GRAND JUNCTION — Two University of Colorado professors are being investigated by the Bureau of Land Management for taking fossils from a remote area of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah without a permit.

The professors, who have not been named, and a group of students with them were breaking off slabs of rock containing fossils in a remote section of the monument in early October when a tour guide discovered them and informed them that what they were doing was illegal.

The guide with Escape Goat Tours and Shuttle Service reported that the professors told him to mind his own business as they continued to load fossils into a truck. The guide took a photo of their license plate and reported them to authorities.

A BLM ranger identified the driver of the vehicle through the license plate and contacted the driver where the group was staying overnight in Grand Junction. The professors agreed to return the fossils.

“It wasn’t like they were on the run and trying to evade anyone,” said Larry Crutchfield, the public-information officer for the monument, which is in southwest Utah.

Crutchfield said the names of the professors are not being released at this time because the matter is still under investigation. They have not been cited with what potentially could be a federal offense.

Crutchfield pointed out that bona- fide researchers are allowed to take specimens from the monument — but only with permits that are fairly easily obtained. The CU group did not have a permit.

“These folks didn’t follow the process,” Crutchfield said.

When researchers are permitted, they must agree to share papers associated with their findings and to give presentations to those living near Grand Staircase-Escalante.

Crutchfield pointed out that this incident was discovered and reported in a monument that spans 3,000 remote square miles because guides for the 78 permitted tour companies operating in the area have been taught to watch for those disturbing or taking objects.

Nancy Lofholm: 970-256-1957, nlofholm@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nlofholm