BLM Invites Public to Join Paleontologist-Guided Dinosaur Tours and Talks

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Moab Field Office (MFO) launches its new summer series “Jurassic Walks and Talks.” Every weekend from July 29 through Labor Day, a BLM paleontologist will lead alternating free tours of four dinosaur tracksites and one dinosaur fossil site in the Moab area. Weekend evenings a BLM paleontologist will give free dinosaur talks at the Moab Information Center (MIC) in downtown Moab.

In May of this year, the BLM and Tread Lightly! launched the “Respect and Protect” Campaign to eliminate looting and vandalism of archaeological, paleontological, and other natural resources. These tours and talks are offered through the “Respect and Protect” campaign in order to engage and educate the public in the stewardship of paleontological resources.

Millions of dinosaur tracks and several new dinosaur species, including Utahraptor, have been found in the Moab area over the last twenty years. A number of these paleontological sites have been made publicly accessible by the BLM MFO. Among the public sites are the Mill Canyon Tracksite, the Mill Canyon Bone Trail, the Copper Ridge Tracks, the Dinosaur Stomping Ground Tracks, and the Poison Spider Tracks, which range in age from about 112 million years old to about 190 million years old. This summer's “Jurassic Walks” will take place at these five sites on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. Some of the unique features of these sites include the firstUtahraptor-like tracks in North America, a giant meat-eating dinosaur with a limp, and real dinosaur bones embedded in Jurassic-aged rocks.

The evening “Jurassic Talks” will be presented by a BLM paleontologist outside the MIC Friday-Sunday evening at 6PM. Friday evenings will involve hands-on paleontological activities for kids. Saturday and Sunday evenings will consist of discussions about Moab's world-class dinosaurs and trackways.

All tours and talks are free. Members of the public are encouraged to attend and participate. Daily schedule will available at the MIC, seen online @https://visitmoabutah.wordpress.com/2016/07/21/blm-paleontologist-walk-talk-2016/, and by calling the BLM office at 435-259-2100.