Guest N.AL.hunter Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Just wanted to throw this out so people who might be interested can make plans. I will be at the Point-A Dam site for Memorial Day Weekend, May 23/24 and again June 27/28. This is an Eocene Site. Produces a wide variety of fossils that are very well preserved. See examples here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?au...m&album=138 This site requires hard work if you want to move a lot of matrix to better your chances of finding a nice Ric. However, the site can also be worked by just barely digging into the fossil layer with a day's worth of "digging" producing a couple hundred whole teeth (if you are careful with your digging). The fossil layer is located below the Dam and is subject to flooding. For this reason, I cannot guarantee how much digging/collecting time will take place. I have been there for two days with no water releases and all digging, and I have been there for only 1.5 hours when they sounded the alarm to release water. So it is a gamble. I say this because I don't want someone coming down and being mad at me for a flooded site. There are motels nearby, but I will probably be camping nearby on the lake above the Dam. I am not really organizing a group trip here. I am just willing to meet anyone there and show them where/how to collect this site. I will try to find an alternative site before the Memorial Day weekend just in case. I have heard of others in the area, but do not know where they are. I live 5 hours from this site, so it is not like I can just scout around there at will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 ...a wide variety of fossils that are very well preserved. See examples here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?au...m&album=138 Bird stuff, too! (Now in the Auspex Paleoornithology collection, courtesy of N.AL.hunter). I wish I could make it; I'd enjoy hunting with you again "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Where in Alabama is the dam? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Near Andalusia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogtownfossil Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Count me and the wife in for the May date. Long time away and things can change though, but I'm ready for something different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 That June date sounds like a definite maybe for me and my son. If you believe everything you read, perhaps it's time for you to stop reading... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pristiformes Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Del, I will likely be able to make it up there. I'm very eager to try my luck again up there. Very nice quality fossil teeth in the Tallahatta Fm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Last year the club I collect with had a field trip to the Point-A Dam. This site is on private property. As we always do, we contacted the property owner beforehand for permission. The owner is extremely upset about all the digging/holes left all over the place. We were given permission to surface collect only, no digging allowed, and he asked us to pass the word on to everyone about the no digging policy. They have scraped the riverbanks smooth, and don't want them damaged again. Of course, your mileage may vary. Just feel I should let you know of my experience. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 When were you there? And where did you collect? The area we have been collecting at forever is just below the dam on property owned by the electric corp. Locals use it for fishing all the time. The Alabama Paleontological Society and the Birmingham Paleontological Society plus numerous other organizations dig there every year. It is a featured site in the book "Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pristiformes Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 When were you there? And where did you collect? The area we have been collecting at forever is just below the dam on property owned by the electric corp. Locals use it for fishing all the time. The Alabama Paleontological Society and the Birmingham Paleontological Society plus numerous other organizations dig there every year. It is a featured site in the book "Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks". The Florida Paleontological Society of which I am a member collects there too. I have participated in one of their Point-A Dam trips. And, of course, the river banks and bed are not privately owned as all waterways are of state (and often federal) jurisdiction up to the Seasonal High Water Elevation (SHWE). Unless you are digging above the SHWE, accessing the river (and parking) is the only part of the excursion that puts you on private lands. In this case, the FPS received prior approval by the company managing the dam. jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 When were you there? And where did you collect? The area we have been collecting at forever is just below the dam on property owned by the electric corp. Locals use it for fishing all the time. The Alabama Paleontological Society and the Birmingham Paleontological Society plus numerous other organizations dig there every year. It is a featured site in the book "Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks". This was last summer, on a trip with the Birmingham Paleontological Society. We got permission from the electric corp, and they were the ones who set the "no digging" policy. As in, no digging in the banks or river bottom. No, we weren't planning on digging up the parking lot. If you talk to the electric corp, I'm sure you'll get their most current policy; I'm just letting you know what our experience was last summer. If Pristiformes' information is correct, the issue may be moot anyway. