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Parks Stewardship Forum
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Open Access journal
ISSN (Print) 2688-187X
Published by eScholarship

[73 journals]

Preventing Loss of Animal Species Under Human-Caused Climate Change
- Authors: Gonzalez; Patrick
  Abstract: Human-caused climate change has caused the extinction of two animal species and threatens numerous other species. Conservation of potential refugia can reduce risks. Energy conservation and efficiency solutions contribute to halting climate change and saving animal species.
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Implementation of a public use management model in Argentinian National
Parks: Lessons learned
- Authors: Mayorga; Marisol , Kohl, Jon , Sharp, Ryan L. , Brownlee, Matthew T.J.
  Abstract: This year marks 200 years of diplomatic relations between the United States and Argentina, which has involved cooperation across a wide range of fields, including tourism. In the interest of finding new approaches to improve the capacity of national parks for public use planning and management and develop mutually beneficial ways to deliver higher-quality visitor experiences, the United States of America Embassy in Buenos Aires, the George Wright Society, the US National Park Service, and the Administration of National Parks in Argentina proposed the “Binational Exchange Program to Enhance Visitor Experiences in National Parks” as a co-learning exchange between the two countries. Through a critical review, this article focuses on the application and adaptation of the US Interagency Visitor Use Management Framework for public use management in five national parks in Argentina. The article offers an overview of the framework, summarizes the project developed with the parks, and,...
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Taller internacional sobre alianzas entre comunidades indígenas y
gobiernos para la gestión de las áreas protegidas: resumen del taller
- Authors: Taller internacional sobre alianzas entre comunidades indígenas y gobiernos; El
  Abstract: El Taller Internacional sobre Alianzas entre Comunidades Indígenas y Gobiernos para la Gestión de las Áreas Protegidas fue llevado a cabo en septiembre del 2022 en las tierras ancestrales de la Tribu Bajo Elwha Klallam. Este evento, auspiciadopor la Tribu Bajo Elwha Klallam, reunió aproximadamente a 55 representantes indígenas y de los gobiernos de los Estados Unidos, Chile, Canadá y México. Los participantes fueron representantes de comunidades y organizaciones indígenas ygobiernos tribales1 involucrados en la gestión de áreas protegidas marinas, costeras y terrestres. También, representantes del gobierno federal elegidos por su relación con las comunidades indígenas y las áreas protegidas con las que se asocian. El taller, el primero de su índole, fue organizado para facilitar el diálogo entre los mismos representantes para compartir sus experiencias únicas, identificar y articular sus preocupaciones y de modo colectivo elaborar recomendaciones para promover la gobernanza compartida...
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
From Politics to Transformative Politics of Nature in Canada (book
excerpt)
- Authors: Beazley; Karen F. , Olive, Andrea , Finegan, Chance
  Abstract: An excerpt from the opening chapter Transformative Politics of Nature: Overcoming Barriers to Conservation in Canada, edited by Andrea Olive, Chance Finegan, andKaren F. Beazley (University of Toronto Press, 2023).
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
International Workshop on Indigenous Communities and Government
Partnerships for Protected Area Management: Workshop Summary Report
- Authors: International Workshop on Indigenous Communities; Government Partnerships, The
  Abstract: The International Workshop on Indigenous Communities and Government Partnerships for Protected Area Management was held on September 2022 on the homelands of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. This event, hosted by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, gathered approximately 55 Indigenous and government representatives from the U.S., Chile, Canada, and Mexico. The Participants represented Indigenous communities, organizations, and Tribal governments involved with marine, coastal, and terrestrial protected areas, as well as federal government representatives selected for their existing relationships with the Indigenous communities and the associated protected areas. The workshop, the first of its kind, was organized to facilitate dialogue among the Indigenous community and government representatives to share their unique experiences, identify and address concerns, and collectively develop recommendations to advance shared governance and collaborative management of protected areas with their...
