ASSESSING THEFT, VANDALISM AND OTHER DEPRECIATIVE BEHAVIORS RESULTING IN THE IMPAIRMENT OF GEOLOGIC RESOURCES AND FEATURES IN U.S. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AREAS

The U.S. National Park Service preserves globally significant and iconic geologic resources and features attracting visitors and scientists from around the world. Rocks, minerals, volcanoes, geysers, calderas, canyons, arches, dune fields, beaches, barrier islands, glaciers, caves, fossils and other geologic features and resources from national parks are frequently presented in geologic texts and coffee table books. The values humans associate with geologic features are diverse and can serve as motivations for geologic tourism to many of the national parks. Beginning in 1991, the National Park Service began to evaluate incidents of theft, vandalism or other depreciative behaviors involving park geologic resources. Unauthorized collection of basaltic lava, cave speleothems, “ziplock bags” of sand, and the theft of fossils are documented from dozens of park areas. Vandalism, graffiti and other types of depreciative behaviors have been frequently documented in parks and recently found posted on social media. Limited social science research related to the human dimensions of geologic resources has been undertaken in parks to evaluate the values, attitudes, and motivations of park visitors towards geologic resources. Both quantitative and qualitative data have begun to be evaluated to help inform park managers about the factors influencing human activities and depreciatory behaviors which lead to injury and impairment of non-renewable geologic resources and features in national parks.