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pristiformes Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 This was last summer, on a trip with the Birmingham Paleontological Society. We got permission from the electric corp, and they were the ones who set the "no digging" policy. As in, no digging in the banks or river bottom. No, we weren't planning on digging up the parking lot. If you talk to the electric corp, I'm sure you'll get their most current policy; I'm just letting you know what our experience was last summer. If Pristiformes' information is correct, the issue may be moot anyway.Don Well, the info about the river being public property is technically correct (I'm am environmental consultant who deals with wetland/water body permitting), you still don't want to do anything to upset neighboring entities. For one, the access to the site is on the company property and the fence/gate is marked with No Trespassing signs (seemingly for insurance reasons as they do seem to allow people access for fishing/recreation). Also, such private landowners may be quick to alert AL law enforcement for any real or perceived violations of state statutes concerning fossil collecting methods, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Rest assured I will get permission from the Electric Corp like I did last year. As for the comment about them smoothing the banks, that seems weird and a very expensive task. The river's banks were always in their natural condition with the holes from fossil collecting barely making a scratch into them. Why would they smooth out the banks when their natural state was a stair-step feature? Anyways, I will most likely now have to make a run down there and check things out (I hope it is not going to be a waste of my time doing so!!) If the banks are the same as they have been since the dam was built, I'll be really upset for wasting my time and money going to check them out. I wonder why the electric Corp didn't tell me anything last Memorial Day weekend when we I contacted them and got the permission last year? hmmmmm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 "I'm am environmental consultant who deals with wetland/water body permitting" so, um, pristiformes, if i read you write (get it?), you go out and talk to the environment and wetlands or water bodies (i got that visual!) ask you to do stuff and you decide if they can? that sounds like a good job for tj. i keep tryin' to figure out what people do to come up with something for tj to do cause almost everything he does now hurts my wallet. hey, on a totally related note to the thread (hope nobody falls over from shock), if'n things are getting a bit warm for folks trying to collect at Point A, whyn't ya'll move to Point B? throw some geometry at ya'll's algae bras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Today I went to the Birmingham Paleontological Society website and found a reference to a field trip they took back in 2007, June I think it was (not last year). That is their last field trip there as a group. The same comment about the site being smoothed out and off limits was made in the write-up for their field trip. Last year's TheFossilForum trip there (lead by me with the permission of the Electric Co-op) was in May of 2008, almost a year later, and I can tell you that there was absolutely no smoothing out of this area at all. It appeared to me as it has always been for the 17 years I have been going there. So, I question the validity of the BPS site's statement. I will contact the Co-op again soon to gain permission for our trips like I did last year. I'll let all interested parties know the results. By the way, the BPS site made the claim, in the same write-up mentioned above, that all the holes and digging of previous years were the result of Commercial dealers/hunters. Hogwash!! I have only met one commercial person there in the (approx) 12 times I have been there. And I can dig a good hole myself!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bmorefossil Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 By the way, the BPS site made the claim, in the same write-up mentioned above, that all the holes and digging of previous years were the result of Commercial dealers/hunters. Hogwash!! I have only met one commercial person there in the (approx) 12 times I have been there. And I can dig a good hole myself!! Del's holes not big enough! how could they say such things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Today I went to the Birmingham Paleontological Society website and found a reference to a field trip they took back in 2007, June I think it was (not last year). That is their last field trip there as a group. The same comment about the site being smoothed out and off limits was made in the write-up for their field trip. Last year's TheFossilForum trip there (lead by me with the permission of the Electric Co-op) was in May of 2008, almost a year later, and I can tell you that there was absolutely no smoothing out of this area at all. It appeared to me as it has always been for the 17 years I have been going there. So, I question the validity of the BPS site's statement. I will contact the Co-op again soon to gain permission for our trips like I did last year. I'll let all interested parties know the results.By the way, the BPS site made the claim, in the same write-up mentioned above, that all the holes and digging of previous years were the result of Commercial dealers/hunters. Hogwash!! I have only met one commercial person there in the (approx) 12 times I have been there. And I can dig a good hole myself!! I'm sure a phone call would be sufficient, I can't see why a trip down there would be required. I was just concerned that people would head down there and then run into the limitations that we were told to abide by and be disappointed. Given the tone of the response, in the future I'll probably keep my mouth shut and let whatever develops, develop. I guess it was summer before last, it doesn't seem that long ago. Good hunting to all. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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