Assessing visitor “fossil stewardship attitudes” towards National Park Service paleontological resources and their management
Santucci VL, Kuzemchak M, Newman P, Taff D, Mowen A, Alley R, Miller ZD. 2025. Assessing visitor “fossil stewardship attitudes” towards National Park Service paleontological resources and their management. Pages 213–236. In Lucas SG, Morgan GS, Hunt AP, Lichtig AJ (ed). Fossil Record 10. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Albuquerque, New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. Bulletin 100
This study evaluates the human dimensions of paleontological resources through two park-based exploratory visitor surveys undertaken at Badlands National Park, South Dakota, and Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska. The surveys were designed to collect quantitative data pertaining to visitor values, interests, understandings, motivations, and behaviors associated with fossils from each of these two national parks. The two national parks selected for the visitor surveys are recognized for their globally significant paleontological resources which are of interest to the public, media, and the scientific community. At Badlands National Park 700 visitor surveys were completed, and at Denali National Park and Preserve 477 visitor surveys were completed. The data collected for each park survey were individually evaluated using descriptive statistics and compared with the data from the other respective park’s visitor fossil survey. The concept of “Fossil Stewardship Attitudes” is introduced here to evaluate the visitor attitudes pertaining to specific considerations related to fossils and their management by the National Park Service (NPS).
- Type
- Book Chapter
- Authors
- Santucci, Vincent; Kuzemchak, Maggie; Newman, Peter; Taff, Derrick; Mowen, Andrew; Alley, Richard; Miller, Zachary
- Units
- BADL , DENA
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Paleontology | Paleontology