ST. GEORGE, Utah — In the shadow of the appropriately named Fossil Ridge Intermediate School, there is a race against time to uncover prehistoric treasures before they're lost to urban development.
The site, located behind Fossil Ridge Intermediate School, has become a hotbed of paleontological activity, yielding discoveries that date back to the early Jurassic period, approximately 200 million years ago.
Among them is the Slauf family, spanning three generations.
David Slauf, a retired hospital worker turned fossil hunting enthusiast, made an unexpected discovery just stepping out of his car at the dig site.
"We can assume dino track," David explained, gesturing to a marking on the ground. This find was just the beginning of what promised to be an extraordinary day for the Slauf family.
Slauf has been volunteering at the St. George dinosaur track sites since 2002, earning a reputation as one of the top fossil hunters among the volunteers. His passion for paleontology is a family legacy. His adult son Dustin and 14-year-old granddaughter Gianna joined him Monday during the excavation.
The site, dating back to the early Jurassic period approximately 200 million years ago, is a goldmine of prehistoric life.
"These rock layers were deposited at the bottom of an ancient lake... and are full of fossil fishes and fossil dinosaurs,” said Jerry Harris, a professor of Earth and Environmental Studies at Utah Tech. “Hopefully some other things we're hoping to discover."
Slauf's expertise has clearly rubbed off on young Gianna. As the teenager carefully chipped away at what the team calls the "dance floor," she made an exciting discovery.
"I found something right here. I need someone to take a look at it," Gianna called out.
After a quick inspection from her grandfather, David confirmed: "Yeah, that's definitely a scale."
At just 14, Gianna had uncovered a 200-million-year-old fish, possibly from a previously unknown species.
The urgency of the excavation is driven by plans for urban expansion. The city of St. George intends to construct a large electrical substation on the site to support the growing south end of town.
While the city has been cooperative, the lead paleontologist for the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site, Andrew Milner, notes that the city says work must begin by early May to avoid the summer heat.
So what would happen if nothing was done to recover these fossils?
“We wouldn't get to see and discover what's in these layers, so we would kind of lose a little bit of what's new,” Milner said. "This is a big opportunity to kind of excavate these beds and salvage more fossils and grow our list of animals, including totally new animals that are, you know, unreported, these pieces of fish, hopefully these pieces of dinosaurs.”
The excavation effort has drawn support from various quarters. More than 100 volunteers, including university students on spring break and scientists from as far as Texas, Canada, and Great Britain, have signed up to help. Local businesses like Tagg-n-go Car Wash are contributing both volunteers and funding. Randy Jones of Canyon Crest Contractors has even provided heavy machinery to assist in reaching the crucial greyish-green fossil layer.
“I just saw the ad on the Facebook deal and thought, well, we've got a little bit of time in between projects. We could lend a hand, help them out a little bit,” Jones said, noting that his grandfather Carlisle Jones discovered the first dinosaur egg in Emery County. ”You can imagine having to move this all by a wheelbarrow.”
The fossils unearthed at the site will be transported to the nearby Dinosaur Discovery Museum for cataloging and examination. This museum, which came to be after dinosaur footprints were first found at the site in February 2000, will serve as the final destination for these prehistoric finds, where they will be studied and potentially lead to new scientific discoveries.
"You're a detective, except you're usually late to the scene by millions and millions of years,” David Slauf said.
