Last week, visitors to the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite noticed vehicle tracks across and near the site’s exposed footprints.
The wooden boardwalk around the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite outside Moab, pictured here on Jan. 30, 2022, has been removed and stacked by a contractor hired by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the site’s renovation. Moab residents are concerned the contractor damaged the tracksite, considered among the significant in the nation, by driving heavy equipment over the tracks.
“It’s been known from the beginning that the track-bearing layer was hard but thin and brittle,” said Shenton, who met BLM officials to learn what went wrong and how to mitigate the damage. “We had experts from China, Korea, Argentina, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S., and every one of them told us, ‘Don’t walk on this tracks layer any more than you absolutely have to because it will fracture under your weight.
“The Moab Field Office is working to improve safe public access with an updated boardwalk that is designed to protect the natural resources of this site,” the statement said. “During that effort, heavy equipment is on location, but it is absolutely not used in the protected area.” Tire marks are seen adjacent to fossils at Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite in Moab Sunday, Jan 30, 2022.
The tracksite is distinct from the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Interpretive Trail, a companion attraction located nearby. Most visitors see both on the same trip. That trail provides an interpretive experience for dinosaur bones that remain embedded in the rock. The BLM designated the site for public use in 2013 and built a raised wooden boardwalk so people could view the tracks without stepping on them. The original boardwalk has not held up to the “parade of visitors” and the elements, according to an environmental assessment signed Oct. 12 by the BLM’s Moab field office manager Nicollee Gaddis-Wyatt.