RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/date:  Wednesday, July 12, 1989

INCIDENTS

89-177 - Biscayne - Major Drug Seizure

Around noon on July 8th, ranger Bill Cass received a tip from a park visitor
that a boat with bales floating around it was off-shore of a beach on the
Atlantic Ocean side of Sand Key. Cass investigated and found a 37-foot,
high-speed boat at that location. While awaiting ranger backup, a Florida
Marine Patrol helicopter overflew the area and confirmed that there were
bales floating in the water. When rangers Bob Panko and Tom Sallese
arrived, the three boarded the boat; they found no one aboard, but observed
a possible trip wire and other suspicious devices. The boat was towed to
park headquarters, where the Metro/Dade police bomb squad conducted a search
of the craft. No booby traps were found. Rangers Chris Johnson, Tom
Rutledge and Bill Hudson recovered 18 86-pound bales of cocaine from the
water and nearby beach, with an estimated value of $20 million. Despite a
search of Sand Key by rangers. Customs officers and four Metro/Dade search
dog units, no trace of any suspects could be found. Customs investigators
subsequently advised the park that they had observed an air delivery of
drugs to this boat and another boat at about 1 a.m. on the 8th in Cuban
waters. Their surveillance was interrupted, however, when Cuban MIG's
scrambled in response to an alleged violation of their airspace and Customs
lost contact with the vessels. The other boat has been seen frequently in
park waters, and was boarded by rangers and Metro/Dade officers one month
ago in an investigation of suspicious activities. Investigators speculate
that the suspects escaped from the area on this boat. The park will file
for forfeiture of the vessel and its electronic equipment and four Mercury
outboard engines (total value of approximately $150,000). (Scott Erickson,
CR, EVER, via telefax to RAD/SERO and RAD/WASO).

89-178 - Scotts Bluff - Attempted Fire Bombing

Some time after 11:30 p.m. on the 7th, a person or persons threw two Molotov
cocktails across the closed and locked entrance gate to the park. The
devices did no damage. At about 1 a.m. on the 9th, another Molotov cocktail
was thrown over the entrance gate. A sheriff's deputy on patrol in the area
saw the fire and extinguished it. On the 11th, a maintenance worker found
yet another Molotov cocktail on Highway 92 a third of a mile east of the
Oregon Trail Museum, which is within the boundaries of the park. The bottle
was unbroken, and is being checked for fingerprints. Park personnel are
working with the sheriff's office and FBI in investigating the incidents;
rangers have been dispatched from Jefferson National Expansion to assist the
park. (Lisa Carrico, SCBL, via CompuServe message from RAD/MWRO).

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION

Planning Level III.

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency       Area                  Fire              Acres   Contain

AZ     NPS      Grand Canyon NP           Muav - T1         1,700     Yes
       USFS     Tonto NF                  Horton - T2         220     7/13
       USFS     Tonto NF                  Jack - T1           500     7/12
       USFS     Prescott NF               Pine Mountain       600     7/12
       BLM/FWS  Yuma/Havasu NWR           Planet - T2         800     7/13
       State      -                       Alamosa             500     None
       State      -                       Wagner - T2       1,500     7/12

NM     NPS      El Malpais NM             Hoya - T2         2,500     7/12

CO     NPS      Mesa Verde NP             Long Mesa - T2    2,600     Yes
       USFS     Arap.-Roos. NF            Number 6          2,015     None
       USFS     Arap.-Roos. NF            Sunnyside - T1    2,000     7/12
       BLM      Grand Junction            Demaree - T2        700     7/15

NB     USFS     Nebraska NF               Ft. Robsn. - T2  54,000     7/12

UT     BLM      Moab                     *Ryan Creek        5,000     7/12
       BLM      Burley                   *Shoshone Basin    1,000     None

NV     BLM      Battle Mountain           Walters           3,000     Yes
       BLM      Las Vegas                 Mormon Peak       1,000     7/12
       BLM      Las Vegas                *Bertha            1,300     7/12

CA     USFS     Cleveland NF              Thing             4,600     7/12
       State    Monterey CDF              Molera            2,800     7/14
       USFS     Plumas NF                 Rack - T1         3,500     Yes

AK     BLM/BIA  Anchorage                 Crook. Crk. - T2  8,500     Yes
       BLM      Anchorage                 Swng. Dome - T2  27,120     Yes

NOTES:

- Agencies - All BLM areas are districts; CDF is California Department of
  Forestry.
- Fires - Asterisk indicates new fire.
- Areas - T1 and T2 indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Contain - Containment dates are estimates; "none" means no estimate;
  "yes" means the fire has been contained.

3) SIGNIFICANT FIRES

a) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

* Long Mesa Fire - Mesa Verde:

The fire was contained at 6 p.m. yesterday and should be completely
controlled by noon today. The Type II Team currently managing the fire
will turn it back over to the park this evening. Parts of the park
were reopened yesterday, and most of the areas on Chapin Mesa will open
again today. Morefield Campground will remain closed until all
firefighters leave the area.

* Muav Fire - Grand Canyon:

The fire was inactive yesterday, and was reported contained at 6 p.m.
It should be controlled by 6 p.m. today.

b) OTHER AGENCIES

* Horton Fire - Tonto NF:

A member of a Zuni crew was struck by lightning and killed while
fighting the fire on the 10th.

* Thing Fire - Cleveland NF/San Diego Resource Unit, CDF:

The evacuation order for areas near the fire was lifted on the evening
of the 10th and residents were allowed to return to the area.

* Fort Robinson - Nebraska NF/State of Nebraska:

The fire escaped its lines on the 10th and burned an additional 500
acres. No structures are in the current path of the fire.

4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 250 fires for 12,102 acres in last 24 hours.

5) ANALYSIS - Demobilization from all areas is continuing. A red flag
watch has been posted for thunderstorms with dry lightning in
southern and central Idaho, western Wyoming, and the Cascades in
Washington and Oregon.

6) PROGNOSIS - Demobilization is expected to accelerate from most
geographic areas as an increasing number of fires are contained.

7) NOTES - As of yesterday, the NPS had 590 firefighters and 153 overhead
personnel (a total of 743 people, up 329 from Monday) involved in
wildfire operations. Nationwide, there were 400 20-person crews and
1,945 overhead personnel in the field; 149 crews were available for
duty, and there were no requests outstanding for additional crews.
Only four Type I Teams remain in the field on the Sunnyside, Jack,
Muav and Rack Fires.

(NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0530 MDT, 7/12/89; supplemental information on
NPS fires and staffing from Ginny Paci, BFM/Boise).

OFFICE NOTES

1) Some concern has been expressed regarding the ability of the Smith and
Wesson Model 66 to handle a steady diet of .357 ammunition. According to
Paul Henry, chief ranger at Joshua Tree and former FLETC firearms
instructor, the Model 66 will handle the round, but the gun's useful life
will be decreased and malfunctions are likely to increase. Factory or
government representatives for different American firearms manufacturers
should therefore be consulted for advice before you purchase any new .357
caliber weapons. A weapon heavier than the Model 66 will stand up to the
.357 round forces and lessen the weapon's recoil. (Chris Andress, RCR,
PM&VP/MARO).

STAFF STATUS

Loach and Ringgold on AL; Hodapp on travel.

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone: FTS 343-4874/6039 or 202-343-4874/6039
Telefax: FTS 343-5977 or 202-343-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER