Big Muddy National Fish And Wildlife Refuge, Missouri
What rock is under one point inside it, who administers the ground there, and what the law lets you collect. Point 39.24950, -93.60713, looked up 2026-10-18.
NOT LEGAL ADVICE. The federal rules below were checked against the statute or CFR section that governs them and carry their citations, but local closures, special designations and the managing office's own orders override them, and land status can be wrong at a boundary. Verify with the managing office before you collect.
Land
US Fish and Wildlife Service Big Muddy National Fish And Wildlife Refuge
code FWS · BLM Surface Management Agency layer, as of 2026-10-18
Rock
Allegheny Group sandstone, shale, coal
Bashkirian 323-315 Ma
(3 units mapped here; showing the most specific)
Macrostrat geologic map, small scale, as of 2026-10-18. Map source: Garrity, C.P., and Soller, D.R.,. Database of the Geologic Map of North America: adapted from the map by J.C. Reed, Jr. and others (2005). U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 424 .
May I collect?
invertebrate fossils
prohibited
National Wildlife Refuge. 50 CFR 27.61 prohibits the unauthorized removal or disturbance of any natural object.
vertebrate fossils
prohibited
National Wildlife Refuge. 50 CFR 27.61 prohibits the unauthorized removal or disturbance of any natural object.
rocks and minerals
prohibited
National Wildlife Refuge. 50 CFR 27.61 prohibits the unauthorized removal or disturbance of any natural object.
artifacts
prohibited
National Wildlife Refuge. 50 CFR 27.61 prohibits the unauthorized removal or disturbance of any natural object.
Rules checked against statute and the CFR on 2026-09-07.
State law
Not shown: on federal ground the federal rule above governs, and Outcrop skips the state block there by design. The point is in Missouri.
If you find human remains, stop, do not disturb anything, and call the state archaeologist or the sheriff. Most states protect unmarked burials on private land as well as public - Montana, Florida, West Virginia and Delaware explicitly do - and NAGPRA covers federal and tribal land. A few states have not closed the private-land gap, which changes what can be charged and not what you should do.
What is established
BLM's Surface Management Agency layer names the parcel at 39.24950, -93.60713 as US Fish and Wildlife Service (Big Muddy National Fish And Wildlife Refuge), as of 2026-10-18.
Macrostrat's geologic map places Allegheny Group at that point, as of 2026-10-18.
The rule for invertebrate fossils, vertebrate fossils, rocks and minerals, artifacts is traced to the law it cites, checked 2026-09-07.
What is not
That the rest of Big Muddy National Fish And Wildlife Refuge gives the same answer. Land status is parcel-level and federal units hold private inholdings; the rock changes across a unit. Open this point in the live tool, or look up your own.
Whether there are fossils here. A geologic map is a compilation, not a field observation, and nothing on this page is a prediction. Outcrop's measured finding about formations and fossil localities comes from Texas and Alabama and is not applied to this page.
Closures and the unit's own orders. Not checked. The rule above is the agency's default, which the managing office can narrow.