From a layman's standpoint, the rock art isn't much to look at. Rudimentary drawings that include stick men, bows and arrows, sheep, snakes. If your kid brought sketches like this home from school, you'd be calling to complain about the art teacher.

But the experts agree that prehistoric Picassos did some of their best work here. Taken in their proper historical and cultural context, the 10,000-plus petroglyphs are an amazing resource worthy of preservation and protection for the sake of posterity. That's why it's essential that the federal Bureau of Land Management keep Bill Barrett Corp. from wiping the slate clean.

Heavy truck traffic in the canyon - hundreds of trips per week - is raising dust that wreaks havoc on the rock art and degrades the air quality. Chemicals sprayed on the dirt road to keep the dust down have caused additional damage. And that's to serve just 100 existing Bill Barrett gas wells on the West Tavaputs Plateau above the canyon. If the BLM ignores the evidence in the rush to develop the gas field, and approves the company's request for 800 additional wells, truck traffic will increase four-fold and 8,000 years of history could disappear without a trace.

Enter the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the official federal guardian of the National Historic Preservation Act. The law was enacted in 1966 to assure that companies like Bill Barrett and agencies like the BLM don't destroy invaluable links to the past like the 830 confirmed cultural sites and countless petroglyphs in Nine Mile Canyon.

The advisory council questions whether the BLM has adequately evaluated the damage that increased truck traffic would do to these ancient art and archaeological sites. Additional studies could be conducted as a result of the council's inquiry, but only if BLM voluntarily agrees. The council has no teeth.

So it's up to the BLM to save the rock art. To make the company find a new route to the plateau, and take all truck traffic out of the canyon.

Bill Barrett Corp. is flush with cash. It reported record profits of $34 million in the second quarter, and a discretionary cash flow of $113.4 million. It can afford to build a new road to drill and service its gas wells. And the BLM should make sure it does.

The 10,000-plus petroglyphs are an amazing resource worthy of preservation and protection for the sake of posterity.