RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/Date:  Friday, September 11, 1992

Release:   0830 EDT

                           *** NOTICE ***

Flags which were lowered to half staff following the death of Sen. Quentin
Burdick of North Dakota should be returned to full staff tomorrow morning.

INCIDENTS

92-451 - South Florida Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Andrew

Repair and restoration work continues in Everglades, Biscayne and Big
Cypress.  The following are highlights of yesterday's activities:

* Biscayne and Coast Guard personnel picked up asbestos shingles on Adams
  Key and secured them for future disposal.
* The underground powerline contract has been signed and work will begin
  next week (previous reports that work was underway were erroneous).  
  Contractors will be working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to complete
  the project, and expect to finish it within 60 days.
* Roofing installation continues on quarters at Elliott Key, Pine Island and
  Tamiami.
* The destroyed prefab buildings at Convoy Point in Biscayne are being
  prepared for demolition.  Temporary office trailers are being rented for
  interim use until the building under construction is completed.
* A hazardous materials firm is being contracted to remove all hazardous
  materials from the parks.
* A stress management contract is being negotiated with a local firm to
  provide on-site services at south Florida parks for the next two years.
  They will begin making contacts with park employees next week.

As of yesterday, a total of 320 personnel were committed to the recovery
operation (changes in numbers are indicated in parentheses): 

Employee assistance and CISD 61 (+1)     Salvage and repair 100 (-3)
Support                      76 (+3)     Security/medical    41 (same)
Overhead                     42 (same)

Contributions may be sent to Andrew Relief Fund, ENP&MA, Attention: George
Minnucci, 446 North Lane, Conshohocken, PA 19428.  Checks should be made out
to ENP&MA with a notation that the contribution is for the relief fund. 
Director Ridenour has also determined that ENP&MA may also accept donations
from NPS concessioners.  Please note, however, that parks may not solicit
donations from concessioners or from visitors for the relief fund.
[Bill Gabbert, Bob Miller and Bill Pierce, ARM Team; 9/11]

92-464 - War in the Pacific (Guam) - Follow-up on Typhoon Omar

The Arizona Memorial Association has set up a fund for employees' whose
homes were damaged by Typhoon Omar.  Contributions may be sent to: Typhoon
Omar Fund, Arizona Memorial Association, c/o USS Arizona Memorial, 1 Arizona
Memorial Place, Honolulu, HI 96818.  [RAD/WRO, 9/10]

92-488 - Hawaii Volcanoes (Hawaii) - Hurricane Iniki

As of late Wednesday, Hurricane Iniki was 120 miles south of the park.  A
hurricane advisory had been issued for the area, but the storm was not
expected to come any closer to the island.  Surf from eight to ten feet high
was expected; at 3 p.m., rangers were reporting surf approaching that height
range breaking into the coconut grove at the Kamoamoa Village at the new
black sand beach.  The beach was accordingly closed.  A sensitive
archeological site is located under the sands in the coconut grove.  [Jim
Martin, CR, HAVO, 9/10]

92-489 - Big Bend (Texas) - Rescue

Ranger Marcos Paredes was on river patrol on September 6th when he came upon
a young Mexican crossing the river on horseback.  The young man floated off
his horse in deep water with a swift current, began thrashing about, then
rolled over.  Paredes jumped out of his canoe and towed the man to shore. 
After pulling him out of the water, Paredes was able to open the man's
airway; he began coughing and retching and spontaneously resumed breathing. 
As Paredes went to retrieve his canoe, which was floating downstream, the
man left the area.  His identity is unknown.  [Pat Grediagin, BIBE, 9/10]

92-490 - Gates of the Arctic (Alaska) - Rescue

While conducting an aerial patrol in the northeastern part of the park on
August 31st, the park's pilot spotted a backpacker who was signalling for
help.  The ranger at Anaktuvuk Pass responded in a BLM contract helicopter
that was working the area and contacted N.T. of Sandy Bay,
Tasmania, who had been stranded by injuries in Oolah Valley.  N.T. was
in the sixth day of a solo three-week hike through the northern Brooks Range
on the 25th when he fractured his ankle and tore ligaments and tendons in
his lower leg.  Using an improvised caribou antler crutch, he managed to
cover just eight miles in seven days.  Aircraft had flown over him for three
days, but he'd been unable to get their attention until the park pilot saw
him.  N.T. was evacuated to Fairbanks, where he was to undergo surgery
on September 9th.  [Glen Sherrill, CR, GAAR, 9/8]

