RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                       MORNING REPORT

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

Day/date: Tuesday, May 29, 1990

INCIDENTS

99-109 - Gulf Islands (Mississippi/Florida) - National Park Service Ranger
Killed in Line of Duty

On Saturday morning, May 26th, Gulf Islands National Seashore Ranger Robert
L. McGhee, Jr. 50, was killed while making a traffic stop on a park road.
His assailants - D.A.B., 29, and J.F.W., 27,
both escapees from the Holmes Correctional Institution near Bonifay,
Florida - fled the scene, but were subsequently shot and arrested by a
police officer in nearby Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The incident began on
Thursday, when D.A.B. and J.F.W. escaped from prison while out on a
doctor's visit. Early the next morning, the pair kidnapped M.B.,
55, from an Alabama hotel, where she was working as a night clerk. The two
men then brought M.B. to a motel in Ocean Springs, where they checked in
on Friday afternoon. Around 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, M.B. was able
to escape from her abductors and call police from the motel office.
Meanwhile, D.A.B. and J.F.W. fled into the park in their stolen pickup
truck, where McGhee stopped them for a traffic violation. According to the
convicts, McGhee was approaching their vehicle when one of them shot him
with a stolen .38 revolver, hitting him three times in the throat and chest.
The elapsed time between D.A.B.'s phone call to Ocean Springs police and
the incident is estimated as no more than five minutes. After the incident,
D.A.B. and J.F.W. drove back into Ocean Springs, where a police officer
spotted and pursued them. At some point in the chase, the driver of the
pickup rammed the police car. The pair then got out and approached the
officer, who shot them both in the legs. The escapees were captured in the
woods next to the park shortly thereafter and arrested. While the chase was
going on, Ranger Everett Whitehead, who lived nearby in the park, went out
to investigate shots which he'd heard and found McGhee's body. He was
pronounced dead by a local coroner at 9:13 a.m. Since the park has
proprietary jurisdiction in the area where McGhee was killed, D.A.B. and
J.F.W. may be tried in either state or federal court. D.A.B. was serving a
20-year sentence for crimes including sexual battery, kidnapping and
robbery; J.F.W. was serving 15 years for crimes including burglary, cocaine
possession, battery on a law enforcement officer and a previous escape. The
FBI will participate in the investigation, which will probably be led by
Ocean Springs. McGhee was a Vietnam veteran who came to work for the
seashore as a YACC program supervisor in 1975 after retiring from the Navy.
He became a law enforcement ranger in 1981. He leaves his wife, Linda, two
grown children and several grandchildren.

A funeral will be held tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral
Heme on Porter Avenue in Ocean Springs. SERQ is asking that each park in
Southeast Region send a ranger to the funeral, and that at least one ranger
from each region be present. The uniform will be Class A summer dress.
Questions about the funeral should be directed to SER Chief Ranger Bill
Springer at FTS 841-3527 or 404-331-3527. (Reports from Bill Springer,
RAD/SERO, 6:00 a.m. EDT, 5/29/90 and the Associated Press, 9 p.m. EDT,
5/26/90).

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level II

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency      Area             Fire                    Acres  Status

AZ     USFS      Coronado NF       Buster                    1,300  Yes

AK     AK        State land       *Teklanka - T2            14,900  None

NOTES:

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

3) FIRE NARRATIVES

a) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE:

- N/A

b) OTHER AGENCIES:

- N/A

4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 36 fires for 5,074 acres in past 24 hours.

5) FIRE I3ANGERS - Fire danger readings are not available this morning.

6) ANALYSIS - Fire activity is beginning to occur in Alaska. The Southwest
continues to experience extreme conditions.

7) PROGNOSIS - Moderate fire activity expected.

(NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0530 MDT, 5/29/90).

CALENDAR

Asterisk (*) indicates new entry; plus (+) indicates revised entry.
Brackets at end of entry indicate source of information:

May 29 - June 2 - "Response '90: Pointe to the Future", 19th Annual NASAR
Conference and Exposition, The Pointe at South Mountain, Phoenix, AZ. Pre-
conference training courses will be offered on a number of topics, including
leadership for emergency response team leaders, ICS-SAR planning section
chief, wilderness medicine, and PLB's. For further information, contact
NASAR, P.O. Box 3709, Fairfax, VA 22038 (703-352-1349). [NASAR]

May 29 - June 1 - National Grazinglands Weed Management Conference, Holiday
Inn Central, Omaha, NE. Contact Jenness Coffey, FTS 343-6380.

June 19 - 22 - NEPA Symposium and Fifteenth Annual conference of the
National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP), Marriott-
Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX. For further information, call NAEP at 703-660.
2364.

August 5 - 9 - "Recapturing a Vanishing Heritage", Twelfth North American
Prairie Conference, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa. For
further information, contact Twelfth North American Prairie Conference, 2759
McCollum Science Hall, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614.
[Kurt Topham, HERO]

October 13 - 19 - "Natural Areas and Yosemite: Prospects for the Future",
Yosemite (10/13-14) and Sheraton Coherence Center, Concord, CA (10/15-19).
Sponsored by The Natural Areas Association, Yosemite NP, and The Yosemite
Fund. Inquiries should be directed to Coordinator, NA/Yc>semite Centennial
Symposium, GGNRA, Fort Mason Building 201, San Francisco, CA 94123 (415-556-
1009). [Jenness Coffey, RAD/WASO]

November 12 - 15 - "Resource Technology 90", International Symposium on
Advanced Technology in Natural Resource Management, Washington, D.C. For
more information, contact conference coordinator Janette Evans at 303-226.
1688. Harvey Fleet, NPS-GIS, DSC, is coordinating the "Parks and Protected
Areas" segment of the session. [Kathy Jope, RAD/MARO]

November 12 - 17 - Sixth Conference on Research in the National Parks and
Equivalent Reserves, Westin Paso Del Norte Hotel, El Paso, TX. Sponsored by
George Wright Society. For further information, call the 1990 conference
Committee at 415-556-1866. [George Wright Forum].

November 13 - 16 - "Agency and Inter-agency Response to Natural and
Technological Disasters", Sixth Annual Environmental Roundtable, Interlaken
Resort and Spa, Lake Geneva, WI. Sponsored by MWRO, DOI's Office of
Environmental Affairs (Chicago), USFS (Region 9) and EPA (Region 5). For
further information, contact John Townsend, FTS 864-3475. [John Townsend,
MWRO]

December 10 - 14 - FMO meeting, location to be determined. [Doug Erskine,
FIRE]

(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

- Division Chief: Dabney at funeral for Robert McGhee in Ocean Springs,
  Mississippi (5/30).

- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Farabee at NASAR conference in
  Phoenix (5/27-5/31); Kreis on SL.

- Branch of Fire: Erskine at MAC Group steering committee meeting in Olympic
  (5/30-6/2).


Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone:  FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
Telefax:    FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER
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