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
US National Park Service and concession staff perceptions regarding waste
management in Yosemite, Grand Teton, and Denali National Parks
- Authors: Taff; B. Derrick , Lawhon, Ben , Freeman, Stephanie , Pitas, Nick , Newman, Peter
  Abstract: Each year, over 45,000 metric tons of waste are generated in US national parks through a variety of means, including park operations, visitation, and other sources. In an effort to address these impacts, the National Park Service (NPS) has partnered with commercial and non-profit organizations to implement the Zero Landfill Initiative (ZLI). The goal of the ZLI is to realize a steady decrease in waste generated in parks, and an increase in materials being sent for recycling. Through this initiative and aligning research, efforts to mitigate waste and recycling issues with visitors is underway; however, to date there have been no attempts to understand the perspectives of those individuals who manage these parks on a daily basis. This study explored Theory of Planned Behavior-based constructs regarding disposal of waste and recycling using surveys with NPS employees and park concession staff in Yosemite, Grand Teton, and Denali National Parks. Results indicate that perceived...
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Cover, Masthead, and Table of Contents, PSF Vol. 40 No. 2
- Authors: PSF Editorial Team; The
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Gimme Shelter
- Authors: Diamant; Rolf
  Abstract: In this "Letter from Woodstock," our columnist looks at the acute shortage of affordable housing for National Park Service employees — a problem that is affecting recruitment and retention of agency staff, both permanent and seasonal.
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Recycling
- Authors: Lucas; Terry
  Abstract: A poem in the "Verse in Place" section of Parks Stewardship Forum.
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Untangling roots: Reflections on eugenics, conservation, and US national
parks
- Authors: Schmitt; Catherine , Cohen, Laura
  Abstract: This essay reflects some of our preliminary research to understand the relationships of conservation, national parks, and eugenics in the United States and how they affect parks today, as well as actions NPS staff and partners are taking to recognize and reconcile these entangled histories. The roots spread wide and deep, and we have barely scratched the surface. We intend this article as an invitation, to ourselves and our readers, to further exploration and reflection.
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Aplicación de un modelo de gestión del uso público en Parques
Nacionales de la Argentina: sistematización de una experiencia
- Authors: Mayorga; Marisol , Kohl, Jon , Sharp, Ryan L. , Brownlee, Matthew T.J.
  Abstract: Este año se cumplen 200 años de relaciones diplomáticas entre Estados Unidos y Argentina, que han implicado la cooperación en una amplia gama de campos, incluido el turismo. En procura de identificar nuevos enfoques para mejorar la capacidad de los parques nacionales para la planificación y gestión del uso público que sean de mutuo beneficio y desarrollar otras formas de ofrecer experiencias de mayor calidad a los visitantes, la Embajada de los Estados Unidos de América en Buenos Aires, la Sociedad George Wright, el Servicio de Parques Nacionales de los Estados Unidos y la Administración de Parques Nacionales de la Argentina propusieron el “Programa Binacional de Intercambio para Mejorar las Experiencias de los Visitantes en los Parques Nacionales” como un intercambio de aprendizaje conjunto entre los dos países. Este artículo presenta la sistematización de la experiencia de la aplicación y adaptación del Modelo Interinstitucional de Manejo de Visitantes de los Estados Unidos...
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Walking the Talk in America’s National Parks
- Authors: Manning; Robert
  Abstract: Drawing on the rich body of literature on the history, philosophy, and practice of walking, the author finds strong connections to the US national parks that he explores in this essay. The piece begins with a brief summary of the walking literature illustrated with photos the author has taken along trails in the national parks, accompanied by extended photo captions that reference some of the intersections between walking and the national parks. The essay concludes with some thoughts about the implications of all this for park management.
  PubDate: Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +000
Research put into action: How a fossil inventory informed paleontological
resource monitoring efforts preceding road construction at Theodore
Roosevelt National Park
- Authors: Salcido; Charles , Tweet, Justin S. , Santucci, Vincent L.
