FOSSIL RESOURCES: FOCUS WEEK AT BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK

The eighth annual “Focus on Fossils Week” sponsored by Badlands National Park is scheduled for July 13 through 19, 2003. This week-long event is intended to provoke visitors’ enthusiasm for fossils through special exhibits and ranger programs, in addition to the regularly scheduled programs relating to paleontological resources.

• Fossil Talks daily at 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM at the Fossil Exhibit Trail
• Geology Walk daily at 9:00 AM at the Door Trail

Additionally, the Big Pig Dig is once again available to visitors as an active paleontological site where over 6000 bones have been found since 1993. 2003 marks the tenth anniversary of excavation at the site. Paleontologists are working the site daily from 9 AM to 5 PM. The Pig Dig is scheduled to close for the season in late August. Onsite educators are available daily from 9 AM to 4 PM.

Fossils are more than objects of the past. They are also a gateway to an understanding how the past became the present. Each fossil discovery contributes to the knowledge of past life and how the Earth has changed. There is a long tradition of fossil research in the White River Badlands that stretches over 150 years and continues today at the park. Visitors can discover the past on a personal level by viewing excavated fossils, seeing an active paleontological dig, and possibly experiencing a new fossil discovery while exploring within the Park. The National Park Service reminds everyone to leave fossils where they find them. Removing fossils and other resources from the park is punishable by a fine and potentially more severe punishment.

For more information relating to Fossils Week and the activities scheduled at Badlands National Park, please contact Kathryn Price at (605)433 – 5246 or via email at kathryn_price@partner.nps.gov