLM to re-open the Section 106 process for reviewing sites to be included on the National Register of Historic Places due to the discovery of new sites, the unexamined effects of dynamite use in the canyons, and possible conflict with Utah cultural resources law. Years ago, the BLM prepared an application to the National Register for a Nine Mile Canyon National Historic District, but it has not taken any further action. Public pressure is needed to urge the BLM to move forward with this application. The BLM, private landowners, environmental and preservation groups, and concerned tribes need to work together to balance their different interests in the area while preserving the petroglyphs and ancient settlements of Nine Mile Canyon, both as art and as manifestations of living spiritual traditions. The Nine Mile Canyon situation is one piece of the larger Bush administration energy policy: they are fast-tracking many projects which have been held up for legitimate cultural and environmental reasons. There is also a pattern of dismissing experts or previous investigations when their conclusions contradict the administration’s agenda. These procedures affect places ranging from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to Indian Pass in California, from Yucca Mountain in Nevada to Nine Mile Canyon. What You Can Do:Write to Price Field Office Manager Patrick Gubbins: BLM Price Field Office Join and donate to the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition, a grassroots group formed “to promote the preservation and enhancement of Nine Mile Canyon through educational and interpretive programs.” If you live nearby, you can volunteer at the Canyon through the Price BLM office. Resources
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Often called “the world’s longest art gallery,” Nine Mile Canyon in Utah contains over 10,000 petroglyphs and rock formations left by the Archaic, Fremont and Ute people thousands of years ago. The Bureau of Land Management recently approved the use of sound waves, dynamite and drilling to document the oil and gas reserves contained beneath the canyon, paving the way for full-scale industrial development. The area is often described as the location of priceless archaeological sites, but to Native Americans the canyon’s importance is spiritual and timeless. “This is our church,” says Ute religious leader Larry Cesspooch. “These cliffs, they’re as high as any cathedral—they’re what God put here.”
Opponents concede that these new technologies are less damaging than previous methods; however there is still potential for significant impact on the area. The first procedure involves drilling over 5,000 holes up to 60 feet deep, in which explosives will be detonated, thus sending off shockwaves to produce underground images. In addition, trucks carry vibroseis machines, which send vibrations from the outside through the ground. This project was a revised version of an earlier plan which would have drilled in the canyon — a proposal that was stopped by intense public opposition. Although it allowed limited testing in the canyon, the majority took place on the plateau above the canyon and in surrounding environs, including two canyons that lead into Nine Mile Canyon.
Several difficulties present themselves in the case of Nine Mile Canyon. The BLM has been evaluating each resource testing project on a case-by-case basis, rather than looking at the area as a whole. Mitigation has been offered only to certain well-known areas of rock art, neglecting other archaeological sites and rock art which has not yet been identified. Burying pipelines under the surface on the canyon bottom is an attempt to preserve the aesthetics of the canyon, but it ignores the impact of underground pipelines. In addition, to define the area worth protecting as limited to the canyon bottom is to ignore all the distinct cultural sites on the slopes and cliffs that surround the canyon floor. Finally, what is often overlooked by every side is that these sites are not just art but symbolic of age-old spiritual traditions: “they call it rock art, because that’s all it is to them…. they don’t understand the spirituality. All they understand is what they see,” says Larry Cesspooch. Nine Mile Canyon needs to be protected not just as a treasure of America’s past, but as living sacred area. |
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