"This was accomplished by drilling record numbers of wells in the state the past few years," said Gil Hunt, who works for the state Division of Oil & Gas. "Without it, production numbers would continue to decline, as demand continues to increase."

The demand for increased production, however, may come at a price to environmental and archaeological resources, such as Utah's famed Nine Mile Canyon and its fragile panels of ancient Indian rock art.

The Bureau of Land Management has received thousands of negative comments about Bill Barrett Corp.'s proposal to increase oil and gas production in the West Tavaputs area near Nine Mile Canyon. Watchdog groups claim the company's plan would harm the rock art and wildlife in the area.

"The (Bush) administration has been relentlessly pushing oil and gas projects into some of our most valued Western landscapes, including Desolation Canyon and all around Dinosaur National Monument," Suzanne Jones of the Wilderness Society said in a statement. "The West Tavaputs project is certainly one of the most extreme examples yet."

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com