Parks Stewardship Forum

George Washington Birthplace National Monument (GEWA) is a National Park Service (NPS) unit located in the Northern Neck of Virginia, situated on low bluffs overlooking the Potomac River. This small park unit, focused primarily on cultural and historical resources, may seem at first glance to be an unlikely candidate for notable paleontological resources. However, the bluffs are composed in large part of the fossiliferous early–middle Miocene-age Calvert Formation, and these bluffs and the adjacent shoreline have long been known by locals and rockhounds as places to find fossil shark teeth and other fossils. Following initial contact in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the NPS Paleontology Program has worked closely with GEWA since 2014 on the dual aims of stemming illegal fossil collecting and monitoring non-renewable paleontological resources in the face of rising river levels, increasing storms, and other effects of climate change. The working relationship is a case study for managing fossil resources facing similar challenges. Fossil theft has declined since the project began, as measured by decreasing bluff vandalism left by fossil removal. The benefits of establishing and maintaining a close relationship with park staff are superbly illustrated by the March 2020 recovery of two specimens of Miocene dolphins at imminent risk of loss to wave erosion or unauthorized collection. Plans are in progress to expand this collaborative work with the help of regional institutions.