Hunting for Dinos 2016 - Passport in Time
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North Dakota - Dakota Prairie NG
Closed! Hunting for Dinosaurs in North Dakota
Medora Ranger District Landscape
ND-4312
August 22-27, 2016 (including weekend)
Must commit to entire session
Welcome to the Medora Ranger District, on the Dakota Prairie Grasslands near Marmarth, North Dakota! This “paleo” project will be hosted by both the Forest Service and the North Dakota Geological Survey. During this PIT project we will, once again, be hunting for fossils within the famous, Late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation. The Hell Creek Formation is chock full of turtles, Champsosaurs, crocodiles, birds, small mammals, clams, snails....and let's not forget the dinosaurs! We will be scouring the badlands for microfossils in anthills, searching for skeletal elements exposed on the surface, and conducting excavations to get the critters to the North Dakota Heritage Museum. We will have a base camp with all the amenities of a hotel…well, except for solid walls and flushable toilets. This is the first Paleontology Passport in Time project on this Forest Service unit, and we are excited to explore here! We hope you’ll join us this summer for this next “dino” hunt – see you in August!
Number of openings: 25
Special skills: Volunteers must be capable of sustained lifting, bending, kneeling, stooping, and hiking moderate distances each day over often difficult terrain and in a variety of weather conditions; previous paleontological/archaeological excavation, survey, fossil identification, mapping, sketching, fossil collection, photography experience, and/or simple interest in paleontology helpful, but not required
Minimum age: 12 years old, under 18 with a responsible adult
Facilities: Tent or RV camping (no hook-ups) at no charge in wide-open grassland near Marmarth; camp will have chemical toilets, hot water showers, potable water, base camp tent for food service, an optional caterer ($15/person/day), solar generator, and shade tents for relaxing after a hard day's work; camp kitchen will have cooking supplies (for any opting not to use the caterer); all tools and supplies necessary for project provided by FS; Baker, MT and Bowman, ND, are full-service communities with hotels/motels, restaurants, and a full range of other amenities; volunteers responsible for own lodging/camping equipment, food (if opting out of catering service), and daily transportation to base camp (if opting to lodge in Baker/Bowman)
Nearest towns: Baker, MT 12 miles; Bowman, ND 30 miles; Belle Fourche, SD 85 miles
Applications due: July 18, 2016
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