Story at a glance
- Workers hired by the Bureau of Land Management damaged a large number of dinosaur footprints near Moab, Utah, advocates allege.
- The city is home to the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite, one of the largest dinosaur tracksites in the world.
- The Center for Biological Diversity has sent a cease and desist letter to the Bureau of Land Management.
Contractors hired by the Bureau of Land Management might have damaged ancient dinosaur tracks near Moab while working to replace the boardwalk at Mill Canyon.
Last week, visitors to the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite spotted what looked like tire track marks over some of the site’s footprints where a wooden boardwalk had been removed as part of a recent renovation project, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
As a result, the Center for Biological Diversity sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Bureau of Land Management’s Utah office on Monday, Jan. 31, urging the agency to immediately stop all work that could destroy the irreplaceable artifacts.
The backhoe that drove over the site destroyed up to 30 percent of the artifacts at the site, according to the letter. Photos shared on social media show crushed dinosaur tracks and a ruined crocodilian resting trace.
The Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite is home to at least 200 dinosaur footprints preserved in sedimentary rock from at least 10 species of dinosaur and is considered one of the most significant early Cretaceous dinosaur tracksites on the planet.
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“I’m absolutely outraged that the BLM has apparently destroyed one of the world’s most important paleontological resources,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center. “This careless disregard for these irreplaceable traces of the past is appalling. It really calls into question the Bureau’s competence as a land-management agency.”
“The BLM must immediately halt the destruction of the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite and take steps to stabilize the site, protect these prehistoric treasures and prevent further harm,” Donnelly added. “Paleontological resources are a critical link to the past that help scientists shed light on today’s biodiversity. It’s essential that our land managers do everything possible to protect them for future generations.”
The Bureau of Land Management has yet to reply to a request for comment from Changing America.
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