Vertebrae of a brontosaurus-like dinosaur (i.e., sauropod) were among the discoveries at Arches National Park, Utah, during a recent paleontological resource survey by the National Park Service. This survey and similar ones conducted at Big Bend and several Utah, Colorado, and Alaska parks in 2000 have significantly advanced the knowledge of these resources and the need for their protection.
vincent_santucci@nps.gov
Chief Ranger, Fossil Butte National Monument, Wyoming
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By Vincent L. Santucci
From the badlands near the U.S.–Mexico border to the coastline of Alaska, park staff, scientists, students, and others conducted paleontological resource inventories in 32 units of the national park system in 2000. Working in teams, the partners collected information that has advanced the knowledge of park managers regarding these nonrenewable resources and their protection. The surveys were funded by the Inventory and Monitoring Program, the Geologists-in-the-Parks Program, and the Alaska Regional Office.
Preliminary paleontological resource surveys were completed in all of the national park units in Colorado and Utah. Intensive fossil inventories initiated at Arches National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and Zion National Park yielded some exciting new discoveries. Dozens of dinosaur track sites, containing new track types, were documented in remote canyons at both Arches and Zion.
“In Texas the largest and most complete skeleton of the sauropod dinosaur Alamosaurus was discovered in late Cretaceous sediments at Big Bend National Park.”
A small team of paleontologists in Alaska overcame the limitations of weather, bears, and transportation to remote locations, and initiated field surveys by foot, car, boat, and plane in four parks. Among the many new discoveries is a fossil leaf locality at Katmai National Park and a rich concentration of marine invertebrates and plants along the coastline of Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve.
In Texas the largest and most complete skeleton of the sauropod dinosaur Alamosaurus was discovered in late Cretaceous sediments at Big Bend National Park. Additionally, paleontological resource surveys were undertaken at Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument as part of the oil and gas management planning for both areas. This is the first time that the National Park Service has incorporated paleontological resources into oil and gas management planning and an environmental impact statement.
In addition to the surveys completed in the national park system, NPS staff assisted other federal land management agencies. The NPS approach to inventorying paleontological resources, as piloted at Yellowstone National Park in 1998 and continued with great productivity in other parks in 2000, has been recognized as a highly effective way of documenting the fossil record preserved on public lands. During 2000 the Bureau of Reclamation partnered with the National Park Service to complete paleontological surveys at Red Fleet and Steinaker Reservoirs near Vernal, Utah.
This material is from Natural Resource Year in Review--2000, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in May 2000 (publication D-1459)
/YearInReview/yir/yir2000/pages/02_nps_science/02_05_santucci.html
Last Updated: 06/17/2001
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