WritersontheRange Famous fossils

Old bones can be a town’s movie stars

by Adam Larson

The prehistoric past can perk up the present. When woolly mammoth bones were found in my hometown in Wisconsin years ago, they became the centerpiece of one of our local museums. Today, they continue to attract visitors and serve as one of the city’s informal symbols.

Unfortunately, the story across much of the fossil-rich West is more abandonment than local fame. During the late 19th century, paleontologists made huge finds in the region, excavating specimens of famed dinosaurs like Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Diplodocus and Allosaurus.

But like many would-be movie stars, the bones ended up leaving their rural sites to find fame in the big cities. Left behind were holes – literally.

It took time for the West to stake its claim to keeping some fossil finds at home. Countless fossils, for example, have been exhumed in Wyoming since the late 19th century, but the University of Wyoming Geological Museum in Laramie didn’t have a single mount of a Wyoming dinosaur until 1961.

One reason was money. Even today, a town might be located right next to spectacular fossil sites, but limited municipal budgets can make it hard to keep the lights on in a museum.

Yet everyone benefits when at least some fossil finds stay put. In many cases, they are discovered not by paleontologists but by ordinary citizens. In 2006, oil workers in Wyoming happened upon giant white bones, recognized their importance and called in experts. The bones were part of an enormous, 11,600-yearold Columbian mammoth.

Thankfully, that mammoth is now on public display at the Tate Geological Museum in Casper. The landowners whose property contained the mammoth bones thoughtfully chose to donate them.

Once in local museums, fossil displays give people in the area examples of the bones they might come across, and a place for them to contact if they find something unusual. When locally found fossils stay local, they also connect people to their prehistoric heritage and encourage them to donate discoveries to local museums.

But there’s more: fossils help the local economy by attracting visitors. Once local museums start drawing a crowd, they can help pay for themselves while also indirectly contributing to schools and roads. According to the Americans for the Arts, tourism from museums and other cultural nonprofits generates $5 in tax revenue for each dollar they receive in government funding.

Thankfully, a lot has changed since the first fossil hunters descended upon the West in search of prehistoric dinosaurs, mammals and more. Fossil fans in the West no longer have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to see incredible discoveries in their home states.

For example, in Ekalaka, Mont., population 399, the Carter County Museum hosts an annual “Dino Shindig,” which attracts paleontologists from across the country and hundreds of other visitors.

As Carter County Museum director Sabre Moore told the documentary series “Prehistoric Road Trip,” the Shindig shares groundbreaking science and includes the landowners who made the discoveries possible.

At the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, population 2,725, visitors can see fossils of dinosaurs large and small, tour active dig sites and even take part in the digs themselves.

“I like that we’re a destination for folks coming to Thermopolis,” Levi Shinkle, collections manager at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center and a Thermopolis native, said. “We’re a small museum, but we’re often in the same conversations as the large museums.”

In North Dakota, the State Fossil Collection is on a quest, in the words of founder John Hoganson, to put “a fossil exhibit in every town.” The program has helped put up more than two dozen paleontology and geology exhibits across the state, from Pembina, population 512, to Lidgerwood, population 600, to Bowman, population 1,470.

Sharing a home where the dinosaurs once roamed definitely adds to local pride. When the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont., obtained a second large Tyrannosaurus rex, it put the second one up on display in the museum as “Montana’s T. rex,” and they loaned the other to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., where it’s now known as the “Nation’s T. rex.”

Sharing the riches of the West’s past –right here in the West – enriches everyone.

Adam Larson is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is a former editor of the Wyoming Dinosaur Center’s newsletter.

Two locations: 42 CR 250 & 135 East 8th St. Open 7 days a week, 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.

River’s rising

High water is here on the Animas River, and with it comes more boaters and floaters.

Trash left near the river banks gets washed into the river, and it’s easier to flip craft and loose items that then wash up in eddies or onto the shore. So what’s to be found as you go down the Animas besides lots of wood? The ubiquitous flip-flop, water bottles, tennis balls, plastic bags/containers, etc. And, as commercial tourism ramps up, so do paddles, small craft and even people. So how can you help if you’re on the river?

Most importantly, if you see someone trying to get out of river, help them with a tow or get them in your boat if possible. People first, gear second. Next, if you can’t carry gear with you, throw it toward the side of the river so it will hopefully eddy out. For items in eddies, again, if you can’t carry them (like paddles or crafts), stick them upright on the shore so they can be seen easily. Or if smaller, then throw them higher on the shore so they don’t wash back into the river. Lastly, if it’s trash – like tarps, clothing or bags – pile it next to the river trail if on that side of the river. The City of Durango has regular patrols on the river trail that pick up trash. So help them find it, and help keep our river corridor cleaner and safer.

