Allowed
Hell Creek (BLM, Montana)
Montana, Garfield·Fossil hunting
The BLM-administered lands in the Hell Creek area of northeastern Montana allow casual collection of invertebrate fossils and petrified wood under PRPA 2009 — 25 lbs/day, no permit. The dinosaur bones this formation is famous for are vertebrate fossils under PRPA and may not be casually collected. The distinction catches nearly every first-time visitor.
- Common invertebrate fossils (ammonites, bivalves, marine snails from the underlying Bearpaw Shale) and plant fossils including petrified wood may be casually collected — 25 lbs per day, 250 lbs per year, non-commercial (PRPA 2009 / 43 CFR Part 49)
- CRITICAL: Dinosaur bones, teeth, and tracks — and all other vertebrate material — may NOT be casually collected under any circumstances; research permit required from BLM Malta Field Office; removal is a federal felony