BLM puts petroglyph site off limits to oil-gas drilling

Archaeologists and environmentalists can breathe easier — for now. The Bureau of Land Management has decided not to offer oil and gas drilling leases at the world-famous Parowan Gap petroglyph site.

BLM officials had included the region, about 15 miles northeast of Parowan, among many tracts they tentatively planned to offer for oil and gas leasing on May 17. In a narrow canyon through the Red Hills, a plethora of fascinating rock art has been pecked into the rocks.

The mysterious art shows zigzag snake designs, things like ladders, circles and some designs that look like a peculiar type of cartography. Archaeologists are uncertain what they mean and even about when they were made, though they are ancient.

One theory is that some lines amount to an ancient calendar. This archaeoastronomy theory holds that when the sun shone through the sun at a solstice, the ancients made certain notches, helping them track the seasons. Other observers are not certain about the idea.

Regardless of the age and meaning of the designs, a Bureau of Land Management Web site noted, "Several centuries ago Native Americans traveling through the area stopped and pecked designs into the smooth faces of large boulders found on the east side of the gap. Over the years many of the boulders have been covered with these chiseled figures known as petroglyphs."

Pictographs are painted rock art, while petroglyphs are designs tapped into a cliff wall or boulder. According to the BLM, the petroglyphs of Parowan Gap are believed to be the work of several cultures, representing a long period of use by Indians.

Parowan Gap is easy to visit, as a road goes through it. The petroglyph site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, says the BLM, "signifying its importance as a cultural treasure."

The National Register cites the Fremont Culture as a likely contributor to the art. The BLM says the designs could be by the Sevier-Fremont culture, people who lived in the region more than 1,000 years ago. But some of the art may date back to the much earlier people, called Archaic.

"Researchers believe that the semi-nomadic ancestors of the present day Southern Paiute also created some of these figures," said a BLM Web site.

When the BLM announced that tracts in and around Parowan Gap were being offered for oil and gas leasing, environmentalists were outraged. A coalition including the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club and the Grand Canyon Trust called on the BLM not to lease the land.