LONG-TERM IN SITU PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCE MONITORING STRATEGIES FOR THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

As mandated through the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-011), the National Park Service has developed a comprehensive strategy for the inventory and monitoring of non-renewable paleontological resources. Baseline inventories conducted throughout the agency have identified at least 219 park units which preserve fossils. The ability to manage and protect fossils is contingent upon our understanding of their occurrence and distribution, both spatially and temporally, along with identifying the variables that threaten their stability and sustainability in situ. A wide range of physical, chemical, biological and human factors contribute to the deterioration and loss of paleontological resources present at or near the surface. Climatic conditions, storm events, rates of weathering and erosion, theft, vandalism and other factors may directly contribute to accelerated erosion and the integrity of fossil sites. A paleontological resource monitoring strategy developed by the National Park Service is designed with two components: 1) provide guidance for paleontological locality condition assessments; and, 2) to help develop site-specific management prescriptions for long-term monitoring of in situ fossils. Data derived from monitoring paleontological resources, and the measurement of variables which adversely influence the stability of in situ fossils, will provide scientific information regarding resource conditions to support management decision-making. A pilot monitoring program will be initiated at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in September 2009. Paleontological resource monitoring strategies are outlined in a chapter of the forthcoming Geologic Monitoring Manual (late 2009). The manual will be published as a Geological Society of America Special Paper.