Chaco Culture National Historical Park: Paleontological site monitoring protocol

Hundreds of paleontological sites have been located and documented in Chaco Culture National Historical Park (CHCU) since 2005, the beginning of dedicated park-based paleontological surveying at the park. A paleontological resource inventory was published for CHCU in 2019, providing a baseline for paleontological resource monitoring. A paleontological site monitoring protocol has now been prepared in order to most effectively manage and monitor the abundant Upper Cretaceous paleontological resources found here. The first part of the protocol contains supporting background information; a discussion of measurable objectives for monitoring, park programs, and management; definitions of different kinds of significant specimens and various management actions; field methods; and what to do if a new site is discovered. This is followed by descriptions of the park’s paleontological localities. CHCU is divided into twelve Paleontological Management Areas (PMAs). Apart from two PMAs representing park outliers where no fossils have been reported, each PMA includes several paleontological localities, which in turn contain one or more sites. Several aspects of each locality are reported, including management priority level, stratigraphy, a brief description, ease and method of access, constituent sites, and management recommendations such as recommended actions and frequency of monitoring. This is followed by a summary of localities rated as high, medium, and low priority. Images of forms for paleontology site monitoring, paleontological sites, paleontological localities, and paleontology impact reports are provided as appendices; editable versions may be obtained from the park.