August 25 , 2016

by Sara Knuth

After Cañon City's Dinosaur Depot closed, local paleontologists didn't know what would happen to the museum's famous fossils.

For awhile, they considered moving them to facilities outside of Cañon City. But for many, that wasn't ideal — most of the fossils were found in Fremont County, and they felt they should stay at home.

Today, three years later, they reside at the Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center, which is located at 612 Royal Gorge Blvd. The Bureau of Land Management, members of the Stones 'N Bones paleontology club and the community celebrated the display Wednesday at the museum.

"You know what this feels like? It's like the victory scene at the end of the first Star Wars movie," said Harley Armstrong, regional paleontologist for the Bureau of Land Management. "It's such a relief."

When Dinosaur Depot closed, Armstrong said he and Melissa Smeins, a geologist for the BLM's Royal Gorge Field Office, and other officials ran through options for the fossils.

"Worst-case scenario, Melissa was going to load everything up into a BLM van, maybe get the fire crew to help," Armstrong said, "maybe I'd have to come down with my BLM rig and take the stuff to the Denver Museum (or) to CU Boulder."

"We even looked at the BLM warehouse," Armstrong said, adding that the fossils needed to be placed in a facility with proper conditions, including humidity and security.

But when the Royal Gorge Regional Museum stepped up, they said they felt relieved.

The fossils that make up the display are famous. One fossil, Tony's Tree, was once considered to be one of the largest petrified trees from the Jurassic era. It was found in the Garden Park area in 1998.

"This is definitely Peabody, Carnegie, Denver Museum, American Museum-quality collection that's here," Armstrong said.

When the Royal Gorge Regional Museum took in the fossils, museum director and curator Lisa Studts said her staff had a lot to learn.

"Pretty much, we had to learn paleontology," Studts said. "I have a degree in history, not paleontology. So, I learned a lot."

After the transition, the museum staff learned everything from how to pronounce the names of different dinosaur species to taking care of a paleontological collection.

Armstrong said he appreciated the work the museum and the Royal Gorge BLM Field Office put into the collection. Because of their work, he said, the fossils were able to stay in Cañon City.

"It feels like they're supposed to be here," he said.

http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/news/canoncity-local-news/ci_30231119/dinosaur-fossils-display-celebrated-at-royal-gorge-regional