– Tim Thomas, Durango

Vote a cleaner future

I am writing as a concerned student from Animas High School, because I want to see a change in our sources of energy. I want to see us start to use more renewable, eco-friendly energy and turn away from harmful fossil fuels. I need to see this change so that our future generations will have the opportunity to experience this beautiful natural world and the clean air that we breathe.

In La Plata County, we have the great opportunity of being in an energy cooperative with the ability to elect our board members. With this power, we can decide who we want to create our energy future by electing people who will steer us toward less harmful energy sources. But to do this, we must vote, and right now only about 25% of people in LPEA vote for their Board of Directors. This must change; we cannot have a minority deciding what kind of people we want to control our energy future.

District 4, go out and vote for our energy future. Currently, LPEA gets its energy from an organization called TriState that gets most of its energy from coal, a very unclean source of energy. By voting for our LPEA Board members, we can find new ways to get our energy and slowly get out of our deal with Tri-State and into a cleaner future. We can all have an impact on how green Archuleta and La Plata counties are, and it all starts with small actions including our vote.

– Gareth S. Keohane, Animas High School class of 2025

Close call

Editor’s note: On Monday, the City of Durango announced the developer of the Sophia Apartments withdrew its application and will redesign the project. The developer’s goal is to present a new proposal to the Durango Planning Commission on June 26.

The Durango community dodged, at least for the moment, a bullet on May 3, when the Durango Planning Commission recommended to deny a proposal to build the massive 200-plus unit Sophia Apartments adjacent to Florida Road. Congratulations to all those who have been fighting an extraordinarily well-organized resistance to this illconceived project.

As community awareness and political pressure against this project grows, it seems unlikely that a body that depends on getting elected, such as the Durango City Council, would vote to overturn this recommendation. You never know, though. Plenty of horrible decisions, contrary to the best interests of the people, are made every day in America, and Durango is no different. The catastrophic decision to place the stink pot – I mean sewer treatment plant – right at Santa Rita Park, which many would consider a crown jewel of the community, is one example of planning gone way amok.

As the saying goes, “follow the money.” The development pipeline corrupts even politicians who had the best of intentions (and we all know what the road to hell is paved with!). This Texas development corporation has, of course, managed to hire Dean Brookie, a local architect, planner and former politician to be their mercenary in representing them in this hideous development. Nothing new there.

The time has come for a change, I believe. We need a greater degree of democracy in our planning process. In my opinion, that would look like direct citizen input via required ballot initiatives for massive, high-impact decisions such as the placement of the sewer plant at Santa Rita Park or the construction of the Sophia Apartments on Florida Road.

This is not a new or novel concept. Other communities have done it. Let’s put these kinds of projects through the scrutiny of a direct ballot initiative election process and let the people decide. Otherwise, the next disastrous project proposal may not receive the stellar resistance that the Sophia Apartments proposal is getting and could slip through the wide cracks that make up the planning process here.

– Brian Clark, Durango

Consider all options

Nuclear energy is a controversial issue.

I admit my own skepticism on the topic. My concern is that we have backed ourselves into a corner from a lack of past action to address climate change. We need to transition rapidly to clean, carbon-free energy. Could that transition benefit from nuclear energy?

The Durango chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby has organized an opportunity to learn more about nuclear energy with a brand-new Oliver Stone film, “Nuclear Now,” which is just now hitting theaters. It is based on the book, “A Bright Future.”

At the national level, Citizens Climate Lobby has taken a supportive stance on nuclear energy. We think it’s important to consider all technology options, including nuclear, that will help us move quickly to 100% clean energy. We support policies like carbon fees and dividends that allow all lowcarbon technologies, including nuclear, to be considered fairly on their merits.

Join us for a free viewing of “Nuclear Now” at the Durango Library on May 18 from 6-8 p.m. A discussion will follow with Fort Lewis College professor and nuclear engineer Billy Nollet.

– Susan Atkinson, Durango

David Luschen for LPEA

I am writing in support of David Luschen as a candidate for LPEA in District 4.

Luschen believes that local, renewable energy gives us greater control of our energy costs, freedom from a third-party energy supplier, and resilience against supply and demand spikes.

According to the website of John Purser, Luschen’s opponent, “Tri-State’s carbon reduction goals are more aggressive in scope and timeline than the carbon reduction goal of LPEA.” Having served on LPEA for three years, I can say that this is far from the truth. Yes, Tri-State has made gains in adding renewable energy to its mix, but it has done so kicking and screaming. I believe moving on from Tri-State is the best move for obtaining more local and renewable energy.

Additionally, Luschen has 26 years of utility experience with an engineering background. Having someone with prior knowledge and years of experience in the electric field will only better our cooperative.

Please join me in voting for Luschen for LPEA Board of Directors.

– Michael Rendon, Durango