RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/date:  Wednesday, September 6, 1989

INCIDENTS

89-258 - Joshua Tree (California) - Search

On August 30th, 23-year-old M.L. of Chiraco Summit, California,
left his residence on a three-wheeler to "look for snakes." Leedom was
dressed in tennis shoes, levi jeans and a T-shirt; he took only a can of
beans, a small supply of water, and a shotgun with him. After he'd been
overdue for two days, M.L.'s father reported him as missing to the
Riverside Sheriff's Office. The sheriff asked Paul Henry, the park's chief
ranger, to lead the search, which began on September 1st and involved 11
agencies. Ten NPS personnel joined in the effort. The search area covered
about 200 square miles, half of which was in the park. No clues or tracks
of any kind were discovered during two full days of searching, and the
search went into the passive mode on the evening of the 2nd. (Paul Henry,
CR, JOTR, via CompuServe message from Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO).

89-259 - White Sands (New Mexico) - Counterfeit Bill Passed

Over Labor Day weekend, a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill was passed at the
park's fee kiosk. The bill was of good enough quality to escape detection
by the fee collector, the depositor and the bank teller, and was ultimately
"discovered" by a machine at the bank. The park is contacting local law
enforcement authorities to apprise them of this incident. (CompuServe
message from Phil Young, RAD/SWRO).

89-260 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Fatal Motor Vehicle Accident

On September 3rd, a motor vehicle heading southbound in excess of 90 mph on
North Shore Road left the roadway, flipped on its top and caught fire
instantly. Three of the four occupants were killed, and the survivor has
been hospitalized with severe head injuries. The Clark County coroner is
currently attempting to identify the three victims. No further information
is available on the incident. (Dispatch, LAME, via CompuServe message from
Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO).

89-261 - Lafayette Park (District of Columbia) - Vigil

On the afternoon of September 4th, C.S. and a contingent of Guardian
Angels began a peaceful vigil in the park in an avowed effort to persuade
President Bush to adopt more stringent drug laws. One hundred members of
the organization were to take part in the vigil, which was scheduled to end
late last night. (CompuServe message from Dave Blackburn, RAD/NCRO).

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION: Planning Level II.

The NIFCC fire situation report is not available this morning.

2) NOTES - The Wildland Fire Situation Report for the NPS for the period
from August 24th to the 30th has been completed:

- Fire Danger:

ARO Low
MAR Low
MWR Low-High Very High: Scotts Bluff NE
NCR Low
NAR Low
PNR Low-High
RMR Low-High Very High: Bryce Canyon, Zion UT
SER Low-Mod
SWR Low-Mod
WRO Low-High Very High: Joshua Tree, Sequoia-Kings Canyon CA
             Extreme:   Great Basin NV

- Wildfire Occurrence:

Region                  Park              # Fires        # Acres
Rocky Mtn          Yellowstone WY             1              0.1
Southeast          Cape Hatteras NC           2              4
                   Everglades FL              1              0.2
Western            Yosemite CA                5             14
                                            ----          ------
Total                                         9             18.3

- Prescribed Natural Fire Occurrence:

No prescribed natural fires are being conducted, pending revision
and approval of area fire management plans.

- Prescribed Burn Occurrence:

Southeast          Everglades FL              1          1,150

- National Situation:

Very few wildfires were reported during the past week, particularly
for this time of year. Everglades is monitoring a large prescribed
burn which has received significant rain on it since it was ignited on
the 24th. All personnel dispatched to western wildfires have returned
to their home units. Both the Alpine and Arrowhead crews are also back
at their host parks awaiting their next fire dispatches.

- Fire Occurrence, Year-To-Date:

Fire Type                     # Fires         # Acres

Wildfires                      618            164,000
Natural Outs                    54              2,092
Prescribed Natural Fires         0               ---
Prescribed Burns                87             40,798
False Alarms                    47               ---
Mutual Aid by NPS              112             26,861
Support Actions                290               ---

(NPS Wildland Fire Summary prepared by Judi Zuckert, BFM/Boise).

OTHER NEWS...

USFWS biologist Ronald Jones says that fish in streams and rivers running
through Yellowstone were apparently unharmed by the tons of ash from last
year's fires which washed into park waterways during the heavy rains which
fell in the park in August. Jones conducted studies at 28 locations and
found no evidence of any harm to fish. He said that he believes that most
of the active chemicals in the ash had been leached out before they were
washed into the rivers. (UPI, 9/5).

OFFICE NOTES

1) Ranger Paul Ducasse, the law enforcement specialist at Hawaii Volcanoes,
is receiving a special commendation from the Secretary today "in recognition
of exemplary achievements which typify the team efforts and commitment of
all National Park Service law enforcement personnel dedicated to the anti.
drug program of the Department of the Interior." Paul will join field
representatives from four other bureaus in receiving this award, which will
be given during the Secretary's staff meeting this morning. The Secretary
will also announce DOI's drug initiative at that time.

2) Dave Moffett, currently the superintendent at Colonial NHP, will become
Assistant Director for Visitor Services on Monday, September 11th. He
replaces Tom Ritter, who is now the superintendent of Sequoia/Kings Canyon.

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)