Re: summer prospecting ?

[Phillip Bigelow <n8010095@henson.cc.wwu.edu>]

An enthusiastic future paleontologist wrote:
>Last year I found three vertebrae...<snip>
>The fossils med/drk gray are highly weathered and have lichens on them but not
>cracked.  Over the summer I plan on going back and seeing what I can find
>and if I find anything what do I do.  I am an amateur something or other...
><snip>

Oh, boy...here I go throwing gasoline on a simmering fire...
  I am sure that you know the firestorm that is happening regarding collecting 
 vertebrate fossils?  Before you go out next summer, you may want to consider  
these issues first:
  a) Did you collect the material on public land?  If you did, box the stuff
     up, drive back to the site, put the bones back and _run_! (I'm not
     kidding...collecting vertebrate material on federal land without 
     a permit is presently not legal.  Regardless of how you feel about the
     present laws, do yourself a favor and don't touch any vert. fossils 
     you see on fed. land. 

  b) If the land was privately-owned, did you ask permission to enter the
     property before you collected the fossil?  Land-owners are rightfully
     touchy about having strangers tramping through their property and 
     removing things off their land.  Remember, just because the property is
     not fenced-in doesn't give one the right to trudge through.

  c) Assuming that you did everything correctly up to this point (in other 
     words, (b) is applicable, and you asked permission), ask yourself
     if you have the skills to excavate a vertebrate skeleton without 
     damaging it.  Have you trained under a skilled field paleontologist?
     If not, you may do more damage than good.  Removing bones is a little
     like doing surgery: one slip-up and your patient could be wrecked. 
     What if you unknowingly wreck a new species?  If the rest of the 
     animal is embedded in the ground, do yourself a favor: don't touch it
     any further.  Instead, get in touch with a skilled field paleontologist,
     and alert him to your find. (see (d) below).

 d)  Contact the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman and alert them of your 
     activities.  Send photos of your material, and of the site.  TAKE
     ubiquitous NOTES of the locality and the site, and send them ALL 
     information that you have collected.  Offer to DONATE all of your
     fossil bones unconditionally.  After you have donated all of the material,
     (if they want it), proceed to (e) below.

e)  Get a good formal education in paleontology and field paleontology before
    you get involved in the collecting-aspect of vertebrate paleontology.
    Minimal knowledge of vert. excavation technique is a little like a child 
    holding his fathers gun...the kid knows how to pull the trigger, but doesn't
    quite fully understand the unpleasant consequences of that action.
     
I am going to post excepts from a newspaper article regarding what can go
wrong when untrained people get involved in digging up vertebrate fossils.
It isn't a particularly pleasant topic, but it is applicable in this case.


None-the-less, your discovery sounds like a interesting find!