In a final environmental study of Monticello-area lands, the Bureau of Land Management is proposing to eliminate special protection for Cedar Mesa, Dark Canyon and Butler Wash - home to some of the nation's most famous archaeological treasures. Instead of being labeled "areas of critical environmental concern," those parcels would be known as "special recreation-management areas."
"That's a real difference in focus," University of Utah anthropology professor Duncan Metcalfe said Friday. "The names say it."
Preservationists worry that increased recreation could damage or destroy, for example, the 13-century Moon House on Cedar Mesa or other cherished ruins. As a result, Metcalfe said, sites that help tell Utah's tribal history could be lost forever.
The BLM counters that the change would mean more scrutiny of visitors to the ruins and greater opportunities to enforce multiple layers of protective rules and laws already in place.
Calling Cedar Mesa a recreation area would give the BLM more enforcement teeth, said Monticello field office manager Tom Heinlein. "And that's where we can be most effective."
Heinlein said the Monticello region has one BLM enforcement officer. A ranger is stationed at Cedar Mesa during the spring and fall, when most visitors arrive.
The BLM on Friday released the proposed resource-management plan for the 1.8 million acres the agency manages in the Monticello district, which includes San Juan County and parts of Grand County.
The three-volume report barely tweaks the draft environmental study, released in November, that included nearly 2,000 miles of OHV roads and trails throughout the district.
That worries Liz Thomas, an attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance who fears San Juan County may turn into the new Moab, known for its sometimes-frenzied off-road recreation. More OHV trails near the ruins, she added, means more damage to places that cannot be fixed or replaced.
The BLM's proposal carves the Cedar Mesa recreation area into zones with specific rules for visitors, Heinlein said. The Moon House ruin would be subject to limits on how many people could be there at any one time and would restrict access into some areas.
The Moon House used to be a little-known Anasazi relic. But a quick Internet search provides photos, maps and GPS coordinates that ease access for visitors - and looters. Some photos show tourists sitting in the Cedar Mesa ruins and climbing the ladders in houses where even human breath can cause irreversible damage.
Heinlein said the BLM's efforts to inform the public about the delicate nature of the ruins seems to be working.
Metcalfe, who directs the U.'s Archaeology Field School, agreed public education is the only lasting solution to preventing harm to the ancient sites. "But it is long term," he noted. "It's very difficult to assess progress."
In the meantime, Metcalfe said, "we lose them at incredible rates to development, to industrialization, to looting."
