Et cetera : AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps teams volunteer at Dinosaur Ridge

By Stacey Kilpatrick

On Saturday, April 27, AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps teams Hickory 1 and Hickory 3 joined together to organize a Community Day volunteering at Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison, Colo. The two teams, along with eight community volunteers, completed projects at the main Visitor Center as well the new office located about 10 minutes off-site in the vicinity of Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

“It was really great to work with members of the community because that’s something that we normally don’t do,” said coordinator and Hickory 1 member Min Yi. “It was great to see everyone work together to get things done for America.”

At the new office, roughly 20 volunteers cleared out sticks, painted the office building and compiled roughly 500 pounds of sticks and tree trunks, while other members worked at the main Visitor Center relocating sand and digging out mud pits.

Dinosaur Ridge is one of the most famous dinosaur fossil locations in the world, as some of the best-known dinosaurs from 150 million years ago were discovered here in the late 1800s, including the Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus and Allosaurus. Visitors today can walk along both the 1.5-mile Dinosaur Ridge Trail to see bones that were fossilized within the mountains and dinosaur tracks, and the Triceratops Trail, a half-mile long trail in the clay pits of Golden where numerous 68 million-year-old trace fossils can be found.

In 1973, the National Park Service recognized Dinosaur Ridge as the Morrison Fossil Area National Natural Landmark, recognizing its historical and scientific significance. In 1989, Dinosaur Ridge was formed to educate the public about the preservation of the site and about the dinosaur bones and fossils. Close to 100,000 people visit Dinosaur Ridge each year. This not-for-profit organization is maintained with the help from members, family, friends, donors and grant-giving organizations.