Save The UBC Dinosaur Track Quarry, West Paterson, NJ

Some Early Jurassic (Passaic Formation) dinosaur and reptile tracks are in danger of being destroyed in New Jersey so that condos can be built on the location. This is a petition to help gain attention to their importance and and have them included in the existing Rifle Camp Park. Please feel free to read the petition text below. A link to the petition can be found at the bottom of this post. Please feel free to sign it and pass it on. ~ ReBecca

"The UBC Quarry in West Paterson, NJ has been a unique fossil locality for scientific research and spectacular fossils from the Passaic formation in the Early Jurassic period of NJ since the 1960's. Many discoveries over the years have yielded a great deal of knowledge to the scientific community in the area of trace fossils (ichnology) during this unique time period.

Large museums and universities have done research projects and collected at the quarry to add to their collections and preserve these fossils. Ironically most of the fossils from this quarry are in private hands and not in a museum for folks to enjoy. The quarry was once an active quarry for many years but now has been sold to a developer to create high end condos that overlook NYC.

The remaining fossils in the quarry will be forever lost if the developers are allowed to demolish the remaining section of the quarry to complete their development. No more fossils from this period will ever be able to be collected again as this is the only place in NJ that has fossils from this time period. Once this section is gone there will be no more science or fossils to be gained. There is one section of the quarry left next to Rifle Camp Park that is of scientific significance that is threatened to be lost forever due to the development of these condos.

Some of the best preserved dinosaur and reptile footprints have been found in this quarry which do not compare to any other locality from New Jersey. Dinosaur tracks and fossil trace fossils have been a very unique, rare, and are an important piece of our fossil history and deserves to be protected. The state of New Jersey has done very little to protect fossil localities compared to other states in the USA and that is why we need your help. Trace fossils are a very important part of the state of New Jersey's history just like Hadrosaurus foulki and deserve to be protected, preserved and enjoyed by future generations. Let's not make this just a memory like other fossil sites in Northern NJ.

Let's make it a preserved site forever. Time is running out and only a few months left till it is gone forever. Thanks."

Online petition - Save The UBC Dinosaur Track Quarry, West Paterson, NJ

Thanks to Rissa for the heads up on this!