RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                       MORNING REPORT

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

Day/date: Tuesday, September 18, 1990

INCIDENTS

90-311 - Appalachian Trail (Pennsylvania) - Follow-up on Double Homicide

Rangers and law enforcement officers are on the lookout for an unidentified
male for questioning in the murders of M.L. and J.H., who were
killed on the Appalachian Trail south of Duncannon, Pennsylvania, on the
night of the 12th. The man, who is believed to either be local to the
central Pennsylvania area or travelling on the trail, has been described as
a rough-looking white male with a beard and wearing outdoors clothing with
some military-looking gear. He may be carrying two tube-type gym bags, a
small backpack, and/or one of the victim's Gregory brand, Cassin model,
forest green internal frame backpack. (Telefax from Bill Sanders, CR, ANST,
9/17).

90-313 - Grand Teton (Wyoming) - Climbing Fatality

R.S., 40, of Big Timber, Montana, was climbing solo on Exxum
Fudge on the morning of the 16th when he slipped, landed next to some
climbers on a ledge about 20 feet below him, then fell backwards another 200
feet to his death. R.S. was not using ropes and was wearing improper
climbing shoes. The woman who was climbing with R.S. had declined to
join him on this particular route just prior to his fall. His body was
recovered by the Jenny Lake Rescue Team. (Don Coelho, GKTE, via telephone
report from Sheri Williams, RAD/RMRO, 9/17).

90-314 - Great Smokies (North Carolina/Tennessee) - Ginseng Arrests

Following receipt of information on illegal ginseng harvesting in the park,
rangers began a stakeout of Lakeshore Trail near Fontana Lake on September
7th. Just before 3 p.m., they saw three men - R.W., 20, M.H.,
19, and T.H., 20, all of Robbinsville, North Carolina -
leaving the park from that area. Two of the men fled when the rangers
attempted to stop them, but all were eventually captured. The trio had a
total of 1,138 ginseng roots from the park in their possession. The roots,
which collectively weighed just over 13 pounds, have a street value of
between $1,200 and $1,500. All were charged with several violations of CFR
and may be charged under the Lacey Act (18 USC 3372). (CompuServe message
from Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, 9/17).

90-315 - Chattahoochee (Georgia) - Probable Drowning

On the evening of the 16th, G.C., 21, was rafting with a group on
the Chattahoochee near Sandy Point when the raft became stuck on a shoal.
After some effort, the raft was freed, but G.C. got left behind. He tried
to swim to the raft, but went under in the process. A search was to have
been conducted for his body yesterday, (Telephone report from Steve Smith,
RAD/SERO, 9/17).

90-316 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Multiple VIP Visits

Over the past weekend, three significant VIP visits occurred in the park.
The primary attraction was the Gauley River, which has over 100 major rapids
along 24 miles of river. The visits were by Vice President Quayle and his
family, Secretary Lujan, and Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish
and Wildlife and Parks Scott Sewell. Regional Director Jim Coleman was also
in the park and took part in the Sewell trip. Both Sewell and the Vice
President rafted on the Gauley and its Class VI Whitewater; Secretary Lujan
fished and rafted on the New River. Rangers were actively involved in all
aspects of these trips. Class VI-qualified rangers led the two-day trip for
the Sewell party; other Class VI-qualified rangers provided a law
enforcement screen and Whitewater SAR and safety support for the Vice
President's trip. Other park rangers were involved in the security and
land-based protection for the Vice President. The only incident which
occurred was an involuntary swim taken by Sewell on a Class V rapid called
Insignificant. Upon returning to the raft, Sewell commented that the rapid
might better be named "Significant." (Telefax from Bill Blake, CR, NERI,
9/17).

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - II

One geographic area experiencing high fire danger. Numerous Class A, B, and
C fires occurring and a potential exists for escapes to larger (project)
fires. Minimal mobilization of resources from other geographic areas
occurring. The potential exists for mobilizing additional resources from
other geographic areas.

2) NATIONAL FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency      Area             Fire                      9/17       9/18  Status

CA     USFS      Stanislaus NF     Cottonwood - T2           2,419      2,507  Yes

UT     USFS      Wasatch-Cache NF *Strongs Canyon                -        150  None

CO     BLM       Craig Dist.       Hay Gulch                   573        573  Yes
       USFS      White River NV    Ute Creek - T2              200        200  CN 9/18

GA     FWS       Okefenokee NWR    Shorts - T2               2,620      2,620  None

NOTES:

- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this
  report). T1 and T2 indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Status - The following abbreviations are employed:

  * NR - No report received      * MS - Modified suppression strategy
  * CN - Contained               * MN - Being monitored
  * CL - Controlled              * None - No estimate of containment
  * CS - Confinement strategy    * Yes - Fire has been contained

3) NATIONAL FIRE ACTIVITY - 145 fires for 351 acres in past 24 hours.

4) NPS FIRE DANGERS (9/17) -

       High                Very High                 Extreme

Bryce Canyon             Cumberland Island          Great Basin
El Malpais               Hawaii Volcanoes           Joshua Tree
Everglades               Lake Meredith
Golden Gate              Pinnacles
Grant-Kohrs              Sequoia/Kings
Lassen Volcanic          Theodore Roosevelt
Lava Beds
Point Reyes
Redwoods
Scouts Bluff
Whiskeytown
Wind Cave
Yellowstone
Yosemite
Zion

5) NPS MOBILIZATICN/DEMOBIILIZATICN -

  Resource           9/16       9/17

Firefighters          156        156
Monitors                3          3
Overhead personnel     55         55
Type I crews            3          3
Engines                 9          9
Helicopters             6          6

6) ANALYSIS - Initial attack activity continuing in the northern Rockies.
Only minor activity is being reported in California.

7) PROGNOSIS - No resource shortages expected.

(Telefax from Marla Mino, Branch of Fire, Boise, 1600 MDT, 9/17; NICC
Intelligence Section, Fire Management Situation Report, 0530 MDT, 9/18).

OFFICE NOTES

1) ASTM is locking for individuals who would like to participate on a task
group to develop a standard on training emergency medical services personnel
in emergency ground vehicle operation. For additional information, contact
George Johnson at 518-456-6459. Participants may need to attend an ASTM
meeting in San Antonio between October 28th and 31st. [Butch Farabee,
RAD/WASO].

STAFF STATUS

- Division Chief: Dabney at ranger work force meeting in Minneapolis
  (9/17-9/20).

- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Coffey on SL (9/17-9/21).

- Branch of Fire: Hurd in Acadia (9/17-9/21); Gale in Shenandoah to review
  fire management program, work on MAR all-risk training and attend ICS
  working team meeting (9/15-9/26); Broyles in Shenandoah for all-risk
  and ICS meetings and in Washington for NWCG meeting (9/16-9/26); Erskine
  at NWCG meeting in Maine (9/17-9/23); Clark instructing at extreme
  fire behavior seminar (9/17-9/22); Marla Mino on detail to Branch from Big
  Cypress (9/10-9/24).


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 (Branch of R&VP); WASO-FIRE-WO (Branch of Fire)
SEAdog:     1/650