Histories sought on Nine Mile Canyon

NINE MILE CANYON — An advocacy coalition that seeks to protect what has been called the world's largest natural art gallery is seeking oral histories on Nine Mile Canyon.

While many residents from Utah and beyond are aware of the canyon's massive collection of rock art panels and other prehistoric cultural resources, less known are details about the canyon's modern history and its handful of current inhabitants.

For that reason, the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition is embarking on a new project to collect oral histories of the canyon, soliciting life stories of interactions with the area and relevant contributions to the canyon's history.

The goal, according to project organizers, is to record the family histories that have been handed down from generation to generation, transcribe those stories and publish them for the public to enjoy.

The Nine Mile Canyon region has been held out as a national template for cooperation and compromise because of an agreement reached among an oil and gas developer and numerous environmental groups.

Hailed by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the "programmatic agreement" signed earlier this year provides for the extraction of natural resources on a reduced scale from what Bill Barrett Corp. initially had proposed. At the same time, the agreement put in protections for the environment and stipulated that compliance with those protections must be monitored.

Some of those protections are aimed specifically at preserving the cultural assets of Nine Mile Canyon, including controlling dust churned up by heavy equipment that could damage the rock art panels.

In an era when resource development often prompts protracted litigation, the agreement was described by signatories as "unprecedented" and "groundbreaking" for its ability to reach compromise among all sides.

Late last month, the Bureau of Land Management issued its final environmental impact statement, officially signing off on a plan by Bill Barrett Corp. and other operators to drill 626 wells from 120 pads, reducing the initial proposal by 181 wells and 418 well pads. The reduction shaves the short-term surface disturbance created by the project by more than half, from 3,656 acres to 1,603 acres.

Pam Miller, the coalition's president, said now that the agreement has been signed, the organization can focus on projects that were put on hold.

"This is a fun project we have always wanted to do," she said. "With that (settlement), we can get back to the reasons we formed the coalition in the first place."