BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Laminated sheets of papers held in place by rocks rest inside ancient cliff dwellings nestled underneath a spectacular red rock overhang in southeastern Utah. "Don't erase the traces of America's past," the signs read. "Please do not enter interior rooms."
The weathered signs and a similar warning at the trailhead are the only protections in place for these easily accessible ruins along a canyon hiking path.
The cliff dwellings are part of an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites within a 1.9-million acre area that a coalition of American Indian tribes wants President Barack Obama to designate a national monument to ensure protections for lands considered sacred.