October 29, 2009

Read Our Latest Sacred Site Report Updates

Posted by: Amberly Polidor

In recent months we’ve been hard at work bringing some of our older site reports up to date, and we’re pleased to report that a few of these sacred sites have come a step closer toward preservation:

• In California and Oregon, negotiations are almost complete on a plan to remove three dams on the Klamath River that have blocked the migration of salmon — and impacted sacred and cultural practice of the river’s native tribes — for decades.
• In Australia, at the iconic sandstone monolith Uluru, Aboriginal and park management have stepped up efforts to stop visitors from climbing the sacred rock, with a new viewing area and a commitment to work toward an outright ban on climbing.
• At England’s Stonehenge, the managing agency unveiled its proposal to close and grass over a stretch of road that runs through the middle of the UNESCO World Heritage site, bringing nearly to a close a controversy that has raged for a decade.
• Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge appears safer under the Obama administration. Might Congress finally pass the bill, which has been on the table for years, to protect the refuge’s 1.5-million-acre coastal plain from oil development?
• We’ve also updated reports for Georgia’s Ocmulgee Oil Fields and Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon.

While many of these sites are closer to protection than they once were, there’s still work to be done. Check out the individual reports for ways you can help!

Uluru at sunset. Photo by Michael Nelson.
© 2010 Parks Australia

Kata Tjuta at dawn. Photo by Michael Nelson. © 2010 Parks Australia

Uluru at dusk. Photo by Michael Nelson.
© 2010 Parks Australia

Sign forbidding entry to and photography of a men’s sacred site. © 1991 Christopher McLeod

Approaching this spring at Uluru, an Aboriginal ranger said, “Walk in quietly, respectfully, in a peaceful manner. This is an important water hole.” © 1991 Christopher McLeod