NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ACCESSING PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES ON PUBLIC LANDS

Gaining access to fossils on public lands should be a fun and legal activity for everyone, but there are rules that must be followed that include ethical and legal considerations. The basic geoethical framework includes three parts: values, integrity and perception. Values remind us that not everyone uses the land in the same way and so may not find your work to be as important as their preferred activity. Integrity means that we need to represent ourselves honestly when we are collecting or working, and perception reminds us to think about what our actions look like to others. Taken together this ethical framework should guide any field work whether it is research or recreation. Legally we must follow all basic outdoor rules and avoid trespass. This includes receiving permission from the land owner or, on public lands, getting a permit. Access to paleontological resources on Federal public lands is governed by many laws, but principle among these is the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (PRPA) of 2009. PRPA requires bureaus to implement the following: 1) manage paleontological resources using scientific principles and expertise; 2) maintain a program of inventory and monitoring; 3) establish education programs to increase public awareness; 4) implement a program of permitting; 5) preserve paleontological objects for the public in approved repositories; and for some bureaus 6) allow casual collecting of common non-vertebrate fossils by the public without a permit. Note that most of these provisions apply to the bureaus and not the public. However, permittees are treated as partners to the bureaus and so enjoy access to necessary data and may collect where others may not, but they are also subject some of the provisions of the law. Casual collection is an exemption where a permit is not required. The purpose of this presentation is to share developments in the management of paleontological resources on public lands that have been made since the PRPA was signed into law in 2009.