RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

Attention: Directorate
           Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
           Ranger Activities Division Information Network

Day/Date:  Friday, January 31, 1992

INCIDENTS

92-22 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Employee Sentenced on Sex Offense

On January 14th, a park employee at Lake Mead was sentenced in state court
on one count of open lewdness, a misdemeanor, which resulted from an
incident which had occurred in the park last July.  At that time, the
daughter of a volunteer in the park reported that the employee had sexually
assaulted her in the Callville Bay fire house.  While investigating this
complaint, investigators learned of an earlier sexual assault complaint
against the employee which had been handled informally.  Written and verbal
statements were taken from both victims, and the cases were presented to the
United States attorney.  At that office's request, the cases were
transferred to the Clark County district attorney's office, and prosecution
in state court was approved for two felony counts of sexual assault.  In a
plea bargain agreement, the employee agreed to plead guilty to the single
count of open lewdness and the state agreed to dismiss the felony counts of
sexual assault.  The employee, who had earlier been terminated by the park,
was sentenced to a year in the Clark County jail (suspended), an
indeterminate probationary period not to exceed three years, mandatory
counseling, and 240 hours of community service.  [CompuServe message from
RAD/WRO, 1/30]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Status of Post-Fire Research and Monitoring

Following the 1988 fires, scientists and managers from several agencies and
universities collaborated to study suggestions for post-fire research needs
in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem.  The group identified 147 areas that
they believed merited scientific attention.  Beginning in the winter of
1988-89, a group of scientists and managers selected 75 projects deemed to
have the highest priority.  As of this date, nearly all of them have
received at least some financial assistance from a variety of government,
foundation and private sources.  Overall, however, more than 200 post-fire
research projects involving 82 scientists and 35 institutions have been
initiated, covering a full spectrum of ecological and cultural subjects. 
Most are three- to five-year projects and are not yet complete.  Here are
some preliminary findings:

- The new pine forest has been naturally seeded at an average density of
  over 20 seedlings per square meter; there are more individual trees now
  than in the pre-fire setting.
- Aspen seedling establishment is a rare event, but occurred commonly on
  burned sites.  There are more individual aspen now than in the pre-fire
  environment.
- The return of all plant life is on schedule.
- Plant productivity - and the nutrient content of those plants - is greater
  on burned sites than on unburned sites.
- No effect of the fires on threatened and endangered species has been 
  detected yet; although the fires may have killed several grizzly bears,
  they apparently did not hinder continued bear recovery.
  The number of large hoofed mammals meets or exceeds relative pre-fire
  numbers with the possible exception of moose.
- Fisheries apparently have not been influenced by post-fire conditions.
- Snow melt runoff and turbidity/sediment measurements have thus far been
  within the variation observed in the pre-fire environment.

Consumption of fuels and the resultant bare mineral soil has also allowed
archeologists to advance the park's knowledge of prehistoric human
occupation of the area to a considerable extent.  [Briefing statement, YELL,
via Lissa Fox, Wildlife and Vegetation, WASO]

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Marriott at meeting with First
Army staff, Indianapolis, IN (1/29-1/30).

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Entire staff at regional fire management
officers' meeting, San Antonio, TX (1/27-1/31).

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone:  Branch of R&VP - FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - FTS 268-5572/5573 or 202-208-5572/5573

Telefax:    Branch of R&VP - FTS 268-6756 or 202-208-6756
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977

CompuServe: Branch of R&VP - WASO-RANGER
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - WASO-FIRE-WO

SEAdog:     Branch of R&VP - 1/650
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - 1/655