The Season of Fossils and Firsts for NPCA!

Christa Cherava, NPCA Senior Manager of Conservation Programs
National Parks Conservation Association

The Importance of Partnerships and Collaboration in Paleo Resource Protection

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has had a fortunate year in terms of paleo-related opportunities—many of which involved NPS Paleo staff! Most notably among these is Vincent L. Santucci, who is the NPS Senior Paleontologist and leads the NPS Paleontology Program in Washington, DC. I call upon Vince often for professional guidance as he exemplifies cooperation within the paleontological community. Besides having access to training and engaging in field visits around the country with NPS, NPCA also had been awarded a fully paid Stanback Fellowship from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. While this is not a new endeavor, to focus solely on paleo resources for research most certainly was distinct from our past job postings. This graduate-level professional school produces foresters, environmental managers, ecologists, etc.—but not geologists and paleontologists. Was it possible to attract someone who was so focused in this one area of natural resources, to help explain the significance of fossils? Remarkably, YES!

NPCA is a non-profit organization that is ‘the leading voice for national parks’ by doing what the government itself can’t do—for example, lobbying, which can include asking for increased funding or the passage of legislation that will be beneficial to park resources. We also have a large national membership and advocacy base whose interests are as diverse as the parks they love most. We seek to share stories and promote actions that help protect national parks. And I am lucky enough to get to work on paleo resource issues when the occasion presents itself. I believe that these resources are significant for so many reasons and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to work with a graduate student who would help me communicate these over the summer.

One of my goals in working with a student was to see what these resources meant to someone who was studying to be a professional in forestry and environmental management. WHY should paleo resources be protected? is the question I wanted answered by a non-paleontologist and non-geology professional. The easy part of any job is preaching to the choir—we never actually need to convince like-minded people of our views. In a time when we are confronted with a changing climate and all the impacts that it entails from a biodiversity and resource management perspective, how do we persuade people to remember the importance of resources that have been in the ground thousands, millions, even a billion years ago when so much of the living is in peril? Or, furthermore, when budgets compete for funding and staffing levels at a federal agency, why should paleo resources make the list of priorities? Internally at NPCA, I am already a member of that aforementioned choir—and the loudest singer. I craved that external perspective. I would plan a webpage with all of NPCA’s existing paleo materials but I also needed a product to include that was going to be educational in an interactive way. In addition to these tasks and to enhance the experience, this position was also going to be offered an onsite visit to one of the 18 national park units that was specifically designated for the protection of its paleo resources in the enabling legislation.

Gabriel Piacsek was just that person to address these objectives for NPCA. On day one of his fellowship, he brought his favorite fossil from his native Brazil. Fast forward ten weeks as he was wrapping up his work, he finalized a StoryMap, the first NPCA has that focuses on paleo resources: The Dinosaurs in the National Parks. Gabriel created this tool to educate people about NPS paleontology overall—including types of fossils, protections, citizen science, etc. With a suggestion from Vince, Gabriel allowed dinosaurs to draw the viewer in, because often the public favors these the most. This now resides online and in a repository of NPCA’s paleo communications, titled Spotlight: Paleontology in the Parks. NPCA also directs visitors to NPS Paleontology by providing a link to the government website to learn more. Additionally for the mappers, Gabriel created a relevant Geodatabase that is open-access and titled NPS_PaleoParksFiles_GDB.

I recall Gabriel’s recent farewell salute to NPCA staff, including how he learned about the management and protection of ALL national park resources during his fellowship and being grateful for that exposure. I believe visiting with the scientists at Badlands National Park and other paleo-related institutions throughout the Black Hills region also inspired Gabriel to appreciate these resources and their overall uniqueness within the natural sciences. By the time we leave the halls of a learning institution, we are hopefully well-rounded enough to think about conservation at an ecosystem and even landscape level. But we still define ‘change’ in terms of decades—maybe a century—and consider the future of that space based on that amount of information. And why not? Human time and geologic time are vastly different. We operate within our own construct and for our own ‘generations’.

