RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION MORNING REPORT Attention: Directorate Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC CC: RAD Information Net Day/date: Monday, February 11, 1991 INCIDENTS 91-46 - Everglades (Florida) - Assist to U.S. Customs: Smuggling Convictions On January 23rd, six Florida men were convicted in U.S. district court in Fort Myers on charges of smuggling marijuana into the United States. The convictions resulted from a two-year-long investigation coordinated by U.S. Customs with the assistance and testimony of representatives from several agencies, including rangers from Everglades. The rangers testified that they had chased high speed boats through the park during the night that Customs took down the commercial vessel "Mystical Rose" near the park's boundary. The vessel was loaded with marijuana, and the high speed boats were apparently escaping from Customs agents at the time the rangers pursued them. [Telefax from Mark Lewis, LES, EVER, 2/8] MIDDLE EAST INCIDENT UPDATE No reports received. Please advise us through your regional offices of all threats received, permits issued for demonstrations, and demonstrations or incidents that occur which are related to the war in the Gulf. Call Major Schamp at FTS 268-4209 (202-208-4209). RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Everglades (Florida) - Drought Conditions Drought conditions are continuing in the park. Although Everglades received rainfall in January that exceeded normal amounts for that month by 1.5 inches, the precipitation did little to compensate for the overall 1990 deficit of just over 13.5 inches below normal. Drought indices suggest that severe fires may be in the cards for the park during this year's fire season, which typically hits its peak in March and April. [CompuServe message from EVER, 2/8] CALENDAR Asterisk (*) indicates new entry; plus (+) indicates revised entry. Brackets at end of entry indicate source of information: February 20 22 Fee Collection Workshop, Denver, CO. Open to park fee collectors, fee collection supervisors, fee collection officers and administrative personnel from Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountain, Southwest and Western Regions. For further information, contact John Townsend, FTS 864-3475 or 402-221-3475. [John Townsend, RAD/MWRO] February 25-March 8 National Wildfire Investigation Training, Glynco, GA. Funded by benefitting accounts. Contact your regional fire coordinator to see if your attendance would qualify for FIREPRO funding. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] February 25-March 1 Midwest Region Special Events Team Training, Lake Mead, NV. Funded by regional training account. [J.J. McLaughlin, RAD/MWRO] February 27-May 8 Basic Law Enforcement for Land Management Agencies, Glynco, GA. Funded by LEEDC/FLETC. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] March 11-15 Structural Fire Program Management, Indiana Dunes, Porter, IN. For further information, contact MWR Employee Development Office at FTS 864-3942 or 402-221-3941. [John Townsend, RAD/MWRO] March 11-15 PNR Joint Operations Workshop, Portland, OR. For further information, contact Kathy Jope at FTS 399-5670. [Kathy Jope, RM&VP, PNRO] March 11-April 4 Marine Law Enforcement Training, Glynco, GA. Funded by benefitting accounts. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] March 18-22 Midwest Region Chief Rangers' Conference, Lake Geneva, WI. [J.J. McLaughlin, RAD/MWRO] March 18-22 Land Management Controlled Substance Training, Marana, AZ. Funded by LEEDC/FLETC. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] March 18-22 Aviation Management Workshop, Boise, ID. Benefitting account. [Butch Farabee, RAD/WASO] March 18-29 Prescribed Fire Burn Boss, Big Thicket, TX. Two-week training session on the management of prescribed burns to meet land management and operational objectives. The course is designed for personnel having primary responsibility for planning and implementing prescribed fire as a management tool. Submit an NWCG interagency training nomination form to program coordinator David McHugh at Big Thicket no later than December 14th. [Paul Broyles, Branch of Fire] March 22-27 56th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, Edmonton, Alberta. For further information, contact L.L. Williamson, Wildlife Management Institute, 1101 14th Street NW, Suite 725, Washington, DC 20005 (202-371-1808). [Kathy Jope, RAD/PNRO] March 25-29 "Universal Design: Designing to Include Disabled People in Park and Recreation Areas and Facilities", Raleigh, NC. Sponsored by Special Programs and Populations, WASO, through Project Access. Designed for architects, designers and engineers, this 40hour course will present methods and techniques for designing buildings and facilities that are accessible to disabled people. Benefitting account plus tuition of $250. Contact regional training office for application procedures. For further information, contact Dave Park at 202-343-3674 (FTS 343-3674). [Kay Ellis, WASO-ACCESS] March 25-June 4 Basic Law Enforcement for Land Management Agencies, Glynco, GA. Funded by LEEDC/FLETC. