Endangered Fossil Sites

From
Date

The IPA has called for the formation of an international catalogue of 
endangered paleontological sites to preserve them from the predations of 
commercial marketeers, collectors or loss to development.  But I worry whether 
such a list, if made available, would in effect be giving some of the foxes 
detailed roadmaps to the better hen-houses.

Perhaps before initiating a world-wide effort, it might be more productive to 
start such databases locally, on a state, province or national level, with the 
local databases maintained by either state/provincial paleo-societies or 
university/museum departments.  However, unless laws which enforce protection 
(feasible? /desirable? /counter-productive?) were already in place, such 
databases could become the above described roadmaps.

To paraphrase an old saw, "all politics is local" , local paleontologists and 
amateur fossil buffs could be in the best position to approach the appropriate 
politicians or local industry/private site holders for site protection.  
Obviously, in today's political and economic climate, the positive publicity 
benefits to the politician/protector and the negative costs of protection 
enforcement would be major factors in obtaining such safeguards.

I'd also be interested in learning whether or not fossil site protection laws 
really work.  For instance, Burgess fossils and Italian invertebrates are 
sometimes offered for sale here in the U.S., types presumably from strong 
anti-collecting or anti-exporting law regions.  On the other hand, the AMNH 
has gained effective preservation for a very important New Jersey amber site 
(albeit after the locals got through with it).  Is the IPA type of effort 
something which university departments and/or museums could use to mobilize 
local interested non-professionals into groups of useful , unpaid (or paying) 
associates to initiate site protection operations or influence the local 
powers-that-be ?

Anybody got any thoughts on this ?

Lloyd Gabel, Ph.D.
LPGABEL@MSN.COM