RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                       MORNING REPORT

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

Day/date: Thursday, May 17, 1990

INCIDENTS

90-61 - Joshua Tree (California) - Follow-up on Injury to Ranger

Ranger Grady Arrington is a quadriplegic from mid-chest down. He is on a
respirator, but it may be possible to remove the machine in another ten days
or so. Grady has been able to move his left arm slightly and his right arm
a little more. He is able to move his fingers very slightly. Splints have
been placed on his wrists and hands - two hours on, two hours off - to aid
therapy and keep his wrists and fingers from locking. Grady receives
therapy several times daily and is able to speak if the nurse adjusts the
respirator. He will continue to wear a head traction splint and chest brace
for approximately four months. Anyone wishing to contribute to the Ranger
Grady Trust Fund can send donations directly to Joshua Tree NM. Requests
for donations of annual leave will be made in the near future. (Paul Henry,
CR, JOTR, via SEAdog/CompuServe bridge from Herb Gercke, RAD/WRD, 8:30 a.m.
EDT, 5/16/90).

90-100 - Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina/Virginia) - MVA with Fatality

Around midnight on May 12th, 42-year-old J.F. of Charlottesville,
Virginia, was killed when the car he was driving northbound on the parkway
in Virginia ran off the roadway and down a 25-foot embankment, hit a tree,
caught fire and exploded. (Mike Murphy, BLRI, via telefax report from Capt.
Steve Alscher, RAD/SERO, noon EDT, 5/15/90).

90-101 - Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina/ Virginia) - Poaching Conviction

In 1989, park rangers, USFWS agents and Virginia game officers initiated an
undercover operation on snake peaching which was occurring along the parkway
in Virginia. The investigation culminated in the arrest of E. and V.F.
on charges of conspiracy to possess and sell illegally-taken
wildlife, selling wildlife taken from a national park, and distribution of
marijuana. The couple were found guilty, and appeared before a U.S.
magistrate for sentencing on April 9th. The magistrate sentenced V.F.
to two years supervised probation and E.F. to 42 months active
jail time and four years of supervised probation upon his release. (Telefax
report from Capt. Steve Alscher, RAD/SERO, noon EDT, 5/15/90).

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level I

2) FIRE SUMMARY
                                                                   Contain/
State  Agency      Area             Fire                    Acres  Control

NM     USFS      Lincoln NF       *Big                       6,160  CN 5/18

GA     FWS       Okefenokee NWR  *Mother's Day                 600  CN 5/19

FL     NPS       Everglades NP   *Gator Bay                    200  CL 5/16
       USFS      Apalachicola NF *Johnson Juniper              200  Yes

NOTES:

- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire.
- Contain - Containment/control dates are estimates; CN means
  contain, CL means control; "none" means no estimate; "yes" means
  the fire has been contained.

3) FIRE NARRATIVES

a) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE:

- Gator Bay (Everglades) - The fire is still being monitored, and has
been contained by mangrove vegetation. It was not active yesterday
morning. Monitoring will continue until the fire is declared out.

b) OTHER AGENCIES:

- Big Fire (Lincoln NF) - The fire has been difficult to control due
to high, erratic winds, steep terrain and very dry conditions
with explosive fuels. Carlsbad reports that most of the line nearest the
park was lost on Tuesday night, and that a wind shift to the northwest -
which will push the fire toward Guadalupe Mountains - took place
yesterday. The fire, they report, has displayed "remarkable spotting
ability, which is very uncommon for fires in these parts."

4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 59 fires for 1,276 acres in past 24 hours.

5) FIRE DANGERS - The following parks are experiencing high to extreme fire
danger this morning:

       High                Very High                 Extreme

El Malpais                Everglades            Guadalupe Mountains
                          Grand Canyon          Carlsbad Caverns
                          Hawaii Volcanoes
                          Saguaro

6) ANALYSIS - Extreme conditions continue to be reported by all agencies
in the Southwest and Florida. NPS areas report the following:

* Carlsbad Caverns remains at MC 5.

* Guadalupe Mountains has staged a six-person initial attack crew at Pine
Springs. All park red-carded personnel are on alert.

