RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/date:  Tuesday, September 5, 1989

INCIDENTS

89-256 - Baltimore-Washington Parkway (Maryland) - Follow-up on
Bridge Collapse

Fourteen motorists and construction workers were injured when the overpass
being constructed on Route 198 over the parkway collapsed around 6:50 a.m.
on August 31st, dumping more than 200 tons of debris onto the parkway's
southbound lane. The collapse came as workers on the nearly completed span
were pouring the last layer of concrete onto the bridge deck. The debris
fell on two vehicles, seriously injuring a woman in the first and battering
four men in the second; nine of the twelve workers who fell with the bridge
were also injured, none seriously. The collapse has been blamed on the
apparently faulty scaffolding used to support the uncompleted bridge. An
investigation is underway. (Washington Post, 9/1/89).

89-257 - Buffalo River (Arkansas) - Marijuana Eradication

On August 30th, an inter-agency task force of park rangers and officers from
the Searcy County Sheriff's Office, Arkansas State Police and Arkansas Fish
and Game Department found and destroyed 195 marijuana plants (55 of the
sinsemilla variety) in the Cane Branch area of the park's Middle District.
The value of the plants was placed at $195,000. (CompuServe message from
Phil Young, RAD/SWRO).

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION: Planning Level II.

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency       Area                  Fire                Acres   Contain

MT     USFS     Custer NF                *Wild                2,520     Yes
       USFS     Custer NF                *Chalsea             1,040     Yes

UT     USFS     Uinta NF                 *Middle Slide          630     9/5

CA     USFS     Sequoia NF               *Calkins               549     9/5

OR     BIA      Warm Springs             *Schoolie Flat         409     9/4

3) FIRE ACTIVITY - 103 fires for 2,437 acres in last 24 hours.

4) ANALYSIS - Portions of California, Wyoming and the Great Basin
continue to report very high to extreme indices. RED FLAG
WATCHES have been issued for winds in northern California,
southern Montana and Wyoming east of the Great Divide.

5) PROGNOSIS - Resources remain adequate.

(NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0530 MDT, 9/5/89).

OTHER NEWS...

Forest Service officials are considering whether to take legal action
against two men refusing to pay $4.1 million in suppression costs for a fire
that burned part of Yellowstone last summer. The USES has accused Vera
Smith, a Bozeman, Montana, outfitter, and Todd Wilcoff, of Ohio, of starting
the Hellroaring fire that burned 29,300 acres in Yellowstone and 52,600
acres in the Gallatin National Forest last summer. Forest Service
investigators say that the fire was caused by sparks from a cooking or
heating stove in Smith's camp; Wilcoff was a client of Smith's and had been
using the camp when the fire started. Both Smith and Wilcoff deny
responsibility, and Smith has said that a rival outfitter could have caused
the fire. (UPI, 9/1/89).

Two southern Utah men indicted on charges of vandalizing an Anasazi ruin on
BLM land have pleaded guilty to reduced charges rather than stand trial.
Cuave Rod Haverland and Burton Joseph Rondo each pleaded guilty to
misdemeanor charges of violating the Archeological Resources Protection Act
by causing less than $500 damage to an historic site. Rondo also agreed to
forfeit his interest in a 1979 4-wheel-dive vehicle used in the commission
of the crime. Federal Judge David Winder said the men could be sentenced to
up to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine. (UPI, 8/31/89).

CALENDAR

Asterisks indicate new or revised entries:

September 11 - 17 - "Managing America's Enduring Wilderness Resource",
conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sponsored in part by the National Park
Service. Contact David W. Lime, College of Forestry, 110 Green Hall,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 (612-624-2250).

September 12 - 14 - Interpretive Survey Committee Meeting, Lowell NHP,
Lowell, Massachusetts. Meeting to analyze the results of the survey of
field interpreters and make recommendations to the Director.

September 17 - 22 - Annual conference, American Water Resources Association,
Tampa, Florida. The themes will be water laws and management and wetlands
concerns and successes. Contact ANTRA, 5410 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD
20814 (301-493-8600).

