BLM (Arizona), Arizona Fossil Recovery and Curation, Arizona State Office

Description of Program and/or Project a. Background: Paleontologists and other professional staff will assist the BLM AZSO, paleontology program coordinators and Field Office Mangers in Arizona to monitor, inventory and recover paleontological resources from public land in Arizona. These inventories and collections focus on a number of areas throughout the state. Contextual data they collect will be documented and submitted to the BLM for use in planning and resource management. Paleontological resources recovered will be curated at an approved repository and used for research and educational programs. The curation of paleontological resources includes maintaining a collections database, providing a secure facility for the long term preservation of the collections, making the collections available for research and providing outreach to the general public and the scientific community. The recipient will maintain a database which documents fossil localities throughout Arizona as well as specimens in the collections. The database has been and will continue to be updated and imported into a GIS format that can be used by the BLM for resource management decisions, long range planning, and site specific projects. To provide for the long term preservation of these Heritage Assets, proper equipment and storage must be maintained by the repository. This includes purchase of secure cabinetry, a secure and monitored collections facility, and proper documentation and tracking of the collections. Outreach efforts by the recipient may include, teacher workshops, scientific publications, natural history films and family and children���s educational opportunities. These outreach efforts may involve public fossils in museum collections or field trips/ educational opportunities to public lands.