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Utah House approves bill creating state cultural‑stewardship coordinator to protect rock art and artifacts
Summary
The House passed HB163 to fund a Department of State History position that will coordinate volunteers and interagency efforts to monitor, document and protect archaeological and cultural sites statewide; supporters cited vandalism and concerns from descendants.
The Utah House of Representatives on Feb. 12 approved House Bill 163, creating a position in the Department of State History to coordinate volunteers, state and federal agencies and community groups to monitor and protect cultural and archaeological sites across the state. Representative Timothy Hawkes, the bill sponsor, said the measure is modeled on a successful Nevada program and is aimed at leveraging a single state position to mobilize volunteers to identify vandalism and report problems.
"So, what this cultural stewardship bill does is the state can't go out on the ground and find all these places and monitor all these places, but it creates a position in the Department of State History to train and to coordinate with federal and state agencies, with community groups, to train volunteers, unpaid, to go out and monitor these sites, look at them, document them," Representative Hawkes said.
Supporters described widespread damage to pictographs, petroglyphs and other artifacts. Representative Albrecht urged colleagues to back the bill, saying "there's been a lot of vandalism on some of these rock art panels in Southern Utah, and we need to protect them." Representative Kwan, who identified as a descendant of Chinese railroad workers, said artifacts near Promontory Point are exposed and need curation and protection. Representative Lyman cautioned that state involvement is preferable to outside groups taking aggressive actions without local engagement.
The bill would establish a state coordinator to work with volunteer monitors to document sites and flag serious vandalism for follow-up by appropriate authorities. Sponsor Hawkes said the role focuses on education and engagement with local communities as well as coordination with federal and state partners.
The House voted to pass HB163 by voice vote with 72 yes and 0 no; the bill will be transmitted to the Senate for further consideration.
The matter now moves to the Senate calendar; proponents said the next steps will be committee hearings there and continued outreach to tribal descendants and local stakeholders.
