This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Would Reps. Rob Bishop's and Jason Chaffetz's Public Lands Initiative protect Utah's vast archeological treasures?
The Utah Rock Art Research Association (URARA), a group of citizens, including both Republicans and Democrats, dedicated to rock art preservation, has studied the draft legislation and uncovered serious problems.
The PLI would create 14 National Conservation Areas (NCAs), totaling 1.8 million acres of federal public land in Utah, to protect archeological and other resources.
While this sounds good, the draft bill burdens the Bureau of Land Management with the impossible task of including local county commissioners, involved tribal nations, and Utah state government in land management guidelines and practice. If BLM fails to adhere to what will no doubt be conflicting recommendations, then the BLM must provide a written explanation to the congressional Natural Resource Committee, which Bishop chairs. It is unclear how Bishop will resolve what could be endless management disputes. URARA fears this highly impractical plan is doomed to fail. We also question the wisdom of involving Bishop in what should be routine land management. This is just one example of the lack of clear and practical thinking characterizing this draft legislation.
The PLI draft legislation would designate more than two million acres of public land in participating counties as "covered energy projects," where oil, gas and mineral resource extraction would pre-empt all other uses. Currently, these public lands are for "multiple use," which includes energy development. We are very concerned that world class archeology, petroglyphs, pictographs, habitation sites and other archeological artifacts will be needlessly sacrificed to expedite energy development in areas where the value of archeological resources far outweighs the potential value of energy resources.
An example illustrates our concerns. URARA members and Emery County ranchers joined Ferron resident Jon Bailey in his effort to inventory 40,000 acres of Emery County public land for rock art sites. More than 400 petroglyph and pictograph art sites were located and photographed. Under the PLI draft bill, this amazing cultural landscape would become an energy project. There would be no long-term protection for this archeological record dating to early archaic hunters more than 10,000 years ago. What could be a great resource to Emery County residents could be irrevocably lost.
The PLI draft legislation also seeks to end debate on what constitutes a legal road in Utah. URARA members spend considerable time on Utah's back roads, where we have observed ongoing proliferation of what we call "pioneered roads": two-tracks and single tracks leading everywhere in confused crisscrosses which often terminate at archeological sites. Under current law, a county must demonstrate at least 10 years of continuous use of an alleged road in order to have a valid claim on it. The PLI would give authority to county commissioners to settle these historic disputed claims. Again, our concern is not the legitimate use of legal roads but the legitimizing of "pioneered roads" which often contribute to rock art vandalism.
Unfortunately, input into the PLI from groups such as URARA was not incorporated into the proposed draft bill. Fair and effective legislation must involve the voices and concerns of all citizens who care about and use our public lands. Instead, we have been handed a politicized, hastily written 65-page document that could lead to management gridlock for more than 1.8 million acres of National Conservation Areas, prioritize energy development on public lands currently managed for multiple use and lower the bar for what is considered a legal road on Utah's federal public lands. We urge all concerned citizens and organizations to read this draft legislation. URARA has concluded that it is simply inadequate to protect Utah's outstanding archeological resources.
Diane Orr is conservation co-chair of the Utah Rock Art Research Association.