92-491 - Gateway (New York) - Drowning

On the afternoon of August 30th, the park was advised that a visitor had
gone under in waters off South Gunnison Beach in the park's Sandy Hook Unit. 
A ranger found M.L., 35, of Raway, New Jersey, on his side the
shoreline; lifeguards arrived shortly thereafter and began CPR.  He was
transported by county paramedics to a local hospital, where he was
pronounced dead.  A friend who had been with M.L. said that they had put
out to sea in a boat to fish off the park earlier that day.  They'd anchored
50 yards from shore, and M.L. swam to the beach.  After an hour or two,
he'd attempted to swim back, but had been unable to make it to the boat.  A
person on the boat had jumped into the water and pulled M.L. back to
shore.  M.L. was reportedly a non-swimmer.  The boat was towed to the
USCG station at Sandy Hook.  During the search of the boat by NPS personnel,
a white powder was found which field tested positive for cocaine.  [Capt.
Bob Ditolla, RLES, RAD/NARO, 9/2]

92-492 - Fort Point (California) - Larceny of Government Funds

During a recent internal audit, Fort Point personnel had been unable to find
any receipts from the park's bookstore for August 13th and 17th.  On August
19th, Park Police officers began an investigation into the missing funds. 
An interview with a bookstore employee was subsequently conducted during
which the employee admitted to the larceny and asked to br permitted to make
restitution.  The employee said that he had taken the daily receipts while
the ranger he was counting with was not looking.  He had discarded the
checks and money orders and retained only the cash.  The assistant U.S.
attorney agreed that restitution would be preferable to prosecution in the
federal court system.  [Lt. Michael Foster, SFFO/USPP, 8/27]

92-493 - Curecanti (Colorado) - Search and Rescue; Fatality

On September 8th, G. and J.A.M. and their two young children,
including son J., six, came to the Elk Creek Marina to pull their boat out
of their slip for the winter.  J. was left unattended while the two
parents worked on their boat.  At about 3:30 p.m., they noticed that he was
missing.  Rangers were alerted about 75 minutes later.  A hasty search was
begun immediately; by nightfall, approximately 50 searchers from four
agencies had been committed to the search.  Park personnel spotted J.'s
body on the bottom of the lake below a section of the marina dock at 9:15
p.m.  The boy, who could not swim, apparently fell into the water while
playing on the dock.  A joint investigation by the park and Gunnison County
sheriff's department is underway.  [Pete Armington, CR, CURE, 9/9]

92-494 - Minute Man (Massachusetts) - Marijuana Cultivation Arrest

A biologist conducting habitat inventories discovered a marijuana patch on
park land on September 2nd.  Rangers and guardsmen from the state Army
national guard began surveillance of the site, and observed two men at the
site on the 6th.  A team member positioned in another area saw the same two
men leave the woods and depart the area on mountain bikes down a road with
locked gates.  Their descriptions were radioed to rangers, who searched the
general area and found and detained the pair two miles from the site.  One
of the men had an outstanding arrest warrant on file and was later found to
be in possession of green marijuana leaves and cultivation tools.  The
prosecution is being processed through state courts.  Members of the
regional drug task force and Lincoln police department assisted in the
operation.  [Dan Dattilio, CR, MIMA, 9/9]

92-495 - North Cascades (Washington) - Drug Interdiction Operation

Operation Lightning Creek III, a multi-agency operation to detect and
intercept drugs crossing the border into the United States through the
Hozomeen and Ross Lake areas, was conducted from September 1st to the 6th. 
Although no drugs were found, team members temporarily confiscated three
weapons from Canadian citizens attempting to enter the U.S., expelled a
Canadian national with a long criminal history who is prohibited from entry
into this country, and appear to have foiled an attempt to smuggle an
illegal Chinese alien into the United States.  The team was comprised of
representatives from the NPS, Customs, Immigration, and the Air Force.  The
Air Force provided a sophisticated communications link which allowed checks
to be run through NCIC, the RCMP and Customs.  The operation also served as
a deterrent to prevent illegal border activity, helped to train NPS law
enforcement, and promoted closer working relationships with Customs and
Immigration.  [Dave Spirtes, NOCA, 9/10]

