THE EVOLVING ROLE OF CONSULTANTS IN PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

Paleontological resources in the Western U.S.A. are protected by various federal, state, county, and city level regulations and guidelines, depending upon the land administrator and/or owner, and geographic locale. Together, these form a diverse set of resource protection measures, evaluation criteria, management standards, and reporting and permitting requirements. As liaisons between land agencies, public and private developers, and curation facilities (primarily museums), paleontological consultants perform a critical service in the stewardship of these non-renewable resources. Traditionally, the role of paleontological consultants has been to 1) identify and document fossils in the field; 2) evaluate their scientific significance; 3) provide mitigation recommendations and services; and 4) facilitate the transfer of specimens and data to researchers at curation facilities. As museums cope with current challenges including shortages of funding and collections space, this role is evolving. It is increasingly important that consultants not only have a broad understanding of the regulatory environment, but the ability to meet the expectations and standards of museums and the paleontologic research community in the manner in which field collection, data capture, and fossil preparation activities are conducted.