A Path to Understanding and Mitigating Threats to National Park Service Fossils

Article by: Lauren Parry-Joseph, Tule Springs Fossil Beds Nat. Mon., Park Ranger (Interpretation)

What determines a fossil’s value? Is it size, rarity, appeal, or scientific contribution? Today, it’s not just a matter of opinion, it’s the law. As outlined in the landmark 2009 legislation, fossils in our national parks are not just valued for their "cool factor". All fossils, from a trilobite, to a magnolia leaf, to a dinosaur skeleton, are equally precious and possess scientific, educational, and other values. These are not just non-renewable windows into our past; seeing fossils in national parks are important experiences we hope to share with future generations. Fossil collecting and displays have long fascinated the public and scientists alike, but when do these actions cross the line? The legal protections we have today for fossil resources on federal public lands were born from decades of advocacy and shared stewardship. From pocketing souvenirs to fossil poaching, our nation’s fossils had been vanishing for decades.

Red Flag

Senior Paleontologist Vincent Santucci’s 40-year career in the National Park Service took a serendipitous journey from undercover law enforcement ranger to public advocate for fossil protection. Thinking back to his early years with the National Park Service, Vince recalls that "the 1980s were a time when there was this explosive commercial market for fossils." While collecting and selling fossils from privately-owned lands was a legitimate venture, Vince predicted that the uptick in profits from private fossil sales would potentially contribute to illegal fossil collection from public lands, including national parks. During his tenure as an interpretive park ranger at Badlands National Park in the 1980s, Vince assisted park law enforcement in documenting organized fossil theft within the park. While Vince was undercover, he encountered a long-time fossil poacher illegally collecting in the park who showed Vince a scrapbook of fossils he had knowingly collected from within the boundaries of Badlands National Park for commercial sale—Vince was being shown a catalog of stolen fossils. One item in the scrapbook spotlighted a 1977 newspaper clipping of a massive Cretaceous-age turtle from Badlands National Park that had successfully been sold for $35,000. According to the American Institute for Economic Research, that was worth nearly $193,000 of purchasing power in 2024. At that time, this was believed to represent the highest dollar amount paid for any fossil. Vince was extremely concerned: "There's something wrong here. During this time of this rapid, escalating commercial market for fossils, we need to develop strategies and practices to protect non-renewable fossils on federal lands, including national parks."

Ranger Santucci on the firearm training range (left) and with his patrol vehicle (right) in the early 1990s. Vince became known affectionately as the "pistol-packing paleontologist" of the National Park Service.

Courtesy Vincent Santucci

Piece by Piece

Systemic change does not happen overnight. As a first step, Vince was inspired to earn his National Park Service Law Enforcement commission. This was a big deal; at that time in the early 90s, Vince became the only paleontologist within National Park Service law enforcement community. "I saw a need to step up and fill an important void that existed in the NPS. These things collectively, cumulatively became more institutionalized in the work that we did in the NPS Paleontology Program later on," recalls Vince. After completing his National Park Service Law Enforcement Academy training program in 1991, Ranger Santucci was ready for and seeking a position with the NPS. Coincidentally, he was contacted by the superintendent of Petrified Forest National Park, Gary Cummins: "You know, I read your article in Park Paleontology Newsletter, and I really like this information. Would you be interested in helping us to protect our petrified wood that is disappearing into the pockets of visitors doing souvenir collecting at the park?"

Vince wore many hats in his position at Petrified Forest National Park as the park paleontologist, curator, and law enforcement ranger. Behind the scenes in park collections, Vince worked with fossils such as the holotype specimen of Chindesaurus, a small, Triassic-age dinosaur.

NPS photo

Vince joined the staff at Petrified Forest National Park in May 1991 as the park paleontologist, curator, and law enforcement ranger. This new position presented Vince with an opportunity to transition from traditional ticket writing into something more meaningful: the use of education and stewardship to help reduce or prevent further souvenir collecting of petrified wood by park visitors. In response, Vince saw a further transition with visitors, including young children, more focused on celebrating a memorable trip to the park rather than on leaving with fossil wood in their pockets. As an example, some areas, such as Crystal Forest, have been hit incredibly hard throughout the park’s history: "If you look at photos of this area from the 1930s and compare them to the same spots today, those areas appear to be vacuum cleaned of anything that can be carried off, from paperweight to doorstop size specimens," Vince recalls. When he would notice a child collecting a piece of souvenir wood, instead of immediately disciplining the family with a citation, Vince would show them historic photos revealing the disappearing wood. Deputizing the kids with a Petrified Forest Junior Ranger badge, Vince encouraged them to help the park rangers protect the landscape for future generations and tell their friends and family about what they learned. Sure enough, after Vince thanked the children and walked away, he would sometimes notice the visitors return their pocketed "souvenir" to where they had found it. "You've instilled in them a sense of value about why we do what we do to preserve these resources in national parks so that when they leave, they're feeling good about their role as a Junior Ranger," explains Vince, "and they have gained an understanding that they will take with them when they visit other national parks. So, I have been advocating that stewardship message ever since." Since 1991, Vince has been able to train more than 1,400 law enforcement rangers on fossil protection and stewardship to help prevent similar issues in other parks.

