BLANDING — To protect nearly 1,800-year-old Anasazi ruins, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management declared a southeastern Utah canyon off-limits to all-terrain vehicles.

Vehicles have done so much damage that they will be banned immediately from nearly 1,900 acres of Recapture Canyon, just below the Recapture Dam near Blanding, said Nick Sandberg, acting manager of the BLM's Monticello field office.

The BLM will hold public meetings in Monticello and Blanding next week to explain the decision, announced Wednesday.

The area has become increasingly popular since the BLM's 1991 management plan, and the ruins are in jeopardy, Sandberg said.

Some of the ruins are high on canyon walls and secure. But those on the canyon floor are threatened by ATV traffic, he said.

The indefinite closure is supported by San Juan County Commissioner Lynn Stevens, who toured the area last month.

"I saw a trail that was, what I would call, too close to one particular archaeological site that certainly has the potential for causing damage," Stevens said.

Anasazi is a name that refers to the ancestors of Pueblo Indians. Archaeologists applied the term to villagers who lived and farmed in the Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona, according to a BLM Web site.

The closed area will be marked by signs. The ancient remnants include storage pits.

"It may be they need to keep it closed long-term," Stevens said.

Sandberg recalled only one similar closure in the region, in an area west of Bluff.