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John Day Fossil Beds National
Monument
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
It's Really Happening…
Anyone driving by the Sheep Rock Unit of the monument will easily notice major changes across the road from the Cant Ranch House.
Last August, 2G Construction Company from Eugene began constructing our new paleontology center and museum. As of mid-December, rough grading has been completed, the foundation footings and walls have been poured, the Sheep Rock Overlook has been closed and reseeded, and preliminary electrical and plumbing connections are in. By February, wall framing should be well underway. The schedule still calls for the building to be finished by early fall 2003, but it will take an additional six to eight months to install the exhibits. Hopefully we will be ready to open the doors to the public in time for the 2004 summer season. It is an exciting time for us!
View of new Paleo center construction site.
ODFW personnel record the eagle's release.
Immature Golden Eagle Released Near Dayville
A golden eagle
flew free at last in her home territory near Dayville on Friday Dec. 13th
after five months in captivity. On July 17, 2002, Darren Bruning of the
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife transported the injured eagle to
Blue Mountain Wildlife near Pendleton after she had been hit by a car.
The one-year old bird had no broken bones, but spent several months at
the rehabilitation center recuperating from her injuries and being reconditioned
for release.
Her initial flight was somewhat disappointing to the small group of well-wishers
that had gathered for the occasion, but after a few minutes
spent regaining her bearings, the 11.5 pound bird (a very large eagle!)
took to the air again and flew out of sight
over a ridge, happy to be home at last.
Fall, Winter 2002-2003
Museum/Paleo News
This year has been one of our busiest ever. We had our largest summer crew in our 25 years as a National Monument. The crew consisted of three interns, Amy Poff, Rob McAffee, and Andrew Miller; five museum technicians Karon Decker, Sally Johnson, Amy Morrison, Chris Scheirup, and Lia Vella; our 'new' preparator Matt Smith; Collections Manager Scott Foss; and Ted Fremd Park Paleontologist. Also, we will soon be hiring a new permanent paleobotanist to round out our compliment of research staff.
Among the many tasks completed by our crew, Amy M. and Karon
were able to completely survey Right Hand Canyon of Blue Basin
as part of our cyclical prospecting program. Chris, Rob, and
Andrew helped Scott tackle the backlog of cataloging and curation.
Together they completed three years of work within one season.
Sally worked with Matt in attempting to keep up with the consolidation
and preparation of incoming collections. Amy P. created a stunning
series of paleontological illustrations for Ted. Matt brought
up a large loan of fossils collected in our area from the University
of California Museum of Paleontology in Berkeley. These fossils
were collected between the 1890's and the 1960's prior to the
establishment of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. They
will be on loan to the park until Matt has a chance to cast them
all in order to exhibit many of them in the upcoming Tomas Condon
Paleontological Center.
Each one of the teeth is the same size as this "u". The name of this specimen is Pleurolicus sp. a kind of ancient pocket gopher.
The Bridges of Blue Basin
The Island in Time Trail saw a complete makeover this year. Previously, the trail had 15 wooden bridges, which did not have guardrails, and though only a little over 10 years old had suffered from extensive dry rot. The cost of rebuilding the wooden bridges and adding guardrails was going to cost $150,000.00. For the same amount we were able to upgrade to galvanized metal bridges that will last at least 5 times longer than wooden structures, saving taxpayers well over a half million dollars over the next half century, and allowing maintenance dollars and efforts to preserve other needed visitor use facilities within the Monument.
The construction was accomplished without closure of the trail into the Basin and much of the trail was realigned to allow better access for visitors with disabilities, making slopes more gentle and continuing the grade even on the bridges. The new "Grip Strut" diamond plank decks, allows good traction for hikers, even when wet or icy conditions prevail.
This trail sees many visitors through the winter months and as well as the very busy summer months.
Despite summer temperatures exceeding 100 degrees most days, the project was completed within a single season, thanks to our hard working crews. The exceptional Park Service Seasonal Crew consisted of, Scott Womack of San Diego, Crew Leader, Tony Hand of Dayville, 3 Youth Conservation Corps workers; Joe Drain of Mt Vernon, Nathaniel Ashley and James Hand both from Dayville and NPS Seasonals, Charlene Foetisch of Dayville and Rebecca Fischer of Spray, and Matt DeVore of Klamath Falls. The Public Land Corps Crew; crew leader Robert Crouch, of Spray, Travis Moore of Dayville,and Bonnie Jones of Spray. Christine Pack of Fossil, Drew Valade from Spray and Ben Hyde from John Day, did a great deal of trail moving and shaping:
These crews hauled in and assembled 35,900 pieces of steel totaling 65,000 pounds ranging from 156 pound, 24 feet long beams, to 5/16" nuts. Over 12,000 pounds of concrete were moved up the trail and poured for supports. An estimated 40 tons of rock and gravel were moved in realigning the trails and approaches.
The work, overseen by two park Paleontology staff members, also lead to the recovery of many fine specimens.