Repeat photos of Crystal Forest at Petrified Forest National Park show how stewardship can protect our parks for future generations. The landscape in the 1970s (top) bears remarkable resemblance to the landscape today (bottom) thanks to park visitors doing the right thing.

NPS photos

Catfished

What happens when fossil theft goes beyond souvenir collecting? While Ranger Vince was working at Petrified Forest in the early 1990s, the federal government launched a formal investigation into illegal fossil collection and sales from public and Indian lands. It turned out that the intelligence Vince gathered during his prior undercover investigations at Badlands was just the tip of the iceberg. With compelling leads, the FBI seized business records of a commercial fossil business. Information and evidence was compiled regarding a rare and important fossil specimen containing several impeccably preserved 30-million-year-old catfish. The evidence associated with the fossil catfish from Badlands National Park led to a major milestone: the very first felony conviction for fossil theft from National Park Service lands. Finally, the issue of fossil poaching was not only gaining significant attention, but also substantial legal action.

A block containing several Oligocene-age fossil catfish collected illegally from Badlands National Park. Fossil fish and lake deposits are very rare within the park's fossil record. Even the fishes' tail fins are remarkably preserved. Each square on the scale bar is 1 cm across.

NPS photo

Why take such aggressive action for fossil fish? From the creepy-crawly, to the tall and toothy, to the cute and fluffy, the National Park Service protects today’s landscapes and all who inhabit them. Tens of thousands of visitors per year visit Katmai National Park in Alaska, hoping to see giant, majestic grizzly bears…but consider what brings these bears to the park—it’s the salmon and the rivers. Fossils offer a glimpse into environments that are no longer around. If parts of that landscape are missing, we lose out on a complete story. Fossil fish are very rare from Badlands National Park and not nearly as well-known as some of the more charismatic fossil mammals, such as sheep-like oreodonts, the cat-like nimravids, the bear-sized "hell pigs", and the rhino-like "thunder beasts" called brontotheres. Regardless of their appeal, all fossils from our national parks should have equal importance and value. They all help piece together our history for current generations and the next. The big picture was clear to Vince: there was a need to enhance the protection of fossils in the same way afforded to other NPS natural and cultural resources.

Call to Action

Reaching toward a bigger goal, Vince needed to take a step back. In the 1980s, the National Park Service proudly recognized 12 "fossil" parks, including Petrified Forest and Badlands. A collaborative team of paleontologists put their minds together, knowing that there were plenty more parks that preserved fossils but not the full extent. How do we make sure these fossils are protected if we don’t even know what’s out there? "We started reaching out to parks and letting them know that 'hey, you have some really cool fossils preserved within your park'," Vince recalls, "and our list parks with fossils grew from 12 to 60, to 120, to eventually 288 that built a fossil-cognizant constituency within the National Park Service." With a broader understanding of National Park Service fossils across the continent came a more complete picture of fossil poaching; by 1999, the National Park Service had also documented fossil theft in at least 35 national parks. The evidence was mounting; it was now or never. "We had a lot of ammunition so that when the Department of the Interior went before Congress to testify, there was substantive information to share."
In 2000, a team of experts from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Geological Survey came together to publish a report to Congress on federal fossil resources. This report outlined the value of fossils on federal lands, management practices, and recommendations to ensure fossil stewardship and protection. Public comments were largely supportive, recognizing fossils on federal public lands as a part of our natural heritage that should be kept in the public trust and have stronger protections. This report would eventually pave the way for the language enacted in the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009, which codifies stiffer penalties for fossil theft on federal lands, ensures that federal fossil resources are managed with scientific principles and expertise, and calls for further public education to encourage stewardship and appreciation of these nonrenewable resources. "It was important for us to stand out in front and advocate the NPS perspectives on fossil resource management and stewardship," Vince explains.

A New Chapter

It took decades of effort and initiative to get where we are today, and the work is never over. From swearing in Junior Paleontologists, to responding to the inquiries to the Department of the Interior by Congress, Vince has enjoyed a fulfilling and diverse career: “This was the most important thing that I can do in my career in paleontology is to help protect fossils in our national parks for the public, for the scientists and for other purposes.” Over the last 40 years, Vince has inspired and mentored this next generation of paleontologists in the National Park Service and beyond. We continue to celebrate his career as he formally retires from his role as the National Park Service Senior Paleontologist in December 2025. We can’t think of a better way to honor Vince’s legacy than to keep learning and advocating for our fossil heritage.