In The Spotlight

Kanab Field Office Releases Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan

BLM Hosts Public Tour of North Moccasin Mountain Dinosaur Tracks
More than 100 members of the public toured a site in southern Kane County, Utah on Saturday, January 12,  to inspect fossilized footprints pressed into the area's red sandstone by dinosaurs approximately 185 million years ago.  "The site is outstanding for the quality of the tracks, diversity of animals represented and continuum of time they were created," said Alan Titus, paleontologist for the Bureau of Land Management, who led two tours of interested people to the location under clear blue skies.  Located in Kane County about 3 miles west of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, the site was documented last October in a popular riding area for all-terrain vehicles.  The area has since been closed to riders to preserve the site, named the Northern Moccasin Mountain Track Site.  The area, about the size of a football field, is covered with perhaps thousands of prehistoric footprints from the Jurassic period, when the region was covered with the largest sand desert the world has known, Titus said.  The Kanab Field Office hopes to enlist local volunteers and OHV clubs to finish installing a protective fence around the site and closely monitor and patrol the area to ensure the protection of these spectacular tracks and educate visitors regarding the resource values and minimal impact travel across the site.

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