Dinosaur National Monument
IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
Location:	Utah and Colorado, USA
Nearest city:	Vernal, UT
Coordinates:	40°32′″N, 108°59′″W
Area:	204,000 acres (826 km²)
Established:	October 4, 1915
Visitation:	(in )
Governing body:	U.S. National Park Service

Dinosaur National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains on the border between the American states of Colorado and Utah at the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers. Although most of the monument acreage is in Moffat County, Colorado, the Dinosaur Quarry is located in Utah just to the north of the town of Jensen, Utah. The Dinosaur wall located within the Dinosaur Quarry building in the park consists of a steeply tilted (67° from the horizontal) rock layer which contains hundreds of dinosaur fossils. The enclosing rock has been chipped away to reveal the fossil bones intact for public viewing. The nearest communities are Vernal, Utah and Dinosaur, Colorado. The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... A Natural Monument is a natural/cultural feature which is of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. ... Image File history File links Locator_Dot. ... Image File history File links US_Locator_Blank. ... Official language(s) English Capital Largest city Salt Lake City Salt Lake City Area  Ranked 13th  - Total 84,876 sq. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 8th 104,185 sq mi  269 837 km² 280 miles  451 km 380 miles  612 km 0. ... Vernal is a city located in Uintah County, Utah. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. ... A U.S. National Monument is a protected area of the United States that is similar to a national park (specifically a U.S. National Park) except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a national monument without Congressional... This view of Kings Peak shows the cliff bands and basins typical throughout the Uintas. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 8th 104,185 sq mi  269 837 km² 280 miles  451 km 380 miles  612 km 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Largest city Salt Lake City Salt Lake City Area  Ranked 13th  - Total 84,876 sq. ... The Green River, a tributary of the Colorado, is shown highlighted on a map of the western United States. ... The Yampa River, a tributary of the Green River, is shown highlighted on a map of the western United States The Yampa River is a tributary of the Green River, approximately 250 mi (402 km) long, in the U.S. state of Colorado. ... Moffat County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Sedimentary, volcanic, plutonic, metamorphic rock types of North America. ... This article is about the geologic use of the term, for other uses see Stratum (disambiguation) Interstate road cut through limestone and shale strata in eastern Tennessee In geology and related fields, a stratum (plural: strata) is a layer of rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguishes it... A fossil Ammonite Fossils (from Latin fossus, literally having been dug up) are the mineralized or otherwise preserved remains or traces (such as footprints) of animals, plants, and other organisms. ... Vernal is a city located in Uintah County, Utah. ... Dinosaur is a town located in Moffat County, Colorado. ...

The rock layer enclosing the fossils is a sandstone and conglomerate bed of alluvial or river bed origin known as the Morrison Formation from the Jurassic Period some 150 million years old. The dinosaurs and other ancient animals were washed into the area and buried presumably during flooding events. The pile of sediments were later buried and lithified into solid rock. The rock layers were later uplifted and tilted to their present angle by the mountain building forces theat formed the Uintas. The relentless forces of erosion exposed the layers at the surface to be found by paleontologists. Sandstone near Stadtroda, Germany Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. ... A conglomerate with iron oxide cementing material A conglomerate is a rock consisting of other stones that have been cemented together. ... Alluvium is soil land deposited by a river or other running water. ... The Morrison Formation is a distinctive body of rock in the western United States and Canada that has been the most fertile source of fossils in North America. ... The Jurassic period is a major unit of the geologic timescale that extends from about 200 Ma (million years ago) at the end of the Triassic to 146 Ma at the beginning of the Cretaceous. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and other particles) by the agents of wind, water, ice, movement in response to gravity, or living organisms (in the case of bioerosion). ...

The dinosaur fossil beds were discovered in 1909 by Earl Douglass, a paleontologist working and collecting for the Carnegie Museum. He excavated thousands of fossils and shipped them back to the museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for study and display. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the dinosaur beds as Dinosaur National Monument in 1915. The monument boundaries were expanded in 1938 from the original 80-acre tract surrounding the dinosaur quarry in Utah, to its present extent of over 200,000 acres in Utah and Colorado, encompassing the spectacular river canyons of the Green and Yampa. A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ... The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are operated by the Carnegie Institute and are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Pittsburgh as viewed from Mount Washington Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. ... Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States (1913–1921). ...

Though lesser-known than the fossil beds, the petroglyphs in Dinosaur National Monument are another treasure the monument holds. Due to problems with vandals, many of the sites are not listed on area maps. Talk to someone at the visitor center if you wish to find these ancient works of art. Petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument, southern Utah, USA Petroglyphs are images incised in rock, usually by prehistoric, especially Neolithic, peoples. ...

Workers inside the Dinosaur Quarry building

Dinosaur National Monument-inside the Dinosaur Quarry building From http://www. ... Dinosaur National Monument-inside the Dinosaur Quarry building From http://www. ...

Echo Park Dam controversy

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans for a ten-dam, billion dollar Colorado River Storage Project began to arouse opposition in the early 1950s when it was announced that one of the proposed dams would be at Echo Park, in the middle of Dinosaur National Monument. The controversy assumed major proportions, dominating conservation politics for years. David Brower, executive director of the Sierra Club, and Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society led an unprecedented nationwide campaign to preserve the free-flowing rivers and scenic canyons of the Green and Yampa Rivers. If even a national monument was not safe from development, they reasoned, how could any wildland be kept intact? The United States Bureau of Reclamation (Formerly the United States Reclamation Service) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior which oversees water development projects in the western United States. ... Echo Park (Colorado) is a remote river bottom surrounded by canyon walls on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument. ... David Ross Brower (July 1, 1912 – November 5, 2000) was the founder of many environmentalist organizations including the Sierra Club Foundation, the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, Friends of the Earth (1969), the League of Conservation Voters, Earth Island Institute (1982), North Cascades Conservation Council, and Fate of the... The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization founded on May 28, 1892 in San Francisco, California by the well-known conservationist John Muir, who became its first president. ...

On the other side of the argument were powerful members of Congress from western states, who were committed to the Colorado River Storage Project in order to secure water rights, obtain cheap hydroelectric power and develop reservoirs as tourist destinations. After much debate, Congress settled on a compromise that eliminated Echo Park Dam and authorized the rest of the project. The Colorado River Storage Project Act became law on April 11, 1956. It stated, “that no dam or reservoir constructed under the authorization of the Act shall be within any National Park or Monument.” Congress in Joint Session. ... Hydroelectric dam diagram The waters of Llyn Stwlan, the upper reservoir of the Ffestiniog Pumped-Storage Scheme in north Wales, can just be glimpsed on the right. ... ... April 11 is the 101st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (102nd in leap years). ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Historians view the Echo Park Dam controversy as signaling the start of an era that includes major conservationist political successes such as the Wilderness Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The Wilderness Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-577) created the legal definiton of wilderness in the United States, and protected some 9 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into National Wild and Scenic River. ...

Green River Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (5254x1602, 1580 KB) Summary Green River Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument Author: Michael Rissi, 2005 Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (5254x1602, 1580 KB) Summary Green River Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument Author: Michael Rissi, 2005 Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free...

References

• Mark W.T. Harvey, A Symbol of Wilderness: Echo Park and the American Conservation Movement (University of Washington Press, 2000) ISBN 0295979321
• Jon M. Cosco, Echo Park: Struggle for Preservation (Johnson Books, 1995) ISBN 1555661408

External links

• Dinosaur National Monument official park site
• National Park Service Douglass Quarry
• Dinosaur National Monument