Jason P. Kenworthy’s scientific contributions

Paleontological resources (fossils) are any remains of past life preserved in a geologic context. Paleontological resources are non-renewable resources found in at least 232 National Park System units. Despite the abundance and diversity of these resources throughout the National Park Service (NPS), until recently few parks have had adequate baseline paleontological resource data. The NPS National Inventory and Monitoring Program and the NPS Geologic Resources Division have developed various strategies to provide parks with the baseline paleontological resource data necessary for greater understanding and appropriate management of these resources. This report presents a paleontological resource summary for the parks of the Central Alaska Network (CAKN). The summary was compiled through extensive literature reviews and interviews with park staff and professional geologists and paleontologists. Preliminary paleontological resource management recommendations are also included for each park. The Central Alaska Network Paletontological Resource Inventory Report represents the final of the 32 networks to have this baseline information compiled. This work represents nearly a decade of work accomplished by a team of paleontologists and paleontology interns. The parks of the CAKN contain significant paleontological resources and represent areas of active paleontological research. During more than half a century U.S. Geological Survey field crews made extensive collections of fossil specimens from each of the parks within the CAKN network. These fossil collections supported geologic mapping projects and contributed to stratigraphic interpretations. The paleontological history of Denali National Park and Preserve has been the focus of recent research. Through the work of the late Phil Brease (DENA Geologist) and field teams led by Anthony Fiorillo have helped to further uncover a rich and scientifically important fossil record of plants and animals from DENA’s past. Most of the paleontological discoveries at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST) occurred during geological mapping by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), between the late 1890s up into the early 1980s. Collections from WRST were made and studied by USGS paleontologists including: G.H. Girty, T.W. Stanton, J.P. Smith, R.W. Imlay, N.J. Silberling, and D.L. Jones, as well as several academic paleontologists (J.P. Smith and Tatsuro Matsumoto) who utilized the USGS collections. Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve (YUCH) is one of the rare locations in North America (and especially in Alaska) where an extensive geologic history is preserved, spanning from the Precambrian to the Cenozoic, nearly 1.3 billion years. YUCH was established under the authority of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA). This enabling legislation for YUCH specifically references the park’s fossil resources mandating “…to protect and interpret… the geological and paleontological history…”