  Abstract: Theodore Roosevelt National Park (THRO) in western North Dakota that comprises badlands that surround the Little Missouri River in three separate units. Established initially as a national memorial park in 1947 and redesignated as a national park with its current boundaries in 1978, THRO was founded for its connection to its namesake, the United States president, and continues to memorialize Roosevelt’s ideals of stewardship with its management of its diverse cultural and natural resources. The badlands in the park expose the highly fossiliferous Paleocene-age Bullion Creek and Sentinel Butte Formations that have been investigated extensively outside of the park’s boundaries but not as much within them. Following a survey between 1994 and 1996 and later paleontological discoveries in the park, a Paleontological Resource Inventory was conducted during 2020 and 2021 to gauge these resources within THRO and determine best management and protection practices. This inventory was...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Ancient bat remains illustrate the role of caves as habitat anchors in the
temporally dynamic landscape of the Grand Canyon
- Authors: Chambers; Carol L. , Thomas, Shawn , Santucci, Vincent L. , Oswald, Hattie , Ballensky, Jason
  Abstract: Globally, caves provide important refugia for bats. The Grand Canyon, more than 400 km (250 mi) long, consists of steep-sided, rocky formations with hundreds to thousands of natural caves. Two of these, Double Bopper and Leandras Caves, are remarkable because of the presence of desiccated bat carcasses, ranging in condition from skeletal to well-preserved animals identifiable to species. Both caves are complex but differ in length and structure. Double Bopper Cave, >60 km (37 mi) long, is variable with narrow passages. Leandras Cave, 24 km (15 mi) long, has wide, open passages. We surveyed both caves, collecting information for 482 specimens. We initially hypothesized that a single catastrophic event caused the deaths of many individuals or that bats died of various causes over a long period. We expected bat communities to differ between caves, since different cave structures would favor different species based on flight maneuverability. Radiocarbon dating of 67 samples...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Sharks in the dark: Paleontological resource inventory reveals multiple
successive Mississippian Subperiod cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes)
assemblages within Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
- Authors: Hodnett; John-Paul M. , Toomey, Rickard , Olson, Rickard , Tolleson, Kelli , Boldon, Richard , Wood, Jack , Tweet, Justin S. , Santucci, Vincent L.
  Abstract: A focused search for ancient Mississippian Subperiod marine vertebrates during a paleontological resource inventory of Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, has yielded a wealth of new fossil data, previously unrecognized at this park. To date, we have identified marine vertebrate fossils from four primary horizons at the park, two of which are the first records of marine vertebrate fossils occurring in those horizons. Mammoth Cave sites have produced more than 70 species of ancient fish, about 90% representing cartilaginous fishes (sharks and kin), including several new species. The paleontological resource inventory of Mammoth Cave demonstrates that this park is an important resource for providing data on how fish assemblages changed during the formation of the super-continent Pangea. The inventory data also can help correct antiquated information on fossil sharks found in the region (in some cases not updated since their publication in the late 19th century).
