Proposed Park Would Protect Important Utah Dinosaur Site

SALT LAKE CITY (The Salt Lake Tribune) — An important dinosaur site that has fallen into neglect would be protected as Utah's 45th state park under a measure being proposed in the state Legislature. The Salt Lake Tribune reports the bill would create Utahraptor State Park about 15 miles north of Moab. The creation of a state park is backed by Grand County leaders who have long wanted to safeguard the quarry. State paleontologist Jim Kirkland says the area is the most important dinosaur site in the U.S. because of its massive deposits of dinosaur bones from at least 10 species found nowhere else in North America.