AN INVENTORY OF PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES IN NATIONAL PARK SERVICE COASTAL PARKS

An inventory of paleontological resources associated with coastal marine areas administered by the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) was undertaken through a new partnership between the Paleontological Society and the NPS Paleontology Program. This inaugural project for the Paleontology in the Parks Fellowship Program focused on documenting the fossil resources of coastal national parks and identifying resource management issues involving natural processes and anthropogenic activities that may impact coastal fossils in these parks. A total of 40 NPS areas were inventoried along the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Pacific (including Alaska and Guam) coastlines of the U.S. These coastal national parks have a rich diversity of paleontological resources, including invertebrates, vertebrates, plants, microfossils, and ichnofossils. Fossil-bearing strata in these coastal settings range in age from the Precambrian to Recent. Each region and park has a unique suite of geography, geology, fossils, and coastal processes that influence the methods required to manage and protect these scientifically valuable non-renewable resources. For example, fossils preserved in coastal parks situated along active versus passive margins or in remote versus heavily visited areas will be subject to different management concerns. Natural processes include, but are not limited to, impacts from waves, storms, flooding, landslides, sea level rise, and habitat changes. Anthropogenic activities encompass shoreline stabilization, construction, development, dredging, renourishment, vandalism, theft, and more. The study and protection of fossils in coastal parks present unique management challenges that can be collectively viewed through the lens of their respective coastal settings. This project is a first step to holistically approaching an understanding of paleontological resources in coastal areas by reviewing factors that should be considered in the management of these fossils within and across NPS coastal parks nationwide.