The preservation of the footprint exposures is ongoing and requires management.

The surfaces erode.

New exposures develop as wind moves overlying material.

The park service has worked with researchers to monitor and document the trackway surfaces, and the investigation of the site continues to expand in geographic scope as more surfaces are identified and studied.

The total number of individual human footprints that have been documented at White Sands is now in the thousands, representing multiple trackway episodes across what appears to be a significant area of the ancient lakebed.

The park faces the same challenge that all sites containing fragile and irreplaceable prehistoric evidence face: how to allow scientific study and public appreciation while protecting the material from damage.