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] March 25-29 Land Management Controlled Substance Training, Knoxville, TN. Funded by LEEDC/FLETC. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] March 28-May 16 Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program, National Ranger Training Institute, Hocking College, Nelsonville, OH. For further information and application, contact Connie Cassady or Steve Swayne at 614-753-3591 ext. 2330. [Steve Swayne, Hocking College] April 8-19 Basic Instructor Training, Glynco, GA. Funded by benefitting accounts. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] April 9-12 Western Regional Chief Rangers' Workshop, Days Inn, Scottsdale, AZ. Funded by benefitting accounts. For reservations, contact the Days Inn (602-947-5411); for further information, call Dwayne Collier at 602-640-5256 or Herb Gercke at 415-556-1866. [Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO] April 14 Fire Management for Managers, NARTC, Marana, AZ. The session will be held concurrently with the USFS course on fire management for line officers, and there will be several joint sessions. Open to superintendents, park FMO's, ARD's for operations and regional chief rangers. For further information, contact Paul Broyles, Branch of Fire Management (208-334-1080 or FTS 554-1080). [Paul Broyles, FIRE] April 14-18 Departmental Safety and Occupational Health Seminar, Bahia Resort Hotel, San Diego, CA. Sponsored by the NPS. Registration fee of $65. All fulltime and collateral duty safety personnel are encouraged to attend. For further information, contact William Davis, Chief, Branch of Loss Control, WASO, at FTS 343-7014 or 202-343-7014. [Bill Davis, Safety, WASO] April 17-19 "Environmental Compliance: Tools for Protecting Parks", Colorado Springs, CO. A three-day course "designed to help participants develop core skills and practical understanding in compliance, with a focus on NEPA." Sponsored by WASO Environmental Quality and the Environmental Law Institute. For further information, contact Frank Bono at Albright or Kheryn Klubnikin, Environmental Quality, WASO. [Kheryn Klubnikin, EQ/WASO] April 24-26 Mountain Lion/Human Interaction Symposium and Workshop, Holiday Inn Holidome, Denver, CO. Sponsored by the NPS and several other state, provincial and federal agencies. Abstracts are due by December 15, 1990. For more information, call Steve Chaney (303-969-2856 or FTS 327-2856) or Robert Tully at 303-297-1192. [Steve Chaney, RMRO] April 29-May 23 Marine Law Enforcement Training, Glynco, GA. Funded by benefitting accounts. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] May 14-15 Western Region Peer Counselor Training, Tucson, AZ. Funded by benefitting accounts. For applications, contact Herb Gercke at 415-556-1866. [Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO] May 20-July 17 Seasonal Law Enforcement Ranger Academy, Colorado Northwestern Community College, Rangely, CO. For further information and application, contact Steven Whittmore at 303-675-3306. [Steven Whittmore, CNCC] * May 20-22 Third Annual Conference of the society for Ecological Restoration, Orlando, FL. For further information, call (813) 355-5065. [Jen Coffey, RAD/WASO] * May 29-June 1 "The Biology and Management of Martens and Fishers: A Symposium", Laramie, WY. Sponsored by the NPS and several federal, state and provincial agencies. For more information, contact the Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, at 307-766-2357. [Sue Consolo Murphy, YELL] * June 17-July 12 Marine Law Enforcement Training Program, Glynco, GA. Funded by benefitting accounts. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] * August 5-August 29 Marine Law Enforcement Training Program, Glynco, GA. Funded by benefitting accounts. For application procedures, contact your regional training office. [Carole Pfeifer, LEEDC/FLETC] (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: No travel or leave scheduled. Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Coffey at inventory and monitoring task force meeting, WASO (2/12-2/13). Branch of Fire: Farrel conducting study of impact of transition of Presidio to the NPS, San Francisco, CA (2/11-2/15); Broyles, Mattingly and Cook at training session, Western Region Fire Academy, Golden Gate, CA (2/11-2/15). 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