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| No. 35 |
BLACK CANYON WILDERNESS PROPOSAL | |
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| The Black Canyon
Wilderness study area (WSA) of the Bureau of Land Management, Idaho
Falls District, possesses a splendid combination of scenery, isolation,
wildlife, and archaeology. The landscape of this WSA, which is
located at the boundary of the upper Snake River plain and Idaho's
Lemhi Range, was created by enormous thrust faults and subsequent
erosion of the near-vertical limestone strata. Five major
canyons, thousand of jagged spires, and hundreds of small caves are
found within the 5400 acres. As well as providing dens for
mammalian predators, these outcroppings and solution cavities support
an unusually high density of raptors including eagles, falcons,
kestrels, hawks, and owls. |
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| The greatest contribution
of Black Canyon to the national wilderness system would be
archaeological. For at least 12,000 years, tribal groups have
periodically dwelled in the caves and hunted the diverse game species
that thrived on the adjacent lakes. These prehistoric inhabitants
left behind hundreds of pictographs -- symbolic paintings -- as
evidence of their continued presence at this juncture of two major
valleys and three rivers. The tremendous density of occupation
sites indicates that a permanent cultural center may have been formed
here by tribes thought to be purely nomadic. Although the BLM has
withdrawn this WSA from mineral entry, confirmation of the
archaeological significance is being compromised by pictograph
desecration and large scale looting of artifacts by the public in
violation of the 1972 Antiquities Act. |
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The cultural resource,
educational, and wildlife values of Black Canyon are clearly deserving
of preservation. Be it resolved that the Federation of Western
Outdoor Clubs endorse Black Canyon for a wilderness recommendation by
the Bureau of Land Management. |
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