Contributions from Utah conservationists have brought to $1,200 the cash reward offered for information on recent vandalism to rock art in Horseshoe Canyon.
Canyonlands National Park officials said four private sources have pledged to add a total of $700 to the $500 reward the National Park Service is offering for information leading to prosecution in the case."I didn't expect it. I was rather surprised," said Larry Thomas, chief of resource management for the Southeast Utah Group of NPS units.
"It kind of shows that people are getting tired of it (vandalism of rock art), and frustrated that nothing can be done to stop it. If this is a positive move to stopping it or lessening it, then they're ready to do it."
So far the $250 contributed by the Utah Rock Art Research Association of Salt Lake City has been matched by $250 from the Wasatch Mountain Club, Thomas said. Also, the Uintah Valley Archaeology Club and the new "Back of Beyond" bookstore in Moab, owned by Ken Sanders of Salt Lake City, have each added $100 each to pot.
The contributions, offered in response to news accounts of damage discovered Jan. 1 at "The Living Light" mural in the Maze District, were accompanied in one case with criticism of the "pathetic reward" the Park Service had offered.
Park officials have no clue who vandalized the site. Horseshoe Canyon, also known as Barrier Canyon, is about 40 miles south of Green River in Wayne County.
Canyonlands archaeologist Chas Cartwright said he expects patrols will be stepped up at the canyon. Cartwright, who was on vacation when the vandalism occurred, said the damage was extensive but not as bad as he had anticipated.
"What really scares me more than anything is, this panel, if not within a stone's throw, is very close to `The Great Gallery,' the prize of rock art in this group. In North America, it is recognized as one of the more incredible rock-art panels around," he said.
"The Great Gallery" is on the National Register of Historic Places. Canyonlands headquarters received a lot of calls about the vandalism, and Cartwright said he believes it was mainly because of the more famous panels.
"We have not gotten this kind of response (before). The reason we have is, people think `Horseshoe Canyon - Great Gallery' and are appalled, as I am, because this area is recognized for its rock art."
Cartwright said charcoal readily found at the vandalized site, an ancient habitation of the Anasazi, was apparently used to outline several figures out of dozens painted on three panels. The inscriptions "Jake 90" and "Jon MS 1989" were also written on the wall.
The charcoal markings were easy to remove, but abraded and battered spots in a 4-square-foot section spanning two of the three panels at the site "are a different story," Cartwright said.
"It looks like somebody was taking a rock to the panel and hammering away," he said.
Two anthropomorphic figures painted in red on the first panel were destroyed and one was damaged. On the second panel, a hunting scene - a buffalo and one elk - was damaged.
A gum eraser was used to remove the charcoal graffiti, but a professional art conservation specialist would have to be brought in at considerable expense to fill in and repaint the battered portions with silicone and pigment, Cartwright said.
"Right now we do not have intentions of doing that," he said.
"The debate is, when you get to the point where you have a prehistoric site and you're introducing modern elements onto the panel, is it better off with that done, or left undone?
"These panels are very, very significant, and messing with them is the last thing to do," Cartwright added. "I've always found that a rush to treat is always a mistake."
The only time that special watercolors were used to repair damage to pictographs in this area was in 1980 when the Moab Panel at Courthouse Wash in Arches National Park was vandalized, Cartwright said.
"Anyone who's seen the before and after realizes it's never the same. What came out of that was the recognition that the damage has been done and it will never be the same again."