259-1 An Inventory of Paleontological Resources from National Park Service Coastal Parks

Session: Science and Stewardship of U.S. National Park Service Paleontological Resources (Posters)

Poster Booth No.: 22

Presenting Author:

Hannah McCoy

Authors:

McCoy, Hannah L¹, Bonde, Aubrey M², Tweet, Justin S³, Santucci, Vincent L⁴, Valentine, Nathaniel⁵, Visaggi, Christy C.⁶, Whitenack, Lisa⁷, Leonard-Pingel, Jill⁸

(1) The Ohio State Univ, Earth Sciences, Columbus, OH, USA, (2) Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, National Park Service, Boulder City, NV, USA, (3) Geologic Resources Division, National Park Service, St. Paul, MN, USA, (4) National Park Service, Gettysburg, PA, USA, (5) The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA, (6) Georgia State University, Geosciences, Atlanta, GA, USA, (7) Allegheny College, Geology, Meadville, PA, USA, (8) The Ohio State University Newark, Newark, OH, USA,

Abstract:

The National Park Service (NPS) has dedicated over a century of stewardship and policy to maintaining U.S. national parks and their natural resources. The NPS preserves resources and landscapes for future generations, promotes scientific research, and provides education to the public. One of the notable resources that the NPS protects is fossils, which interpret Earth’s past in terms of life, environments, ecosystems, and evolution, and have long intrigued and inspired public visitation to the parks. These vital, nonrenewable fossil resources can be challenging to safeguard. In particular, paleontological resources in coastal settings face unique threats from both natural and human causes, including the effects of sea level rise, storms, mass wasting, beach renourishment, and dredging; as well as more widespread issues such as day-to-day weathering, wave action, vandalism, and theft. In response to these challenges, a project team for the Paleontology in the Parks Fellowship Program, supported by the NPS and the Paleontological Society, has compiled a summary of paleontological resources for the approximately 40 coastal national parks that contain fossils. This work involved consolidating information from various sources into a comprehensive document, both building on existing inventories and also incorporating new information. The purpose of this report is to catalog each coastal park’s paleontological resources, identify those most at risk, and document potential impacts on those resources. This summary will help the National Park Service prioritize fossil sites that are most vulnerable and implement management strategies that are more effective barriers against natural and human-caused threats, thereby protecting and preserving these invaluable and nonrenewable fossil resources for future generations.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-8253

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