Utah tribal leaders are urging the governor to nix an envisioned land swap that would put a rail station and associated development on a Jordan River bluff, once home to the Salt Lake Valley's ancient peoples.
Officials with the Ute, Navajo and Goshute tribes huddled last week and agreed to press Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to keep the Utah Transit Authority from using Draper land currently owned by the state. The site -- east of the river at 13500 South -- contains a buried village that archaeologists have dated to 3,000 years ago. It also holds hints of the earliest known farming in the region.
"We don't know who's buried there," said Rupert Steele, chairman of the Goshutes and spokesman for the tribes' joint effort. "Our feeling is it's our ancestors."
Huntsman's staff said he will meet with the tribes.
Its ancient uses notwithstanding, the property has a twisted history just within the past decade. First, the Legislature set it aside for permanent protection because of the archaeological riches. But the Utah Department of Natural Resources took years to find a nonprofit group willing to sign a conservation easement and manage the land. Once Utah Open Lands stepped forward last year, then-House Speaker Greg Curtis asked DNR to delay the contract because he, as a private attorney, had a client who wanted to trade for the land and develop it.
That developer has since stepped aside, but this year the Legislature authorized DNR to trade with another who wants to build a commercial and residential village around a proposed FrontRunner commuter-rail station. Without the swap, UTA would have to build farther away from Bangerter Highway, and the agency asserts that exposure along the highway would boost ridership.
Now the tribes have agreed to schedule a prayer session to bless the land and its ancient inhabitants, Steele said. "That place needs to be taken care of as soon as possible, meaning the Indian way."
Huntsman's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, said the governor has not received a formal request to meet with the tribes, but plans to do so, perhaps next month.
The governor also intends to walk the land before making any decisions, Roskelley said. "It's going to be an inclusive process," she added.
UTA reaffirmed that the 13500 South site seems the best ridership draw for the Salt Lake City-Provo rail line, spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware said, but will continue studying all options in Draper and Bluffdale.