Many thanks to this fine crew of hard-working folks, for providing
such a good trail system into the Blue Basin jackpot of history.
Their grandchildren will be able to see their exceptional summer
of fine work, well into the future.
One of the new bridges in Blue Basin.
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Thanks to the efforts of multiple partners, staff from other parks, and a good weather window, the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument was able to complete two extensive prescribed burns over a one week period.
The Sand Mountain Prescribed Fire included a large portion of the Painted Hills Unit of the monument. The Bureau of Land Management completed the bulk of the planning for this burn with input and special considerations covered by NPS staff. Black lining of the perimeter began on September 20, continued on the 21st, and then aerial ignition of the interior of the unit was completed on September 22nd by a BLM helicopter. NPS staff from JODA and Buffalo National River Fire Use Module assisted with the black lining and holding.
A total of 5,300 acres of hazardous fuel reduction was completed. This included 1,780 acres of NPS and 3,520 acres of BLM lands. On September 24th, a state burn permit and the weather allowed for the second prescribed burn to begin.
This second burn was labeled the Middle Mountain Prescribed Burn and occurred in the Sheep Rock Unit of the monument and on the adjoining private and BLM lands. This allowed the use of a remote access road, a ranch road, the John Day River, an agricultural field, and a highway as safe and manageable perimeter lines.
JODA staff completed the planning for this burn and the Buffalo National River Fire Use Module worked for a week prior to the burn reducing fuel amounts in critical areas around the perimeter. Over 6 miles of black lining occurred on September 24th and 25th including protecting two private residences and a NPS trailhead and public use area. A BLM helicopter completed the aerial ignition with the assistance of NPS personnel on the afternoon of September 25th.
Two crews from BLM, three from the Forest Service, one from Oregon Department of Forestry and one from a local private company all assisted in black lining and holding.
The Burn Boss and Ignition Specialist were from Buffalo National
River in Arkansas, the Deputy Burn Boss and Ignition Specialist
trainee were from Denali National Park, and the Holding Boss
was a local private contractor. This unique partnership allowed
for 3,380 total acres to be treated for hazardous fuel reduction
with 1,120 acres under NPS ownership. An approaching wet weather
system closed the burn window the following day.
Smoke from the prescribed fire at the Painted Hills
New Junior Park Rangers
Alex Berg, Hillsboro, OR
Tommy Botch, Los Angeles, CA
William James Bowler, Burlington, VT
Timothy C. Coohs, Wilsonville, OR
Abigail Emmazirinsky, Tacoma, WA
Curtis Harper, Heppner, OR
Jake Jackson, Bellevue, WA
Drew Jacobson, Sisters OR
James Corum Ketchum, Eugene, OR
Breeann Peters, Cypress, CA
Lauryn Kingsley Reed, Beaverton, OR
Stephanie Schuler, Heppner, OR
Kristen Warden, Portland, OR
Rachel Marie Warden, Portland, OR
Britny White, Harrisburg, OR
Congratulations Junior Park Rangers!
Paleo-Academy Initiated
During the summer of 2002, a week-long Paleo-academy was conducted
by the North-Central Education Service District office staff,
of the Oregon Department of Education.
Participating with NCESD instructor Julia King were BLM Archaeologist John Zancanella, Jeff Myers, a professor at Western Oregon University - Monmouth, and monument park rangers John Fiedor and John Laing. Over a dozen area teachers attended this first workshop, which was very well received.
The purpose of the week-long teacher training was to introduce basic geology and paleontology concepts, represented in the landscape of eastern Oregon, in the context of activities that would easily transfer to the classroom. Field trips to various locations around the town of Fossil, Oregon, were conducted, including the Clarno and Sheep Rock Units of the monument. What is hoped to be the first of many, the next Paleo-Academy will be offered in the summer of 2003.
Those teachers interested in attending the next workshop should contact the North Central
Education Service District office at 541-384-2772.
Revised Strategic Plan Completed
In early December most park employees took time away from their work
to sit down together in John Day and spend two and a half days discussing
the next four years.
A major part of the effort was prioritizing both goals and tasks to accomplish them within that time frame. This is the third time since the mid-1990's park staff has done this, and it helps us come together and agree on the direction of the park and what it will take to manage it effectively in the foreseeable future. This is particularly important now because it is very likely that the new paleocenter will change much about our jobs and the tools we have to preserve fossils and to interpret them to monument visitors.
Fall, Winter 2002-2003
_____________________________________
Editor
Sarah Herve
Contributors
Blue Mountain Wildlife
John Fiedor
Jim Hammett
Ken Hyde
Matt Smith
Comments? Write to:
Jim Hammett
Superintendent
John Day Fossil Beds NM
32651 HWY 19
Kimberly OR 97848
Origional version of this newsletter was altered slightly for posting on the web.
Postage and production funded by
The Northwest Interpretive Association, in
Cooperation with the National Park Service.
Fall, Winter 2002-2003