So we all know that I’m a big fan of paleontology, and that I think amateur paleontological finds are pretty cool. But there is a definite difference between finding a fossil while walking along your local stream, digging in your yard, or even volunteering for a local dig, and going to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and chiseling out a fossil.

You aren’t finding or discovering anything. In fact, you are defacing a national monument. And in thePacific Northwest, that ends in a fine and a year long ban from all national parks.  Don’t do it, folks.