Utahraptor State Park

The park is located east of U.S. Route 191 and west of Arches National Park, and covers {{convert|6500|acre|km2}}. The park contains the Dalton Wells Quarry, which have yielded remains of dinosaurs that have advanced understanding of paleontology, such as those of the giant dromaeosaur dinosaur Utahraptor ostrommaysi.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7t9M5TsmjOUC&dq=utahraptor+dalton+wells&pg=PA165|title=Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs|last1=Currie|first1=Philip J.|last2=Padian|first2=Kevin|publisher=Elsevier Science|page=165|date=October 6, 1997|accessdate=April 19, 2021|isbn=9780080494746}} Fossils found in the park include those from the early Cretaceous at least 135 to 110 million years ago, such as dinosaurs, such bird-like Nedcolbertia, armoured Gastonia, and long-necked Moabosaurus.{{cite news|url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/04/18/robert-gehrke-utah-is/|title=Robert Gehrke: Utah is home to the richest deposits of dinosaurs on the planet, and now they will be protected|last=Gehrke|first=Robert|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc.|location=Salt Lake City|date=April 18, 2021|access-date=April 19, 2021}}

Dalton Wells is also the site of a historic Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was later used as the Moab Isolation Center, an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II.{{cite news|url=https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2021/03/17/gov-spencer-cox-signs/|title=Gov. Spencer Cox signs bill to create Utahraptor State Park near Moab: The governor also signed measures on COVID-19 vaccines and launching a state flag review|last1=Rodgers|first1=Bethany|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|publisher=The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc.|location=Salt Lake City|date=March 17, 2021|accessdate=September 19, 2021}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oq98Frd1YhYC&q=moab+isolation+center|title=Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites|last1=Burton|first1=Jeffery F.|last2=Farrell|first2=Mary M.|last3=Lord|first3=Florence B.|last4=Lord|first4=Richard W. |publisher=University of Washington Press|location=Seattle|pages=326–327|date=July 2011 |accessdate=April 19, 2021|isbn=9780295801513}}

In 1975, palaeontologist Jim Jensen from Brigham Young University dug at the site. In 1993, Jim Kirkland, Robert Gaston, and Donald Burge used fossils from Dalton Wells and elsewhere to describe a new giant raptor, naming it Utahraptor.{{cite news |last1=Black |first1=Riley |title=What Do We Really Know About Utahraptor? |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-do-we-really-know-about-utahraptor-95334335/ |access-date=April 19, 2021 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=February 22, 2011}}

In 2001, a large block was excavated, containing several specimens of Utahraptor, representing a large group surrounding an ornithopod dinosaur. In 2013, further research of it began, currently ongoing,{{Cite web|last=Stilson|first=Ashley|date=2017-09-04|title=Utahraptor Project aims to draw real picture of ancient creature|url=https://www.deseret.com/2017/9/4/20618861/utahraptor-project-aims-to-draw-real-picture-of-ancient-creature|access-date=2021-04-19|website=Deseret News|language=en}}{{cite web|title=Utah Considers State Park Named For Utahraptor Dinosaur|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/03/02/972905995/utah-considers-state-park-named-for-utahraptor-dinosaur|access-date=2021-03-04|website=NPR.org|language=en}} overseen by Kirkland.

On March 11, 2021 state legislators passed a bill to create Utahraptor State Park.{{cite web|title=Robert Gehrke: Utah is home to the richest deposits of dinosaurs on the planet, and now they will be protected|url=https://sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/04/18/robert-gehrke-utah-is|access-date=2021-04-20|website=The Salt Lake Tribune|language=en-US}} The law that established the park was sponsored by state representative Steve Eliason. The legislation which created the park also included the establishment of the Lost Creek State Park in Morgan County.

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• List of Utah State Parks

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{{commons category|Utahraptor State Park}}

• {{official website|https://stateparks.utah.gov/parks/utahraptor/}}
• [https://le.utah.gov/~2021/bills/static/HB0257.html H.B. 257 Utah State Park Amendments (law establishing the park, 2021)]
• [https://le.utah.gov/~2020/bills/static/HB0322.html H.B. 322 Utahraptor State Park (previous bill, 2020)]
• [https://noehill.com/ut_grand/nat1994000366.asp Noehill: Dalton Wells Civilian Conservation Corps Camp and Moab Relocation Center]

{{UT Parks}}

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Category:State parks of Utah

Category:Protected areas of Grand County, Utah

Category:Protected areas established in 2021

Category:Provincial and state parks in the Rocky Mountains

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