112m-year-old dinosaur tracks damaged in Utah by construction machinery

They survived through 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 Several of the world's most important and historic dinosaur footprints were damaged beyond repair when a construction crew arrived to build a new boardwalk for tourists.

The Bureau of Land Management published a report last week detailing the damage done to the footprints and the ancient crocodile crossing in the canyon.

According to the bureau, the good news was that the damage was evaluated as minor, and would have been much worse if local residents had not spotted tire tracks from heavy machinery on the ground.

At the Mill Canyon dinosaur track site, several of the delicate prints can't be repaired because there are more than 200 individual tracks from the early cretaceous period. The BLM warns that future freeze-thaw cycles could cause the cracks to widen.

According to the report, the damage was caused by both foot traffic and construction equipment as a contractor used a digger to remove the old boardwalk at the site's most popular area to make way for a new raised platform from which the public could view the tracks.

The report states that trace fossils were damaged as a result of being repeatedly driven over.

All the areas where damage occurred should have been flagged for avoidance and construction crews should have avoided driving in the area.

The bureau is assessing how to avoid further damage and the boardwalk replacement project is on hold.

The bureau said in a statement that they will follow the recommendations in the assessment, seek public input, and work with the paleontology community as they move forward on constructing boardwalks at the interpretive site.

The BLM has apparently destroyed one of the world's most important paleontological resources.

This careless disregard for the past is appalling. It calls into question the bureau's competence as a land-management agency.