The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds annual meeting is scheduled for October 25th at 10:a.m. in the Monument Visitor Center auditorium. The highlight of the meeting will be Dr. Herb Meyer, Monument Paleontologist, who will provide Friend’s members an exclusive talk about his recent trip to Thailand where he participated in the “Seminar and Workshop on Petrified Wood Conservation of the Petrified Forest Park in Tak Province, Thailand.” Invited and hosted by the Government of Tak Province, Bantak Petrified Forest Park, and Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University,

Dr. Meyer gave the keynote presentation entitled “Fossil Tree Conservation Project at the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado and at Sexi, Peru.” Support for international airfare was provided by The Friends of The Florissant Fossil Beds. He also participated in an on-site conservation workshop at the Petrified Forest Park, which has the world’s longest petrified trunk at 69 meters (226 feet) in length. The trip provided a unique opportunity to meet not only with colleagues in Thailand, but also with the world’s leading conservator on petrified wood and trees from Greece, who was the other invited participant. This interaction will be critical for developing a conservation and stabilization strategy for the large petrified stumps at Florissant, which is an approved project to be funded by the National Park Service beginning in 2019.
In addition to Dr. Meyer’s presentation, Superintendent Michelle Wheatley and Board President Jeff Proper will present the Annual Service award to recognize Park Rangers and provide recaps of the year.
The meeting will conclude with election of new Board members – if you or someone you know are interested in serving on the Board of Directors, please contact Sally McKinder sammckind@aol.com.
The board is also looking for members to serve on the Publicity and Fund Raising Committees for the upcoming year. Be a Friend of the Fossil Beds – Get Involved!!