The Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (PRPA) was signed into law in the U.S. in 2009. It allows land management agencies to manage, preserve, and protect fossil resources on Federal (public) land using scientific principles and expertise. The regulations or ‘rules’ of the law for the Department of Agriculture Forest Service went into effect in 2015. SVP is pleased to announce that the rules for the Department of the Interior (43 CFR Part 49), which consists of four agencies (Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish and Wildlife Service), officially became installed on August 2, 2022.

SVP played a key role in the development of PRPA from the original bill drafting stage and through the establishment of the rules, providing professional guidance to our federal partners through public comment periods. SVP thanks many of its members, including those in its Government Affairs Committee, as well as its federal partners, for their efforts and support spanning the past 20+ years. SVP looks forward to continuing its partnership with the federal agencies to enhance the management, preservation, and protection as well as education and scientific research of vertebrate fossils from U.S. public lands under PRPA. In the coming months, SVP will be disseminating PRPA-related information via its website.