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Microtomography of an enigmatic fossil egg clutch from the Oligocene John
Day Formation, Oregon, USA, reveals an exquisitely preserved
29-million-year-old fossil grasshopper ootheca
- Authors: Lee; Jaemin , Famoso, Nicholas A. , Lin, Angela
  Abstract: Eggs are one of the least understood life stages of insects, and are poorly represented in the fossil record. Using microtomography, we studied an enigmatic fossil egg clutch of a presumed entomological affinity from the Oligocene Turtle Cove Member, John Day Formation, from the National Park Service-administered lands of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon. A highly organized egg mass comprising a large clutch size of approximately 50 slightly curved ellipsoidal eggs arranged radially in several planes is preserved, enclosed in a disc-shaped layer of cemented and compacted soil particles. Based on the morphology of the overall structure and the eggs, we conclude that the specimen represents a fossilized underground ootheca of the grasshoppers and locusts (Orthoptera: Caelifera), also known as an egg pod. This likely represents the oldest and the first unambiguous fossil evidence of a grasshopper egg pod. We describe Subterroothecichnus radialis igen. et...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
From Yosemite to Presidio: Everyone Welcomed
- Authors: Diamant; Rolf
  Abstract: In this "Letter from Woodstock," our columnist considers new ideas for welcoming a more diverse group of visitors to Yosemite National Park and the Presidio, part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Checking in on fossil sites: Advancing monitoring protocols and techniques
for paleontological localities in National Park Service units
- Authors: Bonde; Aubrey M. , Santucci, Vincent L. , Nyborg, Torrey
  Abstract: Paleontological site monitoring in National Park Service units can deviate from the recommended cyclical protocol because of unique challenges each unit may face. These challenges include staffing limitations or turnover, difficulty accessing remote sites, and high work volume. Insufficient monitoring of fossil sites might result in the loss of knowledge or data due to degradation or loss of resources. New monitoring protocols were tested at the Copper Canyon ichnofossil locality in Death Valley National Park (DEVA) to address the highlighted management challenges. The monitoring protocol presented here was designed to be streamlined and simple, to be utilized by paleontologists and non-paleontologists alike, and to overcome challenges, thereby, improving undermanaged sites. The monitoring protocol included baseline evaluation and imaging of the 78 track localities within Copper Canyon. Each site was assigned a sensitivity status; identifying its recommended monitoring cyclicity...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
How protecting shark teeth can lead to finding dolphins: George Washington
Birthplace National Monument as a case study in developing and
implementing paleontological resource monitoring
- Authors: Tweet; Justin S. , Santucci, Vincent L.
  Abstract: George Washington Birthplace National Monument (GEWA) is a National Park Service (NPS) unit located in the Northern Neck of Virginia, situated on low bluffs overlooking the Potomac River. This small park unit, focused primarily on cultural and historical resources, may seem at first glance to be an unlikely candidate for notable paleontological resources. However, the bluffs are composed in large part of the fossiliferous early–middle Miocene-age Calvert Formation, and these bluffs and the adjacent shoreline have long been known by locals and rockhounds as places to find fossil shark teeth and other fossils. Following initial contact in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the NPS Paleontology Program has worked closely with GEWA since 2014 on the dual aims of stemming illegal fossil collecting and monitoring non-renewable paleontological resources in the face of rising river levels, increasing storms, and other effects of climate change. The working relationship is a case study...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
The price of neglect: Revisiting Fossil Cycad National Monument
(1922–1957)
- Authors: Santucci; Vincent L. , Tweet, Justin S. , Connors, Tim
  Abstract: The history associated with the discovery, research, preservation, protection, and loss of the fossil cycadeoid locality near Minnekahta in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota—which for 35 years was designated as Fossil Cycad National Monument—has gained considerable public attention. Several publications have attempted to capture portions of this history through the assimilation of information from archives, reports, correspondence, photographs, and other records associated with the monument. Previously unknown records continue to emerge, helping to expand and reshape the understanding of the monument’s unfortunate history, and also raising new questions. Some of the newly uncovered information is presented here. Additionally, several questions are identified that hopefully might be advanced through communication with individuals who are able to share additional information or historical records to fill in some of the gaps related to the history of Fossil Cycad National...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Origins and Innovations of Science in the US National Parks: The 2023
Leopold Lecture at the University of California, Berkeley
- Authors: PSF Editorial Team; The
  Abstract: A brief report on the latest annual A. Starker Leopold Lecture, with a link to video of the lecture. The speakers were Jerry Emory and Alison Forrestel.
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Almost Human
- Authors: Markus; Peter
  Abstract: A poem in the "Verse in Place" section of Parks Stewardship Forum.
