Until 1975, no Canadian museum had its own collection of Burgess Shale fossils. With the work of the GSC and its associates, the shale was rising to prominence, and in 1975 the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) obtained permission from the National Parks authority, Parks Canada, to collect fossils from talus material in order to develop its own display. Parks Canada would redirect other museums' requests for material to the ROM, so the 1975 collection team gathered ample specimens to meet the anticipated teaching and display requirements. As well as 7750 specimens, this expedition yielded evidence that further fossil outcrops existed up-slope, and in 1981 a five-year reconnaissance program begun. This program would unearth further sites higher on Fossil Ridge; further around the steep cliffs of Mount Stephen; and on Odaray Mountain. These sites proved very productive, bearing a different fauna and spanning more time than the original beds. Excavation by ROM crews continues to this day, and has found fossils below the base of Walcott's quarry, and some 40 km away near the Stanley Glacier. The ROM's collections now stand proud of 140,000 specimens, and is continually yielding important new species and redescriptions. Statistical analysis suggests that new species will continue to be discovered for years to come.