RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

Attention: Directorate
           Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
           CC: RAD Information Net

Day/date:  Wednesday, March 8, 1989

INCIDENTS

89-36 - Amistad - Drowning

At about 6:15 on the evening of March 4th, a group of four people from Del
Rio, Texas, arrived at the "Cliff Area" at Diablo East. One of the four -
G.T., age 23 - told the others that he was going to see how cold
the lake waters were and jumped in. After about 15 minutes, the other
members of the party - J.C., 21, C.P., 20, and P.T. -
became concerned about Thompson and went looking for him; they
found him in the water and in need of assistance. At the time, the wind was
blowing about 50 mph, and the waters were rough. In their attempts to
rescue G.T., all three ended up in the water. P.T. went under and
drowned. The park staff was notified of the incident and arrived at the
scene at approximately 6:45 p.m. P.T. could not be located, but C.P.,
J.C. and G.T. were saved. Due to the severe weather conditions,
divers could not enter the water until the 6th, when they found P.T.'s
body in approximately 45 feet of water. G.T. remains hospitalized from
hypothermia. (Jerry Yarborough, AMIS, through Galen Warren, PAD, SWRO).

89-37 - Denali - Missing Climbers

Efforts are being made to locate a Japanese climbing team on Mt. McKinley
which has not been heard from in more than a week and may have run out of
food six days ago. The climbers - N.Y., 39, T.S., 31, and
K.K., 34, all of Tokyo - are apparently near the summit, and are
thought to have holed up in a snow cave above 17,000' because of the
hurricane-force winds buffeting the 20,320' peak. The National Weather
Service has reported sustained winds of 60 - 100 mph in the area, but
climbing ranger Bob Seibert has estimated that those winds reach 90 - 200
mph as they funnel through passes in the mountains. Although the climbers'
food supplies should have been exhausted almost a week ago, they may be near
an NPS food cache at 17,200'. There's also concern that the men may have
run out of fuel needed to melt snow; without water, the climbers could
quickly succumb to dehydration and hypothermia. The park has asked the Army
to provide Chinook helicopters equipped for high-altitude rescues, but they
are not expected to be able to fly until tomorrow or Friday due to the high
winds. An Army plane circled the mountain repeatedly on Monday,
broadcasting messages, but received no response from the climbers. Though
the men have a radio, no transmissions have been received from them.
(Associated Press).

FIELD NOTES

Following a request for assistance from the US Fish and Wildlife Service,
rangers from Rocky Mountain NP, deputized as federal game wardens,
participated in large-scale poaching arrests in Colorado's San Luis Valley
and the Taos area of northern New Mexico on March 6th and 7th. About 275
state and federal officers from nine agencies in six states were involved in
the operation,  which  followed  a  2 1/2-year-long FWS sting operation  into
poaching of big  game and eagles.  Over  50 arrests  have been made  so  far,  and
another  50 will  follow.  (Dave Essex, CR, ROMO).

OFFICE NOTES

1) Jim Loach and Andy Ringgold met with representatives of the Division of
Anthropology regarding ARPA reporting requirements. We will be working
closely with them as we continue to make slow progress toward developing a
Servicewide incident reporting system. (Andy Ringgold, RAD, WASO).

2) The Director is scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding between
the NPS and DEA's El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) today. Under the terms
of the MOU, the NPS will be able to obtain information relating to drug
trafficking and narcotics-related data on illegal aircraft entry, organized
alien smuggling rings, fraudulent documents, narcotics-arms smuggling, air
and marine intelligence and alien terrorist activities. We'll also be
required to provide certain intelligence information to EPIC. A memorandum
describing the terms of the agreement and the procedures required to
designate individuals who will have access to the system will be out in the
near future. Thanks to John Cook and Bill Tanner for their efforts in
pursuing this opportunity for the NPS. (Andy Ringgold, RAD, WASO).

STAFF STATUS

Dabney on leave; Andy Ringgold is acting division chief. Hodapp in Denver
on aircraft and fire policy meetings. Belli on leave. Kreis with NPS-22
workgroup in Reston.

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
FTS 343-4874/4875 or 202-343-4874/4875