On June 29, 2006, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced legislation, co-sponsored by Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), which would protect the fossilized prehistoric animal tracks in the Robledo Mountains. The “Prehistoric Trackways National Monument Establishment Act” (S.3599) would create a new national monument out of approximately 5,367 acres of Bureau of Land Management land and preserve it for further scientific investigation. If approved, the new monument would be part of the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System.
“This site has tremendous scientific value, and provides a window to a time before dinosaurs roamed the earth. These prehistoric fossils should be preserved, and that’s exactly what this bill would do,” Bingaman said.
The Prehistoric Trackways National Monument Establishment Act would ensure that this area of the Robledo Mountains is conserved and protected in a way that enhances the protective resources and values of a national monument of this kind. It also requires the Secretary of the Interior to provide public interpretation of the paleontological resources at the site, and find ways of exhibiting and curating the resources in Doña Ana County.
“Prehistoric trackways are remarkable vestiges of the past and should be protected. I share Senator Bingaman’s intent to accomplish that goal. I hope that we can tackle this issue as part of a comprehensive approach to federal land management in Doña Ana County,” said Domenici, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
This bill was referred to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Background
Fifteen years ago, amateur geologist Jerry MacDonald discovered a 290 million-year-old site in the Robledo Moutains in Doña Ana County, New Mexico that contain tracks of pre-dinosaur creatures, footprints from 11-foot-long fin-backed reptiles, small to medium size amphibians, indentations from raindrops and water ripple marks.
In 1990, Senator Jeff Bingaman passed legislation to study the significance of the tracks. That study, performed by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, the University of Colorado, and the Smithsonian Institution, said the site is of immense historic value because of the quality of the tracks and the wide range of prehistoric animals that left their imprint.
“The site changed what scientists know about the area,” said Spencer Lucas, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History in Albuquerque. "The Robledo Mountains are the scientific Rosetta Stone of our understanding of Paleozoic footprints," said Lucas, who was first shown the tracks in the early 1990s.
The Paleozoic Trackways Foundation formed to gather support to protect the ancient site. "If the site isn't protected, our fear is it will be lost due to mining, looting and weather," said Keith Whelpley of Las Cruces, chairman of the Paleozoic Trackways Foundation. Another concern is the threat of off road vehicle use in the area.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management oversees the site, which is designated a research area. A portion of the site lies within the existing Robledo Mountain Wilderness Study Area. In March 2006, the Dona Ana County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution in support of protecting the site.
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