For example, we must remember that the vegetation—or ‘cover-type’—is dependent upon the soils beneath it and therefore the geologic composition further below. Our natural world is based on cyclical events and an interconnectedness—and they tend to begin with a geologic context. We use our senses to process our immediate surroundings and our curiosity to think deeper. It doesn’t hurt us to remember that the Earth is 4.6 billion years old in a much older universe. While easily captivated by the biota in an ecological setting, think too about what clues exist to inform us of the age and the processes that shaped where you’re currently standing. That is a more inclusive story of an ecosystem or a landscape: both what is living and what is not. As to the initial question I posed of why do paleo resources matter, Gabriel answered it thoroughly:

“The paleo resources in our National Parks are part of every American’s natural and cultural heritage. They remind us that the story of nature is bigger than our own lifetimes. These snapshots of history should inspire us to embrace a future of conservation and respect for the natural resources, past or present, our country has to offer.”

Back to the public’s favorite aspect of paleontology for a moment: We accepted as children that there were once dinosaurs a very long time ago, and now they are dead because of an extra-terrestrial event. End of story. And yet—it doesn’t have to be. Paleontology helps us to continue writing that chapter—with each new discovery, we are able to learn more. Sure—dinosaurs are still dead, but rather than approach this in terms of compare and contrast, we are also able to find similarities using very specific aspects of paleontology—paleoecology, paleobiology, paleobotany, etc. We can explain evolution and adaptation by looking at the fossil record. It tells us that birds are the most direct descendants of dinosaurs. It almost seems a far stretch to say such a thing, yet data can support it! The grandeur and fascination of dinosaurs will perhaps never exist for another group of fossils—probably because they were so different from what we see today. Plants millions of years ago still resemble plants today. The same goes for Gabriel’s favorite fish fossil and modern fish—although so much time has passed the pressure for anatomical modification just hasn’t been as strong for some lifeforms. Imagine being alive then and catching a glance of 66+ million years into the future. We can’t confidently project that far ahead—even with the best of modeling. But we can return that far back in time by examining paleo resources.

I ask again—why do fossils matter? An abundance of information has been written about their scientific significance. I think of it this way: scientists observe shifts and changes in the environment. We take note of it—sometimes mentally—and when the disruption is drastic, we undertake formal studies to research it further. But what is more insightful than taking heed to an item that has had its organic material replaced by minerals over the span of millions of years? Or having access to genetic material preserved in permafrost that is tens of thousands of years old? The remains left by the Earth demonstrate environmental changes at a level we could not duplicate in labs. I think of them as some of the most impressive forms of information we will ever get to observe. The main difference between the changes of the past and many we see today are natural processes versus human-caused—at least the rate of acceleration at which change is occurring. Nonetheless—when we learn from ALL the resources that we have access to—we can succeed in their protection.

And we do this by working together. In the last several months alone, I have engaged with staff from the federal government; another non-profit organization that was also a professional society; an academic institution; a museum; and the public. All the entities just listed have specific roles in the protection of paleo resources located on public lands. We could do our work in silos and still get something done, but I guarantee we would never be as effective without working together. I can reflect on what I have learned from engaging with NPS Paleo staff—and of the books I read, none will ever lead me to the same degree of information and application in real time if I didn’t have the opportunities and connections that I do firsthand. While some things are better left in the past, fossils are not among them! What we can learn from the world’s oldest resources and apply to modern biota and environmental systems is unlimited. I will gladly accept any role I can play in protecting geologic and paleontological resources because I firmly believe that they are an integral part of our current living landscapes.

Inside the BADL Paleo Lab, a visitor will not only see expert scientists at work, but also how their own findings contribute to the interpretation and protection of the park’s resources.

©Christa Cherava/NPCA

When signage says it all! BADL’s contributions to the field of paleontology are remarkable.

©Christa Cherava/NPCA

The iconic geologic structures of this park are highly erosive and expose fossils which are present at a density unmatched by other park units.

©Christa Cherava/NPCA

Remains of a turtle in BADL. Although it appears to have ‘exploded’, natural processes caused the carapace to break apart and resemble such an event during weathering and this peculiar scenario is prevalent throughout the park.

©Christa Cherava/NPCA

Located in Hot Springs, SD, The Mammoth Site is also designated a National Natural Landmark—an NPS partnership that is key to the protection of the resources they contain.

©Christa Cherava/NPCA

The James E. Martin Paleontology Research Laboratory is on the campus of South Dakota School Mines & Technology and located near their Museum of Geology. Both museums and academic institutions play a vital role in the protection of paleo resources, and this specific university works directly with BADL.

©Christa Cherava/NPCA

Related Links

• Badlands National Park (BADL), South Dakota—[BADL Geodiversity Atlas] [BADL Park Home] [BADL npshistory.com]

Fossils and Paleontology