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A reconstructed fossil cycad
Photo: NPS, 1930
Public Domain
South Dakota
South Dakota
46th National Monument
46th National Monument
320 Acres
320 Acres
Established by Presidential Proclamation: October 21, 1922 by President Warren Harding
Abolished as a National Monument: August 1, 1956 by the 84th Congress (S. 1161)
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Cycad_National_Monument
Transferred to the Bureau of Land Management due to the mismanagement of resources and of the monument itself.
FOSSIL CYCAD NATIONAL MONUMENT: A CASE OF PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCE MISMANAGEMENT (PDF)
National Park Service
Through the power provided in the Antiquities Act (1906), on October 21, 1922, President Warren G. Harding created Fossil Cycad National Monument. Scientists recognized that the fossil locality preserved a significant exposure of a Cretaceous cycadeoid forest. Hundreds of fossilized cycad specimens, one of the world's greatest concentrations, were exposed at the surface of the 320 acre site during the early 1920s.
Years of negligent management at the monument resulted in adverse impacts on the fossil resource. The fossils on the surface disappeared faster than erosion could expose other specimens from beneath. The loss of the exposed petrified plant remains eventually left the site devoid of fossils and ultimately without a purpose to justify its existence as a unit of the National Park Service. On September 1, 1957, the United States Congress voted to deauthorize Fossil Cycad National Monument.
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/northern_plains/cycad_mismanagement.pdf
FOSSIL CYCAD NATIONAL MONUMENT: A HISTORY FROM DISCOVERY TO DEAUTHORIZATION
FOSSIL CYCAD NATIONAL MONUMENT: A HISTORY FROM DISCOVERY TO DEAUTHORIZATION
Conference Paper: 10th Conference on Fossil Resources, At Rapid City, South Dakota, Volume: Proceedings of the 10th Conference on Fossil Resources. Dakoterra 6: 82-93
Through the power provided in the Antiquities Act (1906), on October 21, 1922, President Warren G. Harding created Fossil Cycad National Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Scientists recognized that the fossil locality preserved a significant exposure of a Cretaceous cycadeoid forest. Hundreds of fossilized cycad specimens, one of the world's greatest concentrations, were exposed at the surface of the 320 acre site during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This rare paleontological landscape would soon experience rapid and permanent change. Years of negligent management at the monument resulted in irreparable impacts on the finite and scientifically significant paleobotanical resources. Fossils exposed on the monument's surface disappeared faster than erosion could expose other specimens from beneath. The loss of the exposed petrified plant remains eventually left the site devoid of fossils and ultimately without a purpose to justify its existence as a unit of the National Park Service. On September 1, 1957, the United States Congress voted to deauthorize Fossil Cycad National Monument.
FOSSIL CYCAD NATIONAL MONUMENT: A HISTORY FROM DISCOVERY TO DEAUTHORIZATION (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263675487_FOSSIL_CYCAD_NATIONAL_MONUMENT_A_HISTORY_FROM_DISCOVERY_TO_DEAUTHORIZATION [accessed Aug 17, 2017].
Glimpses of Our National Monuments: Fossil Cycad National Monument (1930)
Glimpses of Our National Monuments: Fossil Cycad National Monument (1930)
National Park Service
In an accessible and picturesque part of the Black Hills Rim in South Dakota, just at the south entrance to the hills, is the Fossil Cycad National Monument, an area of 320 acres reserved by presidential proclamation October 21, 1922, to protect its large deposits of the fossil remains of fernlike plants of the Mesozoic period, which are of intense interest to scientists. This is probably one of the most interesting fossil-plant beds yet discovered, with the most perfectly preserved specimens, and is known to scientific people throughout the world.
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/glimpses2/glimpses11.htm
Pruning the Parks: Delisted Over a Half-Century Ago, Fossil Cycad National Monument (1922-1956) is a Cautionary Tale
Pruning the Parks: Delisted Over a Half-Century Ago, Fossil Cycad National Monument (1922-1956) is a Cautionary Tale
National Parks Traveler
Fossil Cycad National Monument never had a visitor center, a staff, interpretive programs, or anything like that. In fact, it was never open to the public.
Why Fossil Cycad was removed from the National Park System over a half-century ago is a very sad tale. Everybody who loves the national parks should learn this story and remember it well.
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