On the evening of June 28, 2020 a fire started on Utah State land north of the preserve and traveled northward toward Saratoga Springs. The preserve was not in danger until two trespassers (for reasons yet to be determined) illegally gained access to the preserve in a vehicle. The heat from the vehicle started a secondary fire on preserve land. This fire consumed 95% of the vegetation around the preserve petroglyphs. Emergency fire personnel operating a bulldozer then entered the property creating a one mile long fire berm, fortunately missing significant rock art panels.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office and the Utah State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the Preserve Manager, and Site Stewards have investgated to determine if and to what extent petroglyphs and other cultural resources on the preserve were damaged due to the trespassers and subsequent bulldozing activities. Extensive reclamation work will need to be done for erosion control because of this fire line. It is unlikely that we will receive any restitution from the trespassers. Even if offense-related restitution is court-ordered we will likely not see those funds for a very long time.
