In the News
Several articles have recently been published in major Salt Lake City newspapers regarding the natural gas industry in Nine Mile Canyon. Here are links to some of those articles:
Dec 03, 2008The Salt Lake Tribune:
Nine Mile Canyon: BLM pulls back on drilling plans.
03 December 2008
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11123238
Action Alert
Compromising Cultural Treasures
Oct 23, 2008This is an excerpt from a report put out by Congressman Grijalva of Arizona, Chair of the federal Public Lands Committee. The full document can be found at:
http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/Grijalva_Public_Lands_Report_10_22_2008.pdf
Nine Mile Canyon
Utah's Nine Mile Canyon is significant for its remarkable and expansive prehistoric rock art. According to the National Trust for Historic preservation, more than 10,000 rock art images exist in Nine Mile Canyon, and although only a small portion of the canyon has been systematically surveyed for cultural resources, at least 830 prehistoric sites have been formally recorded by archaeologists.
However, this outdoor museum is now threatened by increased energy development.
The threat to these cultural sites comes from dust and chemicals from vehicle traffic which services the 800-well natural gas development known as the West Tavaputs Project, located on the plateau immediately south of Nine Mile Canyon. In February of 2008, the BLM released a proposal to increase vehicle traffic in Nine Mile Canyon by an astonishing 416 percent from the current average of 106 vehicles per day to 441. According to the project's draft environmental impact statement (EIS), semi-trucks, drill rigs and other industrial vehicles would use the dirt road along the bottom of Nine Mile Canyon to access the project site, and would continue to surpass the current level throughout the life of the project, which may exceed forty years.
Before the comment period closed in May of 2008, the BLM received more than 53,000 comments in opposition to the project, including the letters from the state of Utah, the Hopi Tribe, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. Further, the EPA deemed the draft environmental impact statement to be inadequate and required BLM to prepare a supplemental analysis for public review to consider impacts to air quality.
However, in June of 2008, BLM approved the project under its categorical exclusion authority which allowed the BLM to disregard public input and forgo any analysis of the potentially significant impacts that drilling and the subsequent infrastructure will have on the area's rock art.
In August of 2008, a coalition of historic preservation and conservation groups challenged this decision legally; the lawsuit is pending.
There are many other interesting sections, the report is only about 25 pages long if you want to read more.
Pam Miller
In the News
Several articles have recently been published in major Salt Lake City newspapers regarding the natural gas industry in Nine Mile Canyon. Here are links to some of those articles:
Oct 21, 2008The Salt Lake Tribune:
Drillers are blind to the destruction
07 October 2008
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10759614?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com
In the News
Several articles have recently been published in major Salt Lake City newspapers regarding the natural gas industry in Nine Mile Canyon. Here are links to some of those articles:
Oct 10, 2008Deseret News:
GAO launches probe into oil, gas drilling.
08 October 2008
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700264898,00.html
In the News
Several articles have recently been published in major Salt Lake City newspapers regarding the natural gas industry in Nine Mile Canyon. Here are links to some of those articles:
Oct 07, 2008The Salt Lake Tribune:
Nine Mile Canyon: 'Historic' status would protect archaeological artifacts in the area.
07 October 2008
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_10650599
Deseret News:
BLM to request Nine Mile sites for historic register
07 October 2008
http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,700264683,00.html
Forum Journal, Summer 2008, Vol 22 No. 04:
"Cultural Resources and Energy Development: What Would Saint Theodore Do?"
07October 2008
http://forum.nationaltrust.org/PDF/Summer%202008%20Journal.pdf