Tule Springs monument gets new superintendent

The National Park Service has named Diane Keith as superintendent of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument at the northern edge of Las Vegas.

Keith will start work in September. She replaces Jon Burpee, the monument’s first superintendent, who left in January for the top job at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in Oregon and Washington.

Keith is a 26-year Park Service employee who currently works in Omaha, Nebraska, as partnerships coordinator for the agency’s Midwest regional office. The Denver native previously served as acting superintendent at both Nicodemus National Historic Site in Kansas and Arkansas Post National Memorial in Arkansas.

“Who doesn’t have an inner child that gets excited about thousands of ice age fossils, including mammoths, bison, saber-tooth lions, camelops and sloths the size of sports cars?” Keith said in a written statement. “I look forward to working with the people who recognize its irreplaceable value … and to exploring, protecting and sharing with the public this world-class site that uncovers layers of paleo-history and reveals stories about extinction and survival.”

Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument was established on Dec. 19, 2014 to preserve ice age fossils from past 100,000 years and scientifically important geologic deposits dating back at least 300,000 years. The monument covers 22,650 acres at the valley’s northern edge.