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Southeastern Section–55th Annual Meeting (23–24 March 2006)

Paper No. 2
Presentation Time: 3:25 PM

SAVING THE UNION CHAPEL MINE: HOW A GROUP OF AMATEURS TEAMED UP WITH PROFESSIONALS TO SAVE A WORLD-CLASS CARBONIFEROUS TRACK SITE


ATKINSON, Prescott1, BUTA, Ronald J.2, KOPASKA-MERKEL, David C.3 and RINDSBERG, Andrew K.3, (1)Pediatrics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Children's Hospital 752M, 1600 7th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233, (2)Astronomy, University of Alabama, Box 870324, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, (3)Geol Survey of Alabama, P.O. Box 869999, Tuscaloosa, AL 35486-6999, patkinso@uab.edu

In late 1999 a high school science teacher from Oneonta, Alabama visited a surface coal mine in Walker County, Alabama and discovered that the spoil piles contained high quality vertebrate and invertebrate trackways and other trace fossils. This presentation will detail how he alerted an amateur group of fossil enthusiasts, which first salvaged specimens from the site and then began a campaign to save the site from federally mandated reclamation by engaging the assistance of professional geologists and paleontologists, the news media, and governmental officials. Preservation of this important site, dedicated in March 2005 as the Steven C. Minkin Paleozoic Footprint Site by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, is an exceptional example of the benefits of collaboration between amateurs and professionals and serves as a useful roadmap for future preservation efforts for other sites.

Session No. 38

T18. Hands-on Ichnology and the Union Chapel Track Site II
Friday, 24 March 2006: 3:00 PM-5:30 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 38, No. 3, p.85
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