Utahraptor State Park near Moab debuts as Utah’s 46th state park

Gov. Spencer Cox, state lawmakers and city and county officials joined dozens of locals and visitors at the long-anticipated ribbon cutting at Utahraptor State Park on Friday, May 23.

“This is the first project in state history to take 100 million years to complete,” said Cox after thanking lawmakers and the “visionary leadership” that took place. “It takes everyone coming together to make this happen.”

Cox said taxpayer dollars were used to fund the roughly $26 million park. “We have to weigh in the balance, is this something worth doing?” Based on the energy of attendees, the answer is yes.

The governor is a proponent. “So many memories happened in those state parks,” he said. The governor said he recently became “obsessed” with happiness — “There’s not much of that in the country these days —but humans are wired for connection, the importance of place and connection to a place.” Looking around, he added the beauty of the park and surrounding area is “less toxic. It’s hard to hate when you’re in a beautiful place like this.”

Even Dalton Wells has its dark side. The Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was there in the 1930s during the Great Depression was a time when “good things happened.” The internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War is when “some really awful things happened,” said Cox.

“God showed off when he created Utah,” said Joel Ferry, the executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

Ferry in his comments acknowledged the work of state Rep. Steve Eliason, a Republican representing District 43, was a strong supporter of the park, and indeed, all state parks.

Calling Eliason a “stalwart champion of state parks,” Ferry also singled out Sen. David Hinckins, whose District 24 includes Grand County, as well as state House Rep. Logon Monson, District 69, which also includes Grand County.

Ferry said he retains favorite childhood memories of visiting state parks with his family. Utahraptor is the state’s 46th state park, noted Ferry, and he thanked a number of people who were instrumental in bringing it to fruition after years of setbacks, many prompted by the pandemic.

Ferry also touched on the unique nature of Utahraptor State Park, which has a history both ancient and modern, “from World War II to prehistoric times,” he said.

In more modern times, the park located at Dalton Wells has changed from a dispersed camping nuisance to what it is today.

Grand County Commissioner Mary McGann, who pushed for the creation of the park at its beginning, credited Moab resident Tony Mancuso for getting the ball running. Mancuso, the Colorado River program manager at Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, called McGann to schedule a trip to “this beautiful area that’s getting trashed.”

Not only were fire rings everywhere, but some of them also contained presumably charred dinosaur bones, said McGann in thanking Mancuso for planting the seed that led to the creation of the park.

She took her idea to Eliason for help in financing the project after the Grand County Commission unanimously voted in favor of the park. “Tony helped me help Steve,” said McGann.

The legislative bill for the park failed in its first iteration, she said, but “we doubled down the next year when the city and county team up. “When we put our money where our mouth is, people listen to you.” About $27,000 was raised in response.

McGann also mentioned Lee Shenton, who manages a 501 c 3 nonprofit, which was used to hold the money raised for the park. “He took over,” said McGann. “There are so many unsung heroes.”

Scott Christiansen of Hogan & Associates, the contractor that developed Utahraptor State Park, said he took pride in the work done into “getting it to the finish line.” He noted 20 years ago Hogan built the visitors center at Arches National Park. Now at the end of his career, he said, “We’ve kind of come full circle.”

Eliason, who sponsored the second, successful legislative bill in 2021 with Hinckins the state Senate co-sponsor, introduced Kenyon Roberts, a teenager who as a 10-year-old in 2018 was one of the park’s most effective advocates.

Eliason noted that roughly 100,000 dinosaur bones remain in the quarry, there are miles of bike trails and campsites both modern and primitive, and staff also “eradicated” one invasive species — the Charmin Lilly, the name given to the once ubiquitous wind-blown balls of used toilet paper that populated Dalton Wells prior to the park’s development.

Eliason thanked Gov. Cox, lawmakers and the “visionary leadership” that was in play. “It takes everyone coming together to make this happen.”

Inside the visitor center, history played out in real time when Lloyd Nakahara brought items to donate. His grandfather’s brother, Joseph Kurihara, was one of the “troublemakers” who was sent to Dalton Wells.

His story was heart-wrenching. Kurihara enlisted in the Army and fought in World War I. After the war, he was a deep sea fisherman in California when World War II broke out. Again, he answered the call and when he went to re-enlist, he was instead taken into custody and interned in a camp.

Kurihara would author a book about his experience, “In Defense of Justice,” which is in print.

Nakahara brought his grand-uncle’s headwear from the first world war, a pouch holding a tiny American flag from the same conflict and a spent mortar shell he turned into a map, and a piece of art, with the tip of a bullet used to create a design.

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