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
The dinosaur-bearing rocks of Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve: A
fossil resource of global interest
- Authors: Fiorillo; Anthony R. , Hamon, Troy
  Abstract: The first discovery of any dinosaur remains in a US National Park Service unit in Alaska occurred in 2001 in Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve. The record consisted of the track of a pes impression, or track made by the foot of a hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) and an associated manus impression, or track made by a hand. Subsequent work has shown the original track discovery was not unique, and that the coastal exposures of the Cretaceous Chignik Formation in Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve contain a remarkable number of tracks. Further, because of the limited faulting, the several hundred meters of section found along this coastal set of exposures provide a remarkably complete look at an ancient high-latitude dinosaurian ecosystem and are of outstanding universal value.
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Incredible discoveries and devastation of paleontological resources in a
changing world preserved at White Sands National Park
- Authors: Bustos; David , Santucci, Vincent L. , Odess, Daniel , Martinez, Patrick J. , Connelly, Clare J.
  Abstract: In recent years the discovery of paleontological and archaeological resources exposed because of natural disasters and rapid erosion—mostly linked to climate change—has occurred at a phenomenal rate. Each year wildfires, floods, landsides, retreating glaciers, snow melt, soil erosion, and receding lakes and reservoirs are uncovering valuable resources. Unfortunately, these same forces often lead to the loss of these resources before they can be preserved or documented. At White Sands National Park, as moisture within the soil is being reduced by persistent droughts and rising temperatures, 23,000-year-old fossil prints of people and Ice Age megafauna are being exposed—and then rapidly lost to soil erosion. Consequently, there is an urgent need to document the fossil prints before the record is lost. This is a concern not only for White Sands, but also for dry lake beds throughout the Southwest and around the world where fossil prints may not have yet been discovered but are...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Cover, Masthead, and Table of Contents, PSF Vol. 40 No. 1
- Authors: PSF Editorial Team; The
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Fossil woods of Yellowstone National Park
- Authors: Wheeler; Elisabeth A.
  Abstract: Among the wonders of Yellowstone National Park are the spectacular fossil forests of Amethyst Mountain and Specimen Ridge in the northeastern section of the park and the Gallatin Fossil Forests in the northwestern section. In 1898, John Muir, who was instrumental in establishing the US National Park System, wrote: “Yonder is Amethyst Mountain … beneath the living trees the edges of petrified forests are exposed to view ... standing on ledges tier above tier where they grew, solemnly silent in rigid crystalline beauty after swaying in the wind thousands of centuries ago, opening marvelous views back into the years and climates and life of the past time.” Muir’s visit to Amethyst Mountain was no doubt prompted by the early descriptions and diagrams showing multiple layers of fossil forests there (Figure 1A) (Holmes 1878, 1879). Specimen Ridge and the Gallatin Fossil Forests also have successive tiers of fossil forests. Erling Dorf’s 1964 Scientific American article “The...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Interdisciplinary approaches to reconciling legacy paleontological
collections to advance discovery and improve resource management
- Authors: Parry; Lauren E. , Eichenberg, Erin E.
  Abstract: Like many National Park Service sites, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in Nevada has associated off-site legacy paleontological collections in museum repositories across North America. These legacy paleontological collections, which were created during past expeditions, are at risk of becoming forgotten or inaccessible, yet they hold the potential to revisit old questions and old sites utilizing new techniques, methods, and ideas. The authors present a case study that outlines a suggested framework to reconcile problematic or underutilized legacy paleontological collections based on the 2020–2023 inventory of the Southwest Museum Expedition Tule Springs Collection curated at the Autry Museum of the American West. The authors also explore the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary approach to paleontological resource management. Digitization of associated historic archives and photographs can help assign updated geologic context to unprovenienced fossils, as well as...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Discovery, preservation, and protection of notable paleontological
resources from Dinosaur National Monument, Utah and Colorado
- Authors: Hunt-Foster; ReBecca
  Abstract: Dinosaur National Monument was established in 1915 to protect and preserve the globally significant paleontological resources of the Carnegie Dinosaur Quarry. The park was expanded in 1938 and now protects 210,844.02 acres in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado. Extensive inventory, monitoring, excavation, and research work has taken place in the monument, mostly focusing on the Late Jurassic-age Morrison Formation over the past 113 years since the Carnegie Quarry’s discovery in 1909. This work has helped to increase not only our knowledge of the dinosaur fauna, but also of the less well-known reptiles, amphibians, mammals, invertebrates, and plant communities that lived alongside these Jurassic giants. To protect and preserve these notable fossil discoveries, Dinosaur National Monument has explored several approaches. Public tours of the Carnegie Quarry have taken place since its discovery in 1909. In the early 1950s the monument erected a temporary building over a...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
The National Park System fossil record: Uncovering significant new
paleontological discoveries through inventory, monitoring, research and
museum curation
- Authors: Santucci; Vincent L. , Tweet, Justin S. , Visaggi, Christy , Hodnett, John-Paul M.
