Part of a series of articles titled Park Paleontology News - Vol. 09, No. 1, Spring 2017.
Article
The History and Future for Park Paleontology Newsletter

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I began to develop Park Paleontology Newsletter when I was a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh. My experiences as a seasonal ranger at Badlands National Park in 1985 and 1986 demonstrated to me there was need for increased communication between NPS staff in parks, regions and in Washington, DC, as well as with academic researchers and museums involved with the study and collection of fossils from national parks. The first issues included a feature called “Fossil Forum” which helped promote discussions relative to the need for protective legislation for fossils on federal lands and other topics.
The early newsletter was produced without all the modern tools for desktop publishing, distribution through electronic media, and other technologies which enhance similar newsletters today. I take pride in using the old school methods of cut-and-paste, photocopying and distributing to over 150 bureaucrats and scientists using envelopes and postage stamps (please check Google if you do not know what these are).
Overtime, the staff at the NPS Geologic Resources Division have helped to modernize Park Paleontology Newsletter and produced a digital version of the newsletter for several years. We have periodically received requests to revitalize Park Paleontology Newsletter, and inquiries as to whether there were plans to reissue this “federal-fossil-focused” newsletter. At long last, we are back with a new and improved, technology compliant newsletter, and thank you all for your patience! In fact, we want to invite you to consider submitting ideas for articles to include in future issues of Park Paleontology Newsletter.
Please email any questions, comments or requests to publish an article in Park Paleontology Newsletter to Vincent L. Santucci, NPS Paleontology Program Coordinator at e-mail us.
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Last updated: April 22, 2020