May 17, 2016

By Mike Plaisance

Attempts at plaster-casting, graffiti and other vandalism have prompted the city to establish a law to preserve the Dinosaur Footprints natural exhibit on Route 5.

"What we're trying to do is create an ordinance to protect this exhibit and if need be, we'll have to fine people if they don't follow the rules," city councilor Todd A. McGee said Tuesday.

The more than 100, mostly three-toed footprints that scientists say were formed by dinosaurs stomping around millions of years ago can be seen for free on a tilted quarter-acre plain of brown sandstone accessible down a short trail through an entrance in the guardrail. The exhibit is between the highway and the Connecticut River.

The exhibit is open generally April 1 to Sept. 31, and in addition to staple visits from college classes and public school students, it draws 20,000 to 30,000 people a year. That's based on traffic counts done at the site by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, said Josh B. Knox, superintendent of the west management unit of the nonprofit Trustees of Reservations.

The Trustees owns and cares for 116 areas in 73 cities and towns, including a dozen in this area.

"Pretty amazing, right?" Knox said at the site Tuesday.

But he immediately noticed several rocks on the sandstone floor.

"There's some vandalism. These were not here before. They didn't blow here from the road," Knox said.

He toted the rocks down to the river.

He pointed to another footprint around which it appeared someone tried to hack a circle possibly with the intention of digging down and lifting out the relic.

On another footprint, white marks indicate someone tried to come away with a souvenir or sale item by creating a sculptured mold or cast in plaster of Paris. Such hacking serves only to crack the sandstone, Knox said in a video (see below).

At other spots, including on the wall overlooking the exhibit that bears a sign saying "No plaster casting of footprints. The rock surface is brittle," graffiti has been carved. Someone tossed a cigarette butt in one of the footprints.

"I think vandals should choose to have pride in our city so these irreplaceable dinosaur footprints can be preserved for future generations to enjoy," Knox said.

The City Council and Mayor Alex B. Morse established the ordinance to protect "Paleontological Resources" earlier this month. Merriam-Webster.com says paleontology is "the science that deals with the fossils of animals and plants that lived very long ago especially in the time of dinosaurs."

"It is recognized that paleontological sites are unique, nonrenewable and fragile natural resources requiring conservation initiatives," the new ordinance says (see below).

So any attempt to deface, excavate, cut, loosen, disturb, exchange, transport, export or receive such resources here is prohibited and punishable by fines of up to $300 per day, per offense, the new ordinance says.

A sign posted at the exhibit says that in the early 1970's, Yale University professor John Ostrom identified the tracks as being from three distinct but related dinosaurs: The largest prints, 11 inches to 13 inches long, were from Eubrontes giganteus, which stood 15 feet tall and had a 6-foot stride; next was Anchisauripus sillimani, with prints of 6 inches to 8 inches; and Grallator cuneatus, with prints of 3 inches to 5 inches.

The entire Connecticut River Valley – which scientists believe was a sub-tropical swamp 190 million years ago – has long been recognized for its wealth of prehistoric footprints, according to the Trustees' website.

Over time, that mud was covered by more mud and silt, which dried out and hardened. Eventually, the tracks were covered with literally thousands of feet of sandstone, and gradually were uncovered through erosion, Knox said.

Here's how Gordon P. Alexander, a former city councilor and former chairman of the Holyoke Conservation Commission described it to The Republican in 2011: "The Pioneer Valley is filled with a thick stack of sedimentary rocks, many layers of which contain dinosaur tracks. Think of a deck of cards with dino tracks printed on every other card or so. Basically, if you dig deep enough through the layers, there's a reasonable chance of finding tracks anywhere."

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/dinosaur_footprints_in_holyoke.html