| Summary: | Public Participation Fossil Excavations Offer Unique Nature Tourism Adventures The earliest history of life in North Dakota is a fascinating story to both scientists and the general public. That history is being deciphered by the North Dakota Geological Survey and others through study of the fossils, remains of plants and animals buried in the earth. According to John W. Hoganson, North Dakota Geological Survey paleontologist, fossils indicate the kinds of plants and animals that inhabited North Dakota at different times in the geologic past, document the procession of life through time and provide information about North Dakota's past climates and environments. Often fossilized remains, particularly skeletons and partial skeletons of animals, are found entombed in rock and must be carefully collected using paleontological techniques. In the past decade many important fossils, for example the mosasaur skeleton collected near Cooperstown and now restored and on display at the North Dakota Heritage Center, have been collected in this manner. Five years ago the Geological Survey and North Dakota Tourism starting exploring the idea of allowing pay-to-dig public participation at some of the fossil excavations, thus enhancing North Dakota's tourism efforts and providing a unique kind of economic diversity to rural areas that contain fossil resources. "For us to be able to provide these ecotourism adventures, fossil sites would have to be discovered where the fossils are abundant enough to keep the participants busy and interested," Hoganson says. "The sites would have to also be easily accessible. Finding an outfitter interested in this type of projects was of utmost importance because the Geological Survey does not have staff to handle the kinds of details necessary to cater to paying participants." Pembina Gorge Digs About the time that the Geological Survey and North Dakota Tourism were contemplating initiating fossil dig adventures in North Dakota, a fossil site was discovered along a back country road near Walhalla, in the Pembina Gorge area of Cavalier County. At that site the 80 million year old Pierre Shale is exposed along an extensive road cut. From about 90 million years ago until about 70 million years ago, North Dakota was covered by shallow, warm oceans that connected the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. The fossilized remains of the animals that lived in these oceans including: marine reptiles (mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, turtles); sharks and other fish; and invertebrates including squids, snails, clams, and cephalopods were entombed in sediments, now turned to rock, that accumulated in the bottom of those oceans. "Because of the abundance of fossils found at the Pembina Gorge site and easy access to the site, we decided that this would be a good place to conduct a prototype public participation fossil excavation," Hoganson says. Dakota Adventures, a Walhalla-based outfitter that provides ecotourism tours, including birding trips, and its proprietor, Melanie Thornberg, became a partner in this venture. This site is located on state land administered by the North Dakota Parks and Chapter One - North Dakota's Eco-tourism & Recreational Opportunities 29
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