Badlands fossil dig delayed
By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal Staff Writer
STRONGHOLD TABLE -- The National Park Service has delayed a proposed fossil dig in the South Unit of Badlands National Park pending a meeting with Oglala Sioux tribal officials.
The dig for ancient animal fossils was supposed to start next week. Some members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe have objected to the project, saying it is too close to human graves and cultural or historical sites in the area.
This week, National Park Service Regional Director Bill Schenk agreed to delay the dig until he and other park administrators could meet with tribal President John Steele and other tribal leaders. The meeting will be Aug. 27 on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
"I think the Park Service is trying to be rational and understanding (of) the concerns of the tribe," F.A. Calabrese, an archaeologist and associate regional director for the National Park Service in Omaha, Neb., said. "There isn't any reason that we have to do this in a hostile manner, that I can see.
"Hopefully, we can work it out."
Some tribal members protesting the dig by camping at Stronghold Table in the South Unit had planned to link hands and surround the dig site next week. They saw the delay as a minor victory for the tribe and for protesters.
"It's given us time to take a good breath," Lovey Two Bulls, who has led the protest, said. "But we're still going back after our land."
The South Unit is technically tribal land but has been included in the park boundaries for about 35 years. Under a Memorandum of Agreement signed in 1976, the National Park Service is responsible for administering the South Unit.
Two Bulls and some others want to see the tribe sever ties with the park service and take control of the South Unit, possibly developing it for tourism. But that hasn't happened yet, and park service officials say they are legally mandated to protect fossil resources in the park.
Fossil hunters already have plundered the proposed dig area, prompting the park service to pursue funding for a dig. The three-year project would remove the fossils and keep them in trust for the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
"We don't do excavations of anything unless you have to, basically, unless it's threatened," Calabrese said. "We're not doing this just because the paleontologists are interested. That's not it at all."
In geology and archaeology, he said, "When a resource is threatened, the method of mitigating that threat is removal with documentation. That's just the nature of the sciences."
He said the dig still could proceed this fall if an agreement is reached.
Badlands National Park Superintendent Bill Supernaugh said the Aug. 27 meeting is "an excellent opportunity for all of the decision makers to come together and discuss the underlying issues. I look at this as a significant opportunity to make some progress to a better understanding of our roles and responsibilities."
Tribal President John Steele did not return calls for comment.
Questions or comments on this story? Call reporter Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or e-mail her at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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