PROTECTING AND PROMOTING FOSSIL COLLECTIONS FROM NATIONAL AND STATE PARK AREAS OF SOUTHERN CALIFONIA: OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION, OUTREACH, AND RESEARCH

National Park Service (NPS), California State Park, and local conservations areas of California are extensively fossiliferous and accessible to large urban areas that concentrate researchers, educators, and the public. These areas also have a rich history of paleoentological discovery and research, much of which predates the establishment of protective status. NPS areas of particular note include the Santa Monica Mountains NRA, Channel Islands NP, Cabrillo NM, Death Valley NP, and Mojave National Preserve. Paleontological resources are more disperse among state park areas, although the Anza-Borrego Desert SP is notable for its extensive fossil record. Numerous smaller city- or community-owned conservation areas (e.g., Palos Verdes Land Conservancy) also protect fossiliferous land, particularly along coastal margins where Quaternary terrace deposits are preserved. The geology in these parks encompasses much of the Phanerozoic, but notable fossil collections have been made from rocks of Cambrian, Cretaceous, Paleocene-Eocene, Miocene, and Pleistocene age. In fact the Channel Islands NP preserves arguably the best Quaternary marine fossil record in North America.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) is the largest such museum in Southern California, and has significant collections from each of the above protected areas, in addition to many others. Our primary roles include conserving and curating fossil specimens, and facilitating research. But these collections have even greater potential as tools in education and outreach. As an educational institute the NHM has a mutual interest to bring fossils related to state and federally protected areas out of the dark, and use them more proactively in education and outreach initiatives. A survey of park visitor and interpretive facilities revealed that many do not have local fossils on exhibit, or interpretative material that relates to local paleontological resources. An immediate step towards resolving these deficiencies requires cooperation with visitor center and park managers to identify exhibit-worthy specimens and develop interpretative materials. The implications of such collaborations might include increased accessibility to protected areas for research, improved opportunities for funding, and access to new audiences.