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WELLINGTON, Carbon County — A reward of up to $2,500 is being offered to capture and convict vandals who defaced the "First Canyon Site" rock art panel in Nine Mile Canyon.
The Bureau of Land Management has joined with the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition, Castle Valley Chapter of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society, Bill Barrett Corporation, Eastern Utah Community Credit Union, Jones and DeMille Engineering and Utah Statewide Archaeological Society to offer the reward.
The “First Canyon Site” rock art site was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places because of its importance to the prehistory of Nine Mile Canyon. The BLM says vandals built a campfire under the site, staining the art panel. They also used charcoal from the campfire to write graffiti on the panel. The damage to the rock art site was reported to the BLM by Price residents in early September.
Nine Mile Canyon is world-renowned for its high concentration of rock art sites and is often called the world’s longest art gallery.
“Although the rock art in Nine Mile canyon has survived hundreds of years, it is very delicate. Restoring rock art sites after deliberate vandalism is a complex, difficult process, and not always possible," said Patricia Clabaugh, manager of the BLM's Price Field Office.
Anyone with information on rock art vandalism in Nine Mile Canyon should contact the BLM at 1-800-722-3998 or the Price Field Office at 435-636-3600.
Email:aodonoghue@ksl.com
