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On Monday, scientists unveiled groundbreaking research suggesting Tyrannosaurs likely hunted in packs, challenging long-held assumptions that the iconic dinosaurs were solitary predators. The discovery was based on fossils found in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, providing the Biden administration with yet another reason to reverse President Trump's decision to slash the national monument by roughly 50%.
The discovery was made in Grand Staircase-Escalante's "Rainbows and Unicorns Quarry," which earned the nickname after researchers made a plethora of landmark finds. While the exact location remains within the bounds of the shrunken national monument, two fossil-laden rock layers—the Tropic Shale and Straight Cliffs Formation—were almost entirely cut from the monument's boundaries.
Earlier this month, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited Utah to hear input on whether the Biden administration should restore protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments under the Antiquities Act. While there, Haaland took time to meet with the Bureau of Land Management's local paleontologist and view fossils found in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Notably, the century-old Antiquities Act was passed in part to protect our nation's paleontological resources, and several national monuments have been proclaimed to do just that, including Petrified Forest and Dinosaur National Monuments.
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In short, [Chief Justice] Roberts’s solitary, offhand memo should not give President Biden pause as he considers what to do about the Utah monuments.”