September 25 - 29 - Interpretive Skills II, Tower Mountain Lodge, Hancock,
Massachusetts. Sponsored and taught by NARO Interpretive Skills Team. This
course meets the second half of the 80-hour interpretive skills training
recommended for permanent interpreters. Contact David Day, NARO, Division
of Interpretation (617-223-5073).

October 1 - 5 - Rocky Mountain Chief Rangers' Conference, Wort Hotel,
Jackson, Wyoming.

October 16 - 20 - Southwest Regional Chief Rangers' Workshop, Hot Springs,
Arkansas.

October 22 - 27 - Rendezvous XIII, joint meeting, Association of National
Park Rangers and Employee and Alumni Association, Arlington Resort Hotel and
Spa, Hot Springs, Arkansas.

October 24 - 27 - "The Scientific Challenge of NEPA: Future Directions
Based on 20 Years of Experience", symposium, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Sponsored by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Address inquiries to Dr.
Stephen Hildebrand, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Post Office Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6036 (615-574-
7329).

November 5 - 10 - "Homespun to High Tech: Interpreting for Urban Audiences",
workshop, National Association of Interpretation, St. Paul/Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Contact NAI, PO Box 1892, Fort Collins, CO 80522 (303-491-6434)

*November 6 - 9 - Employee Development Officers' Workshop, FLETC, Glynco,
Georgia.

*November 6 - 8 - Regional Fire Coordinators' Meeting, Denver, Colorado
(tentative). Key topics will include PI 90 FIREPRO financial management, FY
90 recruitment, rewriting NPS-18 and an FMO orientation session for the
spring of 1990.

November 7 - 9 - "Symposium on the Interpretation of Literary and Visual
Arts Sites", Concord, Massachusetts. Sponsored by NARO Interpretive Skills
Team. The symposium will examine the relationship between the creative
process, writers and artists and their works, and the physical resources
through which they are interpreted. Contact David Day, NARO, Division of
Interpretation (617-223-5073).

November 10 - 11 - Fourth Annual Wilderness Emergencies Conference, Los
Abrigados Resort, Sedona, Arizona. Topics include wilderness improvisation
and rescue, maragement of backcountry trauma, long term care of the injured,
environmental illnesses, and survival and medical equipment. The
registration fee is $75 ($135 for physicians). For further information,
contact Sharon Harbeck, R.N., Flagstaff Medical Center (602-779-3366,
extension 4185).

*November 13 - 17 - Law Enforcement for Managers, training session, FLETC,
Georgia. Rescheduled from October 30 - November 3. The course is targeted
at the management level and is intended to familiarize participants with
recent changes in Federal law, NPS authority and jurisdiction, policy and
guidelines, and civil liability. Contact Bill Supernaugh (FTS 230-2246 or
912-267-2246).

November 28 - 30 - Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program (SLETP)
Curriculum Conference, FLETC, Georgia. School coordinators will meet with
NPS staff to review curriculum in light of NPS-9 revisions and Servicewide
needs. Field input and suggestions welcome. Contact Bill Supernaugh (FTS
230-2246 or 912-267-2246).

November 28 - 30 - "Interpretation of Critical Resource Issues", Sheraton
Ocean Park Inn, Eastham, Massachusetts. Sponsored by the NARO Interpretive
Skills Team. The workshop will focus on the issues and techniques involved
in the interpretation of critical cultural and natural resource management
issues. Contact David Day, NARO, Division of Interpretation (617-223-5073).

December 11 - 15 - Fire Management for Managers, 36-hour course, Branch of
Fire Management, Boise, Idaho. First offering of this new course.

(Calendar appears in each Monday's morning report. If you know of a
conference, meeting or training session with Servicewide interest and
implications, please provide the specifics to Bill Halainen in Ranger
Activities).

STAFF STATUS

All hands on board.

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
SEAdog:     1/650 (Phone:343-6014; BAUD:2400)