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What is the most effective way to locate members in my area to plan fossil collecting tirips? Dan

Trying to arrange a trip to Gold Point, Ammonite Canyon, Fossil Hill and Canyon this April. Going after trilobites, ammonites, insects, plant material. Anyone interested in going as a small group 4 cars or less?

Hello TFF! I just wanted to take a minute to share with everyone some of our finds from 2016. I do most of my digging up in Kemmerer, WY trying my hand at fossil fishes. 2016 was a pretty exceptional year in that along with our standard hundreds of 18" fish and thousands of split fish we pulled 2 VERY LARGE specimens. quite rare really. it averages out to about 1 every 2 or 3 years normally, so 2 in one summer is AMAZING! These panels have all been finished and are ready to hit the market along with the large gar and the croc! Fingers crossed that they sell so we can open up next year! I hope you all enjoy coming along. ALL of these panels feature 100% natural fish with 0% restoration. NO PAINT, a few have been inlaid though. In the last picture, the branch does have around 2% restoration because it was in multiple pieces needing to be glued.

Hi all, I am going to be in Houston 11/4 -11/6. Other than Whisky Bridge, is there anything in the Houston area worth collecting? Also if someone wants to meet PM me, always like to meet other FF members. All info will be kept confidential, as always. Thanks, Herb

Hello there, my name is Cameron and i'm starting this topic to have an open page for the flow of ideas and information about the possible formation of a Hill Country Fossil Club for San Antonio, Austin, and the surrounding areas . This idea has been proposed before on the forums, but it didn't work out, so i'm doing my best to pull everyone together to form some sort of club. It could be anything from an organized monthly meetup for group fossil hunting trips, guest speakers, etc. to a simple email list for members to invite a couple tag-alongs on their upcoming trips. However it takes shape, it'd be beneficial to alot of the central Texas members of the forum to form a local fossil community. So far, my idea is to maintain the facebook page created last time (for those who prefer facebook) and make an email and phone number list so each club member gets a reminder when someone plans an open-invite fossil hunting trip, or if there is a meeting coming up, or anything else of that nature. If interested in making a list, pm me your email and texting phone number with whatever name you like to be called. If alot of people prefer to meet first, thats fine too. Maybe we can make a field trip out of it. Just reply with your thoughts and let's all start exchanging ideas. If it doesnt work long-term again at least we have a few new locals to hunt with, lol.

Pam and I went on a Peace River kayak trip Friday 5/31 guided by Mark Renz. We had a great time on the river and talking with Mark, who is very knowledgeable about the river, fossils and the history of the area. The weather turned out great even though we had to postpone the trip a couple days due to thunder storms in the area. We found some great fossils and lots of teeth (another post, another day, I'm a couple years behind in shooting pictures). No alligators, I'm sorry to say, I was hopping for some close up pix but not too close up. All in all it was well worth the trip and a lot of fun and we would recommend a trip with Mark anytime. Thanks, Mark.

Hello All! I need your help, but first I'd best introduce myself. I'm the new Program Coordinator -- and on-site paleontologist -- for the Waco Mammoth Site. For those of unfamiliar with the site, it's a late-Pleistocene recurrent mass-mortality site for Columbian mammoths and a scattering of other Rancholabrean megafauna. From 68 KA onwards at least two groups of mammoths and their camp-followers got caught in flash floods along a tributary of the Bosque River in what would become the western outskirts of Waco, TX. The site is currently a city-run in-situ display of six of those mammoths, in an enclosed climate-controlled shelter. The facility is loaded with educational potential, but at the moment all we've got is a (very nice) guided tour. I want to do better. One of the educational activities I'm looking to add in the near future is a screen-washing. I'll have the students screen and pick fossiliferous sediment and ID what they've found. They'll be able to keep most of what they find (with exceptions for scientifically important specimens) and all of their findings will get entered into a database that will be run through the PAST statistical package. I'll write up the results and try to get them published -- with the kids listed individually in the acknowledgements. The kids get real fossils, they get to participate in a real scientific study, and I get to do some research. I think it's an idea with potential, with one wrinkle; I'm having a hard time getting the sediment! I've tried buying phosphate gravel from the mines in Florida and North Carolina, but my efforts seem to be stalling. I know that some such gravel is available for resale, but it's a tad pricey. There's no way I could afford to buy the 100 or so kilos I want on the shoe-string budget I've got for the time being. If anyone has a line on a better source of bulk sediment, I'd love to hear from you! In fact, if you've got any ideas for spreading interest in paleontology, we need to talk. Paleontology is the gateway drug of science -- if we want to teach critical thinking in this country, fossils are the best place to start. Please help me work to make that happen. Regards, Don Esker