Dino Tracks Eroding

Dinosaurs tramped on what was once the coast of a beach in Colorado, leaving tracks that have remained remarkably well preserved on a small slope in the mountains southwest of Denver. The tracks of the three-toed dinosaurs are eroding and could soon be gone, according to Friends of Dinosaur Ridge, the nonprofit group that manages the site. The group proposed building a canopy over the tracks to protect them, but it's an idea that county officials say will diminish the majestic views of Colorado's Front Range. Rain, snow and freeze-thaw cycles have caused slabs of shale to crack and break off from the slope where the tracks and micro layers are eroding, said Joe Tempel, executive director of Friends of Dinosaur Ridge.