  Abstract: The fossil record preserved throughout the parks, monuments, and other areas administered by the National Park Service spans at least 1.4 billion years and reveals rich and diverse paleontological resources available for scientific research and public education. Fossils documented in at least 286 different NPS areas represent important and iconic components of the history of North American paleontology. Our knowledge of the fossil record within the national parks continuously expands based on new paleontological discoveries every year. Most of the new fossil discoveries are associated with four primary management activities undertaken by the NPS Paleontology Program, parks, partners, and cooperating scientists: paleontological resource inventories, monitoring, research, and assessment of fossils curated in museum collections. Paleontological resource inventories focus on the scope, significance, distribution (both temporal and geospatial), and resource management issues associated...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Past, present, and future: A synthesis of paleontological resource
monitoring and management at Badlands National Park
- Authors: Thompson; Wayne A. , Starck, Ellen N.
  Abstract: Paleontological monitoring at Badlands National Park is extremely complex. The monitoring program has steadily evolved from its formalization in 1994 with the hiring of the first park paleontologist. Changing regulations, increases in protections for paleontological resources, positive interdivisional communication, sympathetic leadership, and the hiring of a full-time monitor have allowed staff to move from being purely reactive to taking an active role in planning park projects. This entails commenting on compliance through the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment & Public Comment portal, conducting pre-construction surveys, attending pre-construction meetings, providing resource training for construction personnel, consulting with the Federal Highway Administration as subject-matter experts, and acting as the contracting officer’s representative on select projects. The monitoring program strives to hire qualified personnel according to best practice guidelines...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
No longer news that’s fit to print' Climate change goes missing from
national park newspapers
- Authors: Lull; Robert B. , Wise, Wesley
  Abstract: Every year approximately 300 million Americans visit at least one of the over 420 units of the US National Park System. At many parks, visitors pass through an entrance gate where a ranger provides a map and newspaper for wayfinding and essential information, while at many others a map and newspaper are freely available at visitor centers and other locations. Surveys involving 19 units of the National Park System that are designated as “national parks” suggest that approximately 37% of their visitors use the newspapers provided to them, meaning that the newspapers reach more than 30 million visitors each year in these parks alone. We propose that park newspapers are well-placed but underappreciated assets for park managers to set an agenda communicating climate change to hard-to-reach audiences. Therefore, we conducted a series of analyses, focused on 17 parks that published newspapers on a near-annual basis from 2005–2022, to examine climate change coverage in them. We found...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Find Hope with Climate Crisis Triage
- Authors: Davis; Gary E. , Davis, Dorothy A.
  Abstract: This visual essay in "The Photographer's Frame" draws on the example of highway accident triage to apply principles of "Protect—Assess—Act" to the climate change crisis as a way people can build hope over hopelessness.
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Updating conservation techniques for paleontology collections associated
with Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
- Authors: O'Connor; Conni J. , Burr, Elizabeth , Cooper, Catherine , Meyer, Herbert W.
