NewsWorldAmericasDinosaur tracks dating back 112 million years were \u2018repeatedly driven and walked over,\u2019 says a new report from the Bureau of Land Management<\/p>\n
The Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite is home to more than 200 dinosaur tracks, some of which have been damaged by a construction project <\/p>\n
(Google Maps)<\/p>\n
Dinosaur footprints at a popular tourist site have been permanently damaged after a construction crew repeatedly walked and drove over them.<\/p>\n
In January, workers were building a new boardwalk at the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite near Moab, Utah when multiple residents complained of their carelessness. The project was stopped, and the US Bureau of Land Management inspected the site, confirming the damage.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200b\u200bWe have carefully reviewed the findings and recommendations in the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite Paleontological Assessment, which confirmed there was minor damage to some dinosaur footprints, primarily north of the main interpretive site,\u201d the BLM said in a statement on Wednesday. \u201cTo ensure this does not happen again, we will follow the recommendations in the assessment, seek public input, and work with the paleontology community as we collectively move forward on constructing boardwalks at the interpretive site.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mill Canyon is home to hundreds of tracks from at least ten different species of dinosaurs and other creatures of the Cretaceous Age. The site was discovered in 2009, and has been visited by thousands of tourists from around the world since then.<\/p>\n
In service to those tourists, construction began on a new boardwalk over the tracks in January. But residents quickly noticed something was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal members of the public became aware of the project on January 26th and visited the site shortly thereafter, wherein they reported this possible damaging activity to the local BLM,\u201d a BLM paleontologist wrote in his report last month. \u201cIn addition, other interested parties were contacted via social media and the story went viral over the weekend of January 28th-29th.\u201d<\/p>\n
The locals were right \u2013 construction workers were irreparably damaging the fossils. One of them was the \u201cslide track\u201d of an ancient crocodile from about 112 million years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, this trace was repeatedly driven over, as recent tire tracks indicate that this area was impacted by the backhoe and other vehicles,\u201d the report says. \u201cThis trace fossil appears to have sustained some fracturing damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other tracks, including dinosaur footprints, were \u201crepeatedly driven and walked over.\u201d The BLM described the overall destruction as \u201cminor,\u201d but irreversible.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, little can be done to restore broken or eroded tracks left exposed in situ,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n
As reports of the damage made national news, environmental groups were furious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m absolutely outraged that the BLM has apparently destroyed one of the world\u2019s most important paleontological resources,\u201d wrote Patrick Donnelly of the Center for Biological Diversity. \u201cThis careless disregard for these irreplaceable traces of the past is appalling. It really calls into question the Bureau\u2019s competence as a land-management agency.\u201d<\/p>\n
The BLM has suspended construction, and says it will only resume after a new environmental assessment has been completed, possibly by this summer.<\/p>\n
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NewsWorldAmericasDinosaur tracks dating back 112 million years were \u2018repeatedly driven and walked over,\u2019 says a new report from the Bureau of Land Management The Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite is home to more than 200 dinosaur tracks, some of which have been damaged by a construction project (Google Maps) Dinosaur footprints at a popular tourist site […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n