What did I just find?

[Dillon415]

I was just on a trip with some friends near Ochoco National Forest in Oregon and stumbled upon this. I weighed myself with and without this thing in my hand with a digital scale accurate to .1 lbs several times and it comes in at .7 lbs. Thoughts?

 

Thanks, y'all.

Dillon

Edited August 25, 2017 by Dillon415
I didn't know my comment with more pictures would merge with my initial post.

[Fruitbat]

Looks like a bovid (cow or bison) metapodial to me.

 

-Joe

[Dillon415]

Oh, yep. Look at that. Thanks Fruitbat. I had to Google "Proboscidean fossils" just to answer the security question for joining the site, so I guess I've got a lot to learn. Thanks again.

[Fruitbat]

Don't we ALL?  Glad that we could be of some assistance.

 

-Joe

[FossilDudeCO]

It appears to me that you found:

 

A bison metapodial

A statehood series quarter from the United States of America

A baseball (America's pastime)

and

A can of Skoal longcut chewing tobacco

 

Congrats!

[BobWill]

Metapodial for sure but which one? I think it's a metatarsal because it is longer and more slender than you would expect from a metacarpal. I'm also inclined to agree with bison but a straight-on view of the front of the distal end with the roller joints would show how much that end is expanded. The best way to tell is to get a cow metatarsal to compare side-by-side. Bison is shorter and more massive and expanded at the distal end.

[caldigger]

Are you allowed to take things from a National forest?  

[BobWill]

1 hour ago, caldigger said:

Are you allowed to take things from a National forest?  

Are National Forests included in the new regulations that allow "casual" collecting? I also don't remember if vertebrate fossils are okay but we don't really know if this is mineralized or not. Even if it's bison it could still be modern.

[Sagebrush Steve]

1 hour ago, BobWill said:

Are National Forests included in the new regulations that allow "casual" collecting? I also don't remember if vertebrate fossils are okay but we don't really know if this is mineralized or not. Even if it's bison it could still be modern.

As far as I know, the "new" regulations have never been finalized.  Anyone know anything else?

[doushantuo]

Might be part of the Energy and Fossil resources Act of 2017?

[doushantuo]

 

The Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (PRPA) was signed into law on March 30, 2009 (Public Law 111-11, Title VI, Subtitle D; 16 U.S.C. §§ 470aaa - 470aaa-11). PRPA directs the Department of Agriculture (U.S. Forest Service) and the Department of the Interior (National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish and Wildlife Service) to implement comprehensive paleontological resource management programs. Section 6310 of PRPA specifically states, "As soon as practical after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are appropriate to carry out this subtitle, providing opportunities for public notice and comment."

 

The U.S. Forest Service published the Department of Agriculture version of the PRPA regulations in the Federal Register in April 2015. 

The Department of the Interior version of the PRPA regulations will be proposed in the Federal Register on Wednesday, December 7. The proposed regulation will be available for public inspection and comment until Monday, February 6, 2017. Starting on December 7, you may navigate your browser to www.blm.gov/paleontology for links to the proposed DOI regulation and other helpful documents, or navigate directly to the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/ and search for Regulation Identification Number 1093-AA16.

 

[BobWill]

1 hour ago, Sagebrush Steve said:

As far as I know, the "new" regulations have never been finalized.  Anyone know anything else?

Before the new regulations it depended on who you asked what you were allowed to do. One of the goals was to eliminate commercial collection.

[Sagebrush Steve]

8 hours ago, doushantuo said:

 

The Paleontological Resources Preservation Act (PRPA) was signed into law on March 30, 2009 (Public Law 111-11, Title VI, Subtitle D; 16 U.S.C. §§ 470aaa - 470aaa-11). PRPA directs the Department of Agriculture (U.S. Forest Service) and the Department of the Interior (National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Fish and Wildlife Service) to implement comprehensive paleontological resource management programs. Section 6310 of PRPA specifically states, "As soon as practical after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are appropriate to carry out this subtitle, providing opportunities for public notice and comment."

 

The U.S. Forest Service published the Department of Agriculture version of the PRPA regulations in the Federal Register in April 2015. 

The Department of the Interior version of the PRPA regulations will be proposed in the Federal Register on Wednesday, December 7. The proposed regulation will be available for public inspection and comment until Monday, February 6, 2017. Starting on December 7, you may navigate your browser to www.blm.gov/paleontology for links to the proposed DOI regulation and other helpful documents, or navigate directly to the Federal Register at https://www.federalregister.gov/ and search for Regulation Identification Number 1093-AA16.

 

 

Yes, and as far as I know it has never gotten past the comments stage.  I did submit a comment so I check that page occasionally.  It hasn't changed since February.  I suspect that Trump's edict that agencies must remove two rules for every new one the introduce has put things on hold.  The BLM may feel there are other new rules that are higher priority than this one.