A proposal to drill for oil in the Great Salt Lake could threaten artist Robert Smithson’s monumental 1970 earthwork Spiral Jetty. The Canadian firm Pearl Montana Exploration and Production holds three leases, dating to 2003, to drill exploratory boreholes near the iconic sculpture. The Spiral Jetty is usually invisible, lying a few feet under the fluctuating surface level of the lake. Smithson built the piece in 1970 at a time when the lake was at a particularly low level. As a result the piece only occasionally rises to the levels of perceptibility.

Location: Rozel Point, Great Salt Lake, 15 miles SW of Promontory, UT