Utah is home to a lot of rock art, carved and painted by North American tribes on the red, sprawling canyons and cliff faces. These people depicted war, hunting scenes, animals, maps, and early calendars on the rocks. These thousands of pieces of art have yet to be recognized and protected by the government. Utah’s rock art has been vandalized and damaged, and is at a risk of being destroyed completely. The National Park Service wants each site (where the rock art lies) documented separately. This tedious process will take a long time and effort, as Hyperallergic detailed:
“They said they had to do a single nomination for every site,” Loftin told the Salt Lake Tribune. “For [the BLM archaeologists] to go back and do this for each site would be a huge chunk of work they don’t have the time for.”
“We need to say this has national significance, and it’s what makes Moab special.” Pam Baker told the Salt Lake Tribune. “The process is too labor intensive for the BLM to do on their own. Once we were here full time, we recruited others to help, dozens of people.”
The National Park Service says it recognizes the historical significance of Moab’s rock art, but since new leadership has taken over, surveyors are requiring more consistency across the sites’ documentation and a more thorough description of their importance.
The BLM plans to resubmit the sites for listing on the registry even though it will take thousands of hours and significant manpower. Many people think this delay in protection could lead to further vandalization and destruction of the sites.
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