Re: Paleobotanical Legislation United States (posted for E. Rose)

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From: erich@esinter.com (Erich Rose)
Subject: Re: Paleobotanical Legislation United States
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 10:59:27 +0100
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>Folks,
>
>        I thought there may be some folks who are not on the paleobotanical
>list that might be interested in this post that Bruce Tiffney sent to
>the paleobotany list.  If you aren't, of course dlelete without reading
>any more.
>
>James F. Mahaffy
>
Thanks James for posting that letter concerning proposed collecting
regulations,

As an amateur collector of all types of fossils I also have grave concerns
about the direction some of this legislation is going. Recently an
aquaintance attended one of the vertebrate paleo meetings and was shocked
to find out that there is  some consideration being given to trying to
prevent ALL FOSSIL COLLECTING by anyone but licensed professionals
INCLUDING ON PRIVATE LAND. They are serious.

There once was a wonderful history of contribution to science by the
general public. Museums are full of specimens of great importance found,
collected and donated by amateur paleontologists. Both professionals and
amateurs need to get back to this idea of science being something that
anyone can participate in, not just those highly trained academians
affiliated with universities or museums. Shutting out the few of us who
actively promote science education and understanding sure isn't going to
help things.

I believe the "commercialization" of paleontology has as much to do with
the lack of science education as it does the pig-headed technocracy of a
small number of paleontologists. The general public has a better
understanding of the monetary value of fossils than they do the scientific
value.

I have to admit I have met several amateurs who don't believe in sharing
important fossils with scientists and I have heard several professionals
complain about ransacked sites or commercial collectors "buying" the sites
away from them. All of this is real. Which brings me around to the point:

The rest of us have to stop being so apathetic. Start giving people some
shit! Not just your legislators but your fellow collectors who brag about
that special specimen that they own or the dinosaur egg they purchased from
the source that insists it is from a legal source when we all know how rare
these are, and don't let the professionals off easy either they get their
funding from the public. I personally plan to write several letters to the
folks at The American Museum of Natural History concerning their support of
some of this legislation and MY support of the museum as both a member and
a tax payer.

Please speak out...