BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK VISITOR SITE REPORT PROGRAM: A UNIQUE LEARNING AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITY BETWEEN VISITORS AND PARK PALEONTOLOGISTS

The Badlands National Park’s Visitor Site Report (VSR) program has been a beneficial resource for visitors and staff members since 1995. As of July 2020, Badlands National Park (BADL) has received 4,060 reports through which visitors have become more involved, educated, and interested in the park, while the staff have gained vital information about fossil resources. When a visitor reports a fossil, a VSR is filed and delivered to a staff member who investigates, identifies, and potentially collects the find. After these actions are taken, the employee composes a response to the visitor informing them about the geological and paleontological significance of their discovery. This program has grown from 35 reports in its first year, to 413 in 2019, a 1180% increase. The VSR program is also responsible for the discovery of the Big Pig Dig site in 1997, which yielded over 19,000 fossils and provided an interactive learning opportunity for visitors at the dig for 15 years. In 2010, a 7-year-old visitor reported a fossil within sight of the Ben Reifel Visitor Center that yielded an extremely rare Nimravid skull. The program allows the visitors to learn more about the paleontology of the Park in an interactive manner and emphasizes the importance of ‘doing the right thing’ by leaving the fossils where they are found. Individual visitors have returned to the park multiple years in a row with the intent of finding fossils for the program and to be an active part of the research in the Park. From the VSR program, BADL gains vital information on new and rare fossils in the park that may not have been discovered by park staff alone. Repeat reports allow staff to track changes of in-situ fossils over months and years. VSRs have also been vital in investigations of fossil poaching in the park. During the summer of 2019, multiple VSRs from the area in which a fossil was taken allowed for a time frame of the theft to be established. The VSR form is being updated into a format that can be used by National Parks Service fossil parks across the country and is currently in the Federal review and approval stage for its expansion. The substantial opportunities provided by this program for visitors enriches their experience at BADL and increases interest in fossil resource stewardship, leading to additional paleontological discoveries and inspiring future generations.