2

The eight archaeological sites subjected to unauthorized damage on May 10, 2014 are
located in the bottom of Recapture canyon along an OHV trail illegally constructed there earlier.
(All references to the "existing trail." or the "existing OHV trail" in subsequent sections of this
report are to this illegally constructed trail.) Recapture Canyon and the trail through it run roughly
north south and for most oftheir length are parallel to Utah State Highway 191. On their north and
south ends, the canyon and the trail can be accessed by graded dirt roads. The total length of the
trail between the closure points is approximately eight miles. Its' average width is around six feet,
but it is narrower in some locations and wider in others. Because the trail follows the natural
topography of the canyon, it has both relatively level sections as well as steep portions. As is
discussed further below, soil in this area derives from stone content of the local geological
formation and the surface of the trail tends to be rocky in most locations. This type of terrain
typically appeals to OHV users and, as will be shown later, OHV use is a popular recreational
activity in the area where the trail is located.
Recapture Canyon was heavily utilized by Ancestral Pueblo people during the preEuropean contact period, referred to by archaeologists as the "prehistoric" period, and the trail
crosses a number of prehistoric archaeological sites, including the eight sites damaged by the
unauthorized May 10, 2014 trail ride. Prior use ofthe trail by OHV's, as well as other uses of the
trail, particularly by hoofed animals, caused damage to these sites. The BLM administratively
closed the trail to use by OHV's as a result of significant unauthorized damage to archaeological
sites in the canyon caused by users of OHV's in 2007.(The archaeological damage assessment for
the 2007 OHV damage in Recapture Canyon was the subject ofa contract from BLM with the firm
of Archaeological Resource Investigations, as ADIA was known prior to 2010; see McAllister and
Wheeler 2007 and McAllister and Wheeler 2008).
The damage to archaeological resources that is the subject of this report resulted from the
May 10,2014 unauthorized OHV ride through the northern portion ofthe canyon. In an article that
appeared in the Salt Lake City Tribune on May 11, 2014, the OHV ride was described as follows:
Blanding residents along with out-of-town supporters on Saturday drove all-terrain vehicles
into Recapture Canyon, an area rich in prehistoric sites the Bureau of Land Management
closed to motorized use seven years ago ... [A]t least 50 OHVs carrying multiple riders ...
motored across an invisible line in the dust ... beyond which the canyon is off limits ...
(http://wvvw.sltrib.com/sltribinews/57909181-78/canyon-amp-blm-federal.html.csp)

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESOURCE LOCATION

Land Status
The eight archaeological sites in Recapture Canyon damaged by the May 10, 2014
unauthorized OHV trail ride are located on BLM managed federal public land in the vicinity of
Blanding, Utah (see Figure 1). The "Definitions" section of ARPA defines "public lands" as
follows:
The term "public lands" means:
(A)lands which are owned and administered by the United States as part of:
(i)the national park system,
(ii) the national wildlife refuge system, or
(iii) the national forest system; and
(B) all other lands the fee title to which is held by the United States, other than lands on
the Outer Continental Shelf and lands which are under the jurisdiction of the
Smithsonian Institution(16 USC 470bb(3)).
The land on which these eight archaeological sites are located meets the(B)component of
this definition of public (federal) lands. Because public lands are subject to the provisions of the
prohibited acts section of ARPA cited above, the archaeological resources at these sites are
protected by ARPA.
Location, General Description, and Physical Setting of Project Area
The legal descriptions of the locations of the eight sites damaged by the May 10, 2014
unauthorized OHV trail ride are as follows:
Township: 36 South,Range:23 East, Sections: 19 and 31 (four ofthe sites and the northern
portion of one site); and
Township: 37 South, Range: 23 East, Section: 6(the southern portion of one site and three
ofthe sites).

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cn

Boulder Rockfall
- 'Site
1110
' 1 , North End
Site A

..f,,North End
Site B

,1 Above the Rocky

* Drainage Site

ljedge,Aichitecture

-*-Ledge Architecture
Site'13
!
!

Steep Hil
Brown's Canyon
'
Site
Steep Hill\J
Site A
iBeav,er Pond
(Site -

Steep,Hil
Site E

Archaeological Site

, Steep Hill
Site D
Hill
Site B
Miles
MM
0.5
Kilometers
ME=11.11E=
0
0.8
NE

1.6

Service Layer Credits: CapyrightA 2013 National

Geographic Society, I-cubed

Figure 1: Recapture Canyon Archaeological Damage Assessment Project Location Map.