  Abstract: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (FLFO) was established to protect the rare abundance and diversity of fossil resources preserved in the Florissant Formation. The majority of fossils are plants and insects preserved in laminated shale, which is prone to conservation issues. These issues result from the inherent thinness of individual laminae (≥0.1 mm) and high clay content, and, during collection, sharp fluctuations in relative humidity (RH) and moisture content. The purpose of this paper is to describe historical and current stabilization methods, and report on two current research efforts at separate institutions to mediate these issues using controlled drying techniques and selection of appropriate adhesives and consolidants following best practices in fossil preparation. Response of shale units to humidity is being investigated at the Western Archeological and Conservation Center facility in Tucson, Arizona, along with the viability of consolidation with tetraethyl...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Keeping Snow and Ice Frozen with Renewable Energy Solutions to Halt
Climate Change
- Authors: Gonzalez; Patrick
  Abstract: Human-caused climate change has reduced snowfall and melted snowpack, glaciers, and sea ice around the world. Eliminating coal, oil, and other fossil fuels and replacing them with solar, wind, and other renewable energy is essential to halt climate change.
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Breaking out of the fishbowl: Integrating paleontological resource
management and public engagement while inspiring stewardship through an
open-door fossil preparation lab at Badlands National Park
- Authors: Welsh; Ed , Carpenter, Mary , Starck, Ellen N.
  Abstract: Badlands National Park has been implementing an experimental “open door” concept to their fossil preparation lab, where visitors are allowed into the workspace to experience paleontological work behind the scenes. The combined effort of Resource Education and Resource Management divisions have addressed safety and security issues to optimize the maximum benefits towards resource stewardship as well as public education and enjoyment. These efforts have manifested through various interpretive opportunities combined with strategies towards visitor inclusion into the scientific realm, through encouraging citizen science. The efforts supporting the “open door” lab concept has provided significant, measurable impacts towards inspiring public engagement and stewardship. Since the lab’s opening, there has been a 400% increase in Visitor Site Reports, the parks fossil reporting citizen science program. The past decade of having an “open door” lab has led to the revelation that if the...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
Health challenges of rangers—a planetary health workforce
- Authors: Rerolle; Francois , Singh, Rohit , Mascari, Thomas , Aisha, Hamera , Avino, Felipe Spina , Gajardo, Osvaldo Barassi , Urh, Melina , Mcvey, Drew , Belecky, Mike , Moreto, William
  Abstract: Rangers safeguard the balance between humans and nature by protecting and managing biodiversity and natural resources. The challenging working conditions that rangers face make them vulnerable to wildlife attacks and exposure to zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. Despite all of these work-related challenges and threats to their health, a vast majority of rangers lack access to adequate medical treatment facilities. This research has used data from the one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of rangers across multiple countries, collected as part of the Global Ranger Perception Survey, to examine the relationship between the precarious working conditions of rangers and their health outcomes. By comparing data from the 2020 World Malaria Report, our study highlights the severe malaria burden carried by rangers around the world. Malaria prevalence in rangers working in Central Africa, East Africa, and South America was estimated to be four times higher than in the general...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000
New perspectives on NPS paleontological resource stewardship: Scientific,
curatorial, and educational outcomes at Petrified Forest National Park
- Authors: Parker; William G. , Marsh, Adam D. , Smith, Matthew E. , Kligman, Ben T. , Wagner, Deborah E. , Varela, Phillip , Boudreau, Diana M.
  Abstract: Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO) was established to preserve fossils from the Triassic Period. After long relying solely on external partners, an internal program was established consisting of permanent staff and appropriate facilities to manage these extensive resources, primarily through active collection and curation. Goals based on National Park Service (NPS) policies allow managers to guide internal research priorities and those of external partners, more effectively reducing repetitive studies and increasing collaborations. Student interns play a crucial part of this effort, and many have gone on to establish or augment paleontology programs at other institutions and federal agencies, developing new partnerships with the NPS. PEFO permanent staff grew as park and regional management recognized the utility of the program. PEFO staff collaboratively develop new collecting and laboratory processing techniques that preserve high quality data, including a public laboratory...
  PubDate: Thu, 11 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +000

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