92-496 - Gates of the Arctic (Alaska) - Poaching

Acting on an anonymous tip which was relayed through Alaska Fish and
Wildlife, rangers flew to the remote Nigu River area on September 2nd and
contacted a hunting party that had shot and killed a moose inside the park
two days previously.  The park's Firepro helicopter was used to reach the
area, which is about 150 air miles from the Bettles ranger station.  By
using the helicopter, the rangers were able to find the kill site and
contact the hunting party, something that wouldn't have been possible by
fixed wing aircraft.  Chad Mickel of Juneau was cited for illegally hunting
in the park, and other charges regarding waste of meat are being considered. 
[Glen Sherrill, CR, GAAR, 9/8]

92-497 - Coronado ( Arizona) - Drug Seizure

On the evening of September 9th, a joint counternarcotics task force
comprised of representatives from the park, Forest Service, Border Patrol
and county sheriff's department interdicted a drug smuggling operation from
Mexico into the United States a half mile east of the park boundary.  Border
patrol officers observed a group of about 20 people carrying burlap packs at
about 11 a.m.  When the smugglers spotted the law enforcement officers, they
dropped the packs and fled in various directions.  Rangers assisted Border
patrol officers in arresting four Mexican nationals and seizing 1,000 pounds
of marijuana.  Another two suspects were arrested the following morning. 
It's believed that this attempt was part of a larger effort to smuggle a
significant cache of drugs stockpiled in Mexico into the U.S.  [Bill Smith,
CR, CORO, 9/10]

92-498 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Structural Fire; Possible Arson

The historic Ashley Plumley house, located in the community of Quinnimont
within the park, burned to the ground on July 25th.  Rangers and two
responding fire departments arrived within minutes, but the structure was
fully involved and completely destroyed.  The structure, which is owned by
the NPS, had been vacant and boarded up for the past five years.  The
reporting party stated that the building was first seen burning in the
second story rear.  Investigation revealed that the NPS lock on the
structure had been broken, and the focus of the follow-up investigation is
on a group of local residents who were repeatedly seen in the area just
prior to and several times during the fire.  Some of them have prior
convictions in state courts for burning abandoned buildings.  One is a
relative of the house's last resident.  Rangers also learned that the house
was apparently used by a homeless member of the community on weekends, and
that lights had been seen upstairs in the house late at night.  The house,
which was built in the late 1800s, was the central feature of the park's
Quinnimont Historic District, and its loss jeopardizes the entire cultural
landscape of Quinnimont and cultural aspects of the DCP planning process now
underway for the Middle Gorge of the park.  [Duncan Holler, NERI, 8/4 -
Editor's Note: The report was received via fax on 8/4, the day it went out
of service, and remained in the machine's memory until yesterday, when it at
last came back on line]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level II

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency     Area             Fire/Incident      9/10     9/11  Status

 FL    NPS     Everglades NP
               Biscayne NP        Hurr. Andrew - ARMT  N/A      N/A  ---
       FEMA    Dade County        Hurr. Andrew - T2    N/A      N/A  ---

Notes:

* - New fire (this report)         T1/T2 - Type 1 or Type 2 team committed
ARMT - All-risk management team    CN (date) - Expected date of containment
NEC - No estimate of containment   CND - Contained
NR - No report received            

3) FIRE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS - No significant reports.

4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 67 fires for 203 acres in past 24 hours.

5) ANALYSIS - Minor initial attack activity is occurring.

6) PROGNOSIS - Warmer temperatures and very high to extreme indices have
increased the possibility of fire activity in California and the Northwest.

[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 9/11]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Olympic (Washington) - River Management

In an effort to reduce water temperatures and increase flow amounts in the
lower Elwha River, the park has agreed to a lowered water level in the Lake
Mills reservoir.  The objective of the increased flow is to combat
Dermocystidium and Ichthyophthirius, two types of disease organisms in the
lower Elwha river which are threatening survival of salmon returning to
spawn.  The last disease outbreak in the Elwha River was in 1987, also a
drought year.  Flow rates measured in the river in late August were
substantially lower than those at the same time of year in 1987.  Water
levels in the Lake Mills reservoir are expected to drop up to 17 feet by
early October.  [Cat Hoffman, OLYM]

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Martin meeting with ARM Team,
Everglades, FL (9/10-9/11).

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Gale serving as IC on ARM Team, Everglades and
Biscayne, FL (indefinite). 

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

cc:Mail     Branch of R&VP - WASO Ranger Activities
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