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5
The sites are located in Recapture Canyon, approximately 2.5 miles east of Blanding.
Recapture Canyon is a portion of the north to south trending drainage course of Recapture Creek.
Recapture Creek begins in the Abajo Mountains approximately 14 miles north ofthe site area and,
prior to the modem period, would have drained into the San Juan River located approximately 22
miles to the south near Bluff, Utah. The creek was dammed in the 1980's at the point where State
Highway 191 crosses this drainage approximately three miles northeast of Blanding. This dam
created Recapture Reservoir on the north side of the highway and the stream flow in the creek
below the dam is now only intermittent.
Recapture Canyon is relatively wide (approximately 2,000 feet)just below the darn and
highway crossing, but narrows to widths of less than 1,000 feet as the creek flows southward. The
sites damaged by the unauthorized OHV trail ride are located in a segment of the canyon that
begins approximately four miles south of Recapture Reservoir, just south of where the existing
trail was closed administratively by the BLM, and is approximately three miles in length. Two
named tributary drainages intersect the canyon from the west in this area, Lem's Draw and
Brown's Creek. Elevations in the area where the sites are located range from 5,960 feet on the
north end to 5,530 feet on south end.
Geologically, this southeastern portion of Utah drains most of the Utah portion of the
Colorado Plateau as well as the east drainages of the Wasatch Plateau and southern drainages of
the Tavaputs Plateau. The portion of Recapture Canyon where the sites damaged by the
unauthorized trail ride are located falls within the Morrison Formation that was formed in the
Upper Jurassic. It includes limestone, mudstone, sandstone and siltstone (Harshbarger et al. 1957).
This portion of Recapture Canyon is near the contact zone of the Great Basin Desert Scrub and
Great Basin Conifer Woodland biotic communities(Brown 1994). Vegetation observed at the sites
damaged by the unauthorized OHV trail ride included Pinyon pine, Juniper, Yucca, Sage and
various grasses.
The canyon is currently heavily wooded and vegetated and undoubtedly was in earlier
times also. This narrow sheltered canyon with its water source created by Recapture Creek and its
good supply of wood and other usable types of vegetation was an ideal location for habitation and
use by prehistoric Ancestral Pueblo people and it contains a number of archaeological sites from
that period.
FIELD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES
The field damage assessment procedures for this project were conducted from Monday,May
19 through Thursday, May 22,2014.(Project personnel travel to and from the project area took place
on Sunday, May 18 and Friday, May 23,2014.) Weather during the field damage assessment period
varied only slightly from clear, sunny, and breezy to high clouds and breezy and with warn
temperatures.
ADIA personnel participating in the field damage assessment procedures on all four field
days were Martin E. McAllister, MA, RPA, Archaeologist / Owner, James E. Moriarty, IV,
Archaeologist / Investigator, and David E. Griffel, Investigator. All damage areas involved in the
project were documented using 3D laser scanning (to be discussed further below) conducted by
the firm of LandAir Surveying Company of Roswell, Georgia. LandAir Survey Company project
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crew members were Brandon O'Kelley and Bo Dyer. McAllister, Moriarty, Griffel, O'Kelley, and
Dyer were the primary project staff members for the field damage assessment procedures.
Logistical assistance was provided by various BLM staff members during different days.
As per BLM contract requirements, damage was documented at eight(8)archaeological sites
during the field damage assessment procedures (see Figure 1 and Table 1). On Monday, May 19
through Wednesday,May 21,a trail called the"Brown's Canyon Trail" was used by project personnel
to access seven of these sites, those referred to here as the Brown's Canyon Trail Site, the Beaver
Pond Site, the Steep Hill Site, the Ledge Architecture Site, the Above the Rocky Drainage Site, the
North End Site, and the Boulder Rockfall Site. The trailhead for this trail is located east of State
Highway 191 on the southeastern edge ofBlanding.Itjoins the Recapture Canyon trail approximately
one-third ofthe distance from the northern end ofthe trail. The northernmost site in the project area,
referred to here as the Trail End Site, was accessed on Thursday, May 22 using the road that runs
south of State Highway 191 from the Recapture Reservoir just north of Blanding. This road ends at
the northern closure point ofthe Recapture Canyon trail.

