Monday, Feb. 17, 2003 | 10:47 a.m.
A 20-minute drive southeast from the glitter of the Strip brings a visitor to a place where 1,000 steps into a canyon constitutes a walk back in time.
More than 1,700 drawings, some prehistoric, are etched into black canyon walls. They depict desert bighorn sheep, men in large hats riding horses, even strange creatures that could have come from another world, one affectionately called "ET."
"Sloan Canyon is the Vatican of Native American rock art, a sacred place for Native Americans," Phil Guerrero, public affairs officer for the Bureau of Land Management, said. "Just as the wonder of the work of Michaelangelo should be seen and admired by people -- but not damaged, so should the Sloan Canyon rock art."
The threat to the canyon has increased as the Las Vegas area's population boom has brought development closer and closer to the canyon.
To try to make sure that the 48,438-acre area and its irreplaceable archeological treasures are preserved forever, Sloan Canyon was declared a National Conservation Area in November.
It was to be dedicated as the nation's 14th conservation area at a formal ceremony today. About 400 people were expected to attend including Bureau of Land Management Deputy Director Jim Hughes; Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev.; and Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.
Sloan Canyon has been listed on the National Register of Historical Places since December 1978, but that didn't stop vandalism or attempts to steal the priceless rock art, Guerrero said.
The conservation area designation will strengthen the efforts to show off and protect Sloan Canyon, he said.
"In addition to Native Americans, volunteers and conscientious visitors who help us safeguard the rock art, we have rangers patrolling the area two to three times weekly and we intend to increase that to daily in the near future," Guerrero said.
There soon will be tens of millions of dollars available to invest in programs, facilities and staffing for the area. In November 500 acres of BLM land near the Sloan Canyon Natural Conservation Area will be auctioned. It is expected to reap at least $50 million, and 95 percent of the proceeds from the sale will go into a special account that can be used for archaeological and geological resources at Sloan Canyon.
The area is already being studied for clues about the people who lived in Las Vegas before Europeans came to the valley.
Archaeologists from the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have recorded more than 1,700 individual designs on more than 300 panels of rock located in Sloan Canyon, said William White, a senior archaeologist at the center.
Archaeologists are trying to record the rock art as quickly as they can because they worry about its future.
"As houses get built this way, you're not going to be able to keep the people out of here," White said.
Boulders in the canyon are showing signs of increased vandalism. Hammer and chisel marks indicate how vandals attempted to rip the artwork from stone walls.
The color of the stone helps researchers identify when thieves tried to remove the rock. Recent vandalism leaves behind a lighter color of stone while older thefts are discolored by sun, weather and time.
The BLM will soon seek public suggestions for the planning and management of Sloan Canyon, and it is already considering ways to stop the damage while allowing visitors to enjoy the site, Guerrero said.
One solution calls for placing large, immovable boulders across the canyon to restrict vehicle access. A site register is also planned. It would include information to educate visitors and warn would-be vandals of the consequences of their actions. A monitoring program manned by volunteers including a local archaeological group and BLM law enforcement officials would also help protect the site.
Some of the rock art in the canyon is about 2,000 years old, and there are petroglyphs believed to have been left by the Anasazi, Patayan and Numic groups, White said. The university's inventory of the canyon is the first stage in a process that will lead to the public hearings on preserving and managing the fragile finds.
The BLM plans to form partnerships with tribal groups, concerned residents and the nearby developer.
One of the area's key supporters is Reid, a member of the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee and the Interior subcommittee that appropriates funds to the BLM. Reid said one reason he is passionate about protecting the canyon and its rock art is because of what he saw happen to Piute Springs in California.
On his earliest visit it "was an unbelievable place ... water lilies just gushing out of this volcanic rock," the senator said.
When he returned several years later "the place was trashed," he said . "It was all gone. The stream was a mess. The birds weren't there anymore. People had ruined it."
That must not be allowed to happen to Sloan Canyon, Reid said.
Richard Arnold, a Southern Paiute and executive director of the Las Vegas Indian Center, said Native Americans have always worried about Sloan Canyon's fragility.
"The preferred thing is preservation and protection of the site," Arnold said.
Keeping people out is not an option, Reid said.
"It should be like a museum," he said. "A museum is no good unless people can come and see the paintings."
But without 24-hour surveillance, BLM archaeologist Stanton Rolf doesn't know if vandalism can be stopped.
"All the Native Americans I've consulted with about this site want the area preserved," he said.
And it's not just about preserving Indian tribal art, Rolf said.
"It's about the water, the plants, the entire ecosystem," he said. "To them it's like an open-air museum. It seems to me that the Native Americans had this perspective forever, and we're finally catching on."
Rolf is seeking a stewardship agreement with local Native American groups who would participate in the management of the area.
"This is their heritage and they feel very negatively about people walking on or touching these images," Rolf said. Tom Hennessy, a Del Webb vice president of planning and land development, said the developer has been working with the BLM and Nevada's senators since the nearby Anthem housing development was in the planning stage.
"It's spectacular," Hennessy said of the area. "What we've done all along, we looked at what was around us. We knew there were areas that should be protected."
The developer has met with the BLM, Indian tribes and conservation groups to try to create a plan to protect petroglyphs as well as the flora and fauna, he said.
"We have a lot of residents interested in the area," Hennessy said. "They're really excited about not only protecting the petroglyphs but in preventing further development around the community."
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