Paleontological resource inventory and monitoring: Northern Great Plains Network

Tweet, Justin; Santucci, Vincent; Kenworthy, Jason

Paleontological resources (fossils) are any remains of past life preserved in a geologic context. Paleontological resources are non-renewable resources found in at least 230 National Park System units. Despite the abundance and diversity of these resources throughout the National Park Service (NPS), until recently few parks have had adequate baseline paleontological resource data.The NPS National Inventory and Monitoring Program and the NPS Geologic Resources Division have developed various strategies to provide parks with the baseline paleontological resource data necessary for greater understanding and appropriate management of these resources. The parks of the NGPN contain some of the most significant fossil-bearing strata in the National Park System. Systematic research involving geology and paleontology began with the surveys of Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden and Fielding Bradford Meek in the 1850s. The great majority of fossil occurrences date to the Cenozoic (65.5 Ma [million years ago] to the present), followed by the Cretaceous (145 to 65.5 Ma) (see the appendix for a geological timescale). Most occurrences are of Cenozoic-age mammals. Other common paleontological resources include paleoecological materials from the Quaternary (younger than 2.6 Ma), marine invertebrates and reptiles from the Late Cretaceous (99.6 to 65.5 Ma), plants from the Early Cretaceous (145 to 99.6 Ma), and marine invertebrates from several periods of time during the Paleozoic (542 to 251 Ma). Fossils from NGPN parks are found in museums in North America and Europe, and form important parts of the collections of some of the leading museums of the United States, including the American Museum of Natural History (New York City, NY) and the National Museum of Natural History (Washington, D.C.). The parks of the NGPN also have significant connections between their paleontological resources and cultural resources.Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) and Badlands National Park (BADL) are recognized by paleontologists around the world for the scientific importance of the fossils collected from these parks and the surrounding public and private lands. The former Fossil Cycad National Monument (FOCY), Missouri National Recreational River (MNRR), Niobrara National Scenic River (NIOB), Scotts Bluff National Monument (SCBL), Theodore Roosevelt National Park (THRO), and Wind Cave National Park (WICA) also contain strata that preserve significant fossils. Together with AGFO and BADL, they provide a detailed and nearly complete history of life in what is now the northern Great Plains from the late Early Cretaceous (approximately 120 Ma) to the present. Several other parks have smaller fossil assemblages that for the most part have not been described in detail. These include Devils Tower National Monument (DETO), which has marine fossils from the Middle-Upper Jurassic (175.6-145.5 Ma); Fort Laramie National Historic Site (FOLA), which has Paleozoic invertebrates that were transported there during operation of the fort; Jewel Cave National Monument (JECA), which has marine fossils from the Mississippian-Permian (359.2-251.6 Ma); and Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site (KNRI), which has a small collection of fossil invertebrates that were modified for cultural purposes. Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (FOUS) and Mount Rushmore National Memorial (MORU) do not appear to contain paleontological resources at this time, although FOUS is situated in a paleontologically significant area. The visitor centers at AGFO, BADL, SCBL, and THRO have informative displays with respect to the geology and paleontology of each park.

Paleontological resource inventory and monitoring: Northern Great Plains Network

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