EXPERIENCE YOUR PREHISTORIC AMERICA: THE MUSEUM PROGRAM AT JOHN DAY FOSSIL BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

The mission of the United States National Park Service (NPS) is to preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. This mission can be exemplified by the NPS museum program and how it is implemented at each park unit. Park units with strong geoscience focuses preserve the natural resources of the unit in their museums. At John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (JODA) in central and eastern Oregon, the museum program not only preserves the fossil, geologic, and other natural history resources, but they also make those resources accessible to researchers and the public. The museum program works collaboratively with interpretative division to educate the public as well as answer the “so what” questions when visitors inquire about the resources. Casts of museum specimens are used in outreach and education programs, including the horse fossil traveling teaching kit, which are constantly evolving to meet national STEM standards. The museum gallery displays a wide variety of original fossils and casts that tells the story of changing climates and evolution and is often used as part of curriculum for high schools and colleges around the state. The JODA museum collections are also available electronically via the National Catalog; specimen records as well as photographs of specimens are available for researchers and the general public to access and use. The National Catalog also helps to facilitate visiting researchers, as JODA is a small and remote park and having access to these data ahead of time assists researchers in planning their visit. The collaborative nature of the JODA museum program has helped to keep the natural history of central and eastern Oregon relevant to the 21^st century.