RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                       MORNING REPORT

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

Day/date: Friday, June 15, 1990

INCIDENTS

90-130 - North Cascades (Washington) - Follow-up on Death of Park Ranger

Early on the morning of the 10th, Marblemount District Ranger John
Dalle-Molle, 51, died of cancer in Wenatchee, Washington. John was among
the first NPS scuba divers trained at Scripps, one of the first EMT's in the
state of Washington, and a law enforcement officer who conducted road
patrols, made felony arrests, and once contacted the Manson family in the
backcountry of Death Valley. John was the first climbing ranger at Mt.
Schurman in Rainier, ran many technical mountain rescues, and wrote one
of the first manuals on helicopter use in SAR. John had published over 25
research papers on such topics as wilderness use, backcountry impact
monitoring, bear-human interaction, revegetation, subsistence and traffic-
wildlife interaction. He served at Denali from 1978 to 1989, playing a
crucial role in developing the resource management policies of the park.
John is survived by his wife Lois, who is working as a clerk at the Skagit
office in Marblemount, and sons Andrew, 7, and Daniel, 5. The park is
collecting photographs and memories of the people and places that were
important to John and Lois. Please send them to Superintendent John Earnst,
NOCA. A scholarship fund is being set up for Andrew and Daniel and
donations can be sent to North Cascades National Park, 2105 Highway 20,
Sedro Woolley, WA 98284, care of Pat Young. (CompuServe message from NOCA,
via Mark Forbes, RAD/PNRO, 6/13).

90-131 - Padre Island (Texas) - Follow-up on Potential Oil Spill

The fire on the Mega Borg continues to burn in the ship's engine room, but
firefighters consider the current situation to be the best since the
original explosion. The Coast Guard is pleased with the fact that seas have
been running from four to six feet and are being pushed by south-southeast
winds at 19 knots. They feel that this will do much to break up the
existing slick and will cause it to coagulate and sink. The slick currently
extends about 12 miles from the ship, and remains about 45 miles from the
nearest landfall. The amount of oil still leaking from the ship is
estimated a "half of what it was yesterday," but no actual flow rates are
available. The current projected landfall continues to be the coastline
from Freeport to Corpus Christi. If it should reach Padre Island, ARC is
prepared to make an oil spill overhead team available to the park.
(Briefing statement form Steve Adams, CR, PAIS, and Jim Walters, RAD/SWRO,
sent via CompuServe, 6/14).

90-135 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - River Rescue

On the afternoon of the 5th, rangers responded to a radioed "may day" from
Hance Rapids on the Colorado River. A 33-foot motorized raft operated by
Hatch River Expeditions, a licensed commercial outfitter, was pinned against
a large boulder mid-stream in the rapids. The craft had 17 persons on board
and appeared to be in great danger of capsizing. Due to the extremely
swift, cold water and numerous white-water hazards downstream, there was a
real possibility for catastrophic loss of life. Park rangers stabilized the
boat with anchored shore ropes, and a tyrolean traverse rescue system was
established. Two park rangers were hauled to the raft, where they helped
transfer all passengers and crew to the shore. A technical recovery and
salvage of the raft was conducted on the following morning. There were no
injuries to any passengers, crew or operational personnel. The craft was
subsequently repaired on scene and continued down river. (Bev Perry, GRCA,
via CompuServe message from Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO, 6/13).

90-136 - Organ Pipe Cactus (Arizona) - Arrest of Former Seasonal Ranger

An investigation into theft of entrance fees has resulted in the successful
prosecution of former seasonal park ranger J.H.A. for embezzlement
and theft of government money (18 USC 641). The investigation was headed by
park rangers Robert Stinson of Organ Pipe and Fred Elchlepp of Yosemite.
The embezzlement was discovered by Stinson, who became suspicious of
activity at the collection point. J.H.A. was also charged with carrying a
concealed weapon, possession of a sawed-off shotgun and illegal possession
of cacti without permits. The United States Attorney in Tucson agreed to
prosecute the case, despite that office's heavy case load, after hearing
persuasive arguments from the investigators. This case is yet another
example of a successful prosecution of a former employee for recreation fee
embezzlement. A copy of the case incident report will be made available to
each regional recreation fee coordinator for information purposes and for
use in conjunction with Project SAFEcheck activities. (Reports from Wes
Kreis, RAD/WASO, and from Bob Stinson, ORPI, via Herbs Gercke, RAD/WRO,
6/13).

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level I

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency      Area             Fire                    Acres  Status

AZ     USFS      Prescott NF       Doce  - T2                  853  6/15

NOTES:

- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire. T1 and T2 indicate
  assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- 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.
- Agencies - All BLM areas are districts; CDF is California
  Department of Forestry.

3) FIRE ACTIVITY - 129 fires for 711 acres in past 24 hours.

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

       High                Very High                 Extreme

Everglades                Bryce Canyon              Fort Union
Bandelier                 Cumberland Island         Grand Canyon
Big Bend                  Guadalupe Mountains       Chiricahua
Hawaii Volcanoes          Padre Island
Lava Beds                 Lake Meredith

5) ANALYSIS - Very high to extreme conditions continue to be reported
from all agencies in the Southwest. National parks report the following:

* Mesa Verde - Five helitack and nine other park personnel attacked
and contained a holdover fire from a lightning storm at Hovenweep
on 6/14.

* Everglades - The west boundary burn was begun on 6/13. An
additional 2,500 acres was aerially ignited, bringing the total
acreage up to 3,000. Another 2,000 acres are to be treated.
Burn remained in prescription; no active smokes remain.

* Grand Canyon - Red flag conditions continue.

*  Chiricahua - Red flag conditions are in effect. The park is
experiencing winds with gusts over 40 mph.

* Yosemite - Two fires have been picked up which resulted from
last week's lightning activity. The Grove Fire is now in
patrol status.

6) PROGNOSIS - High fire dangers are expected to continue in the
Southwest.

(NPS National Wildland Fire Summary, 0430 MDT, 6/15/90; NIFCC Intelligence
Section, 0530 MDT, 6/15/90).

STAFF STATUS

- Division Chief: Dabney at USFWS IE program review meeting in
  Arlington, VA (6/15).

- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Healy on AL (6/11-6/22);
  Martin on AL (6/12-6/20).

- Branch of Fire: Norum at global climate change symposium (6/11-6/15);
  Clark at PNR overhead development, Seattle, WA (6/11-15).