Table 1. Summary Findings of May 19-22, 2014 ADIA Field Damage Assessment Procedures for May 10,
2014 Unauthorized Damage to Eight Sites in Recapture Canyon,Utah.
Site Name and
Number
Trail End Site;
42SA29895

Archaeological
Resources
Damaged
One stone lined
cist

Boulder Rockfall One stone lined

Site; 42SA30999 cist

North End Site;

42SA27008

Two midden
areas

Above the Rocky One stone lined

Drainage Site;
cist
42SA29889

Ledge
One surface
Architecture Site; artifact scatter
42SA29890
and one possible
archaeological
charcoal stain

Number of
Damage
Type ofDamage
Areas
Alteration ofthe archaeological 1
context ofthe cist and damage to
associated archaeological
resources in the portion oftrail
driven over at the cist location
Alteration ofthe archaeological 1
context ofthe cist and damage to
associated archaeological
resources in the portion oftrail
driven over at the cist location
Alteration ofthe archaeological 2
context ofthe midden areas and (designated
damage to associated
A and B)
archaeological resources in the
portion ofthe trail driven over at
the midden locations
Alteration ofthe archaeological 1
context ofthe cist and damage to
associated archaeological
resources in the portion oftrail
driven over at the cist location
Alteration ofthe archaeological 2
context ofthe artifact scatter and (designated
damage to associated
A and B)
archaeological resources,
including the charcoal stain, in
portion ofthe trail driven over at
the artifact scatter location

Total Surface
Area ofAll
Depth of
Potential Damage Damage
123.86 square feet Could not be
determined

91.77 square feet

Could not be
determined

A: 198.28 square Could not be

feet; B: 408.02
determined
square feet
(Total: 606.30
square feet)
147.50 square feet Could not be
determined

A: 346.10 square Could not be

feet; B: 505.73
determined
square feet
(Total: 851.83
square feet)

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7
Table 1 continued: Summary Findings of May 19-22,2014 ADIA Field Damage Assessment Procedures for
May 10,2014 Unauthorized Damage to Eight Sites in Recapture Canyon, Utah.
Archaeological
Number of Total Surface
Site Name and
Number
Steep Hill Site;
42SA29893

Resources
Damaged
One midden area;
one possible
stone lined cist;
three charcoal
stains; two stone
grinding slab
fragments; one
fire cracked rock;
four pottery
sherds
Beaver Pond Site; One surface
42SA26998
artifact scatter

Brown's Canyon
Trail Site;
42SA31000

All Sites

1 stone lined cist

Damage
Areas
Type ofDamage
Alteration ofthe archaeological 5
context ofall of these features
(designated
and artifacts and damage to
A,B,C,D,
associated archaeological
and E)
resources in the portions ofthe
trail driven over at their
locations

Area ofAll
Potential Damage
A: 665.70 square
feet; B: 414.48
square feet; C:
280.60 square
feet; D: 311.35
square feet; E:
158.02 square feet
(Total: 1,830.15
square feet)

Depth of
Damage
Could not be
determined

Alteration ofthe archaeological 1

context ofthe artifact scatter and
damage to associated
archaeological resources in the
portion ofthe trail driven over at
the artifact scatter location
Alteration ofthe archaeological 1
context ofthe cist and damage to
associated archaeological
resources in the portion oftrail
driven over at the cist location

925.67 square feet Could not be

determined

187.32 square feet Could not be

determined

Total Surface
Area ofDamage:
4,764.40 square
feet

Four specific operations were conducted during the field damage assessment procedures at
each ofthe eight damaged sites:
1) The sites were examined by McAllister, Moriarty, and Griffel using initial post-damage
documentation provided by the BLM and damage areas were identified(when more than one
damage area existed at a site, a sequential letter designation was assigned to each, such as
"Damage Area A"and"Damage Area B";BLM Monticello Field Office Archaeologist Laird
Naylor provided valuable assistance to ADIA project personnel in identifying damage at six
ofthe eight sites on Monday,May 19 based on his extensive experience with the archaeology
ofRecapture Canyon and the archaeological sites present there);
2) McAllister took field notes on the damage areas at the sites, assisted by Moriarty;
3) Griffel photographed the damage areas at the sites in the condition they were in at that time
using the ADIA Canon 60D digital single lens reflex camera and Canon EF-S 18-135mm
1:3.5-5.6 IS lens (all digital photographs at the sites were taken with this camera and lens); and

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