* Red flag conditions continue at Grand Canyon.	 The North Rim opened
to the public yesterday, and the park reports that it's extremely dry
there for this time of year - there's no snow on the ground, and the
North Rim received only 98 inches of snow this year (normal is over
200 inches).

7) PROGNOSIS - Fire activity is expected to continue in Florida and the
Southwest due to dry conditions and forecasted weather.

(NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0530 MDT, 5/17/90; NPS National Wildland Fire
Summary, 0430 MDT, 5/17/90).

RESOURCE PROTECTION/MANAGEMENT

New River Gorge (West Virginia) - On May 16th, six peregrine falcon chicks
arrived from Boise, Idaho, to kick off the 1990 reintroduction program.
This program, which was established in the park in 1987, represents a
cooperative effort by the NPS, the Peregrine Fund and the West Virginia
Nongame Wildlife Program to reintroduce the endangered peregrine falcon
(Falco peregrinus) to the area. Since that time, the park has successfully
"hacked" 16 peregrines from the Beauty Mountain hacking site. In 1989 a
sub-adult returned to the site, and several sightings have been reported
this year. The reintroduction project will be completed when an adult pair
of peregrine falcons nest successfully in the gorge. Park resource
management staff assist "hackers" - volunteers from all over the country.
in setting up camp, making and recording observations, and coordinating
communications among project participants. (Bill Blake, CR, NERI)

OFFICE NOTES

1) On February 22nd, we put out a message on the morning reporting asking

field areas to provide the Director, through the Associate Director,
Operations, with the names of any reports required by the Service,
Department or any other office which were considered to be of dubious
usefulness. All together, we received a grand total of six replies, and
would like to thank employees at John Muir, Great Smokies, Gettysburg,
Natchez Trace, ARO, WRO and MWRO for their contributions - particularly
MWRO, which sent its comprehensive reports management task force report.
Those were all forwarded to Jack Morehead yesterday. Nonetheless, we were
surprised to find that only six offices had any concerns about reporting
requirements, especially because we have heard many a complaint from rangers
about both unnecessary reports (or reports that are perceived to be
unnecessary) and the duplication of information on 343's, 134's, CA-16's,
MVA reports, etc. So we'd like to give you another crack at submitting your
candidates for reports of dubious usefulness. If you've got one, send it
along to us by mail or CompuServe or telefax. (Dick Martin, RAD/WASO).

2) Judi Zuckert will be leaving the Branch of Fire Management on Friday to
take a position as an employee development specialist with BLM at BIFC
beginning on Monday. (Bill Halainen, RAD/WASO)

3) On May 1st, the Office of Personnel Management opened the new
Administrative Careers with America (ACWA) examinations for receipt of
applications. These examinations cover positions formerly filled under the
Professional and Administrative Career Examination (PACE). The operating
titles of the six examinations with written tests are:

GPOUP                         TTTLE
1           Health, Safety and Environmental Occupations
2           Writing and Public Information Occupations
3           Business, Finance and Management Occupations
4           Personnel, Administration and Computer Occupations
5           Benefits Review, Tax and Legal Occupations
6           Law Enforcement and Investigation Occupations

The following apply to the new exams:

- There's a separate written test for each of the six job groups listed.
Each group will have a separate automated application form called a
"Form B".

- Individuals qualifying under the outstanding scholar provisions may apply
directly to agencies for employment consideration and may request to be
placed on OEM's ACWA referral file.

- Applicants who meet the qualification requirements and pass one of the six
written tests will be placed on a competitive register.

- Examinations for groups 1 through 6 will be open to the receipt of
applications through May 1990.

- OEM area offices will determine the dates and sites for testing based on
applications received.

It is imperative that you notify interested employees immediately concerning
what they must do in order to take the test. In essence, they must contact
an OEM office to seek application forms in order to register. (Mario
Fraire, Personnel, WASO).

STAFF STATUS

- Division Chief: Dabney at BIFC for Center's 25th anniversary and for
meetings with FIRE staff (5/16-19).

- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Farabee on lieu day.