Smithsonian article on Rigby's T.rex

[Jeff Hecht <jhecht@world.std.com>]

I finally found time to read the article in the March Smithsonian on Keith
Rigby's Tyrannosaurs. The author does an outstanding job of recounting the
whole affair. I reported this story for New Scientist as it broke, and I
heard much the same story, although the Smithsonian article fills in
important details. If you have any interest in the complexities involved in
fossils on private land, and the issues raised by the high price of
fossils, read it.

There's only one thing I can add to the story. According to Federal loan
officials, the Walton land was worth no more than a few hundred thousand
dollars, but they borrowed a few times that amount through a Federal loan
program, then couldn't repay it. They aren't the only ones. These
government loan programs were heavily promoted, and many ranchers and
farmers borrowed money through them. Many ended up deep in debt. The
Waltons may have been poorer businessmen than most other ranchers, but the
point is that there are many other landowners out in fossil country who
feel under serious debt pressure, and may be tempted to dig up a few bones
if they think they could "save the farm".

-- Jeff Hecht