Managing rock art at Grand Canyon National Park: Balancing preservation and accessibility

This thesis provides guidelines for creating rock art management plans that balance heritage access and preservation. Heritage resources are physical links to the past and solidify social identity. Heritage places tell stories fundamental to understanding history. During my internship at Grand Canyon National Park I relocated, photographed, and monitored eight previously recorded rock art sites. Rock art is vulnerable to deterioration and destruction from climate change, water erosion, visitation, and vandalism. Management plans must consider and facilitate access to heritage places, while bearing in mind protection to ensure rock art preservation. Often, people are inspired to protect rock art after visitation. The more informed people become about heritage resources, the less likely they are to damage rock art. Information gained from my research provides the park with a deeper understanding of rock art monitoring and preservation techniques. I created a management plan detailing the current condition of each site and developed recommendations for future protection. Before archaeologists or professional conservators conduct rock art conservation, archaeologists must extensively monitor sites for deterioration. Without sound methods, archaeologists can damage rock art sites. Methods used in this thesis strive to accomplish detailed and efficient monitoring strategies for the eight rock art sites. This thesis discusses procedures heritage managers should consider while facilitating access and preserving archaeological sites in situ.