RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/Date:  Wednesday, September 16, 1992

Release:   0830 EDT

INCIDENTS

91-670 - Gulf Islands (Mississippi/Florida) - Follow-up on Homicide

On September 9th, the Escambia County judge overrode the jury's
recommendation that S.E. be sentenced to life in prison with no parole
for the murder of L.R. near Fort Pickens and instead sentenced him
to death by electric chair.  The judge cited two reasons for overruling the
jury's recommendation - that the murder had been particularly heinous and
cruel and that it had been premeditated in cold blood.  Florida law calls
for an automatic appeal in death penalty cases.  [Gene Phillips, CR, GUIS,
9/10]

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

The badly damaged visitor center at Biscayne has been demolished and
removed.  Repair activities continue throughout the three parks, with
current emphasis in Big Cypress on roof repairs.  Four semi-truck loads of
material were scheduled to arrive yesterday; they carried plywood,
sheetrock, rolled roofing, roofing tar and similar items.  A total of 377
people are now working under the ARM team, up five from yesterday.  Many
personnel are reaching the end of their 21-day maximum assignments, and are
being rotated out and replaced.  Recovery operations have cost $3.1 million
to date; the total cost of operations through the end of the month is
expected to be $4.3 million.  

The ARM team is seeking temporary and seasonal maintenance employees who are
interested in short term appointments with the cleanup crews in the
Everglades and surrounding parks.  Full details appear below under
"Operational Notes".  Today is the last day to submit names.

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, ARM Team, 9/15]

92-500 - Northwest Areas (Alaska) - Search for Park Aircraft 

A full-scale search has begun for a Cessna 185 floatplane with three NPS
employees on board which was last heard from over Noatak on Monday,
September 14th.  Ranger/pilot Bruce Rasmussen, 39, and seasonal rangers
Patricia Taylor, 33, and Stan Caldwell, 24, left Kotzebue just after 11 a.m.
that morning on a hunting patrol.  The last contact with the plane occurred
at 3 p.m. on Monday, and the aircraft was declared overdue at 10 p.m.  NPS
aircraft from Kotzebue and Bettles and other local aircraft began searching
the north section of Noatak yesterday morning.  Additional aircraft were to
join in the search yesterday afternoon and evening.  The search is being run
through the Rescue Coordination Center at Elmendorf Air Force Base.  In
addition to private planes and pilots, other agencies participating in the
search have included Alaska state troopers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
state Fish and Wildlife Protection, and Civil Air Patrol.  Weather in the
search area is clear and temperatures are cool, with the evening low
expected to drop to 20 degrees.  [John Quinley, PA/ARO, 9/15]

92-501 - Cape Hatteras (North Carolina) - Drowning

E.M., 37, of Bel Meade, New Jersey, was windsurfing about a mile
north of Buxton when he became separated from his board and drowned.  The
Dare County rescue squad attempted unsuccessfully to revive him.  E.M.'s
pregnant wife was on shore at the time and witnessed the incident.  [B.J.
Ratlief, CAHA, 9/11]

92-502 - Big South Fork (Tennessee) - Marijuana Cultivation Arrest

On September 10th, rangers and a local sheriff's deputy, acting on a tip,
attempted to locate a marijuana patch on or near park lands.  As they drove
to the approximate location of the patch, they observed a Toyota truck
coming from the area and recognized the three occupants as the ones the
informant said were growing the marijuana.  The driver of the Toyota ignored
a signal to stop and fled at a high rate of speed.  As rangers followed, one
of the truck's occupants threw a camouflaged jacket out the window which was
later found to contain 24 freshly cut marijuana buds.  When the truck pulled
onto a side road, the two passengers exited and fled into the woods.  The
driver, G.R., 32, was apprehended and arrested.  G.R. is a
convicted felon with a prior record for armed robbery and numerous drug
violations.  Arrest warrants will probably be obtained for the other two
subjects, but previous enforcement actions have been unsuccessful because of
the U.S. attorney's decision to only prosecute amounts of more than 100
marijuana plants.  [John Cannon, CR, BISO, 9/12]

92-503 - Denali (Alaska) - Park Closure

Between Friday, September 11th, and Monday, September 14th, the park
received a very heavy early snowfall which dropped more than three feet of
snow at headquarters and led to the closure of visitor services in all but
the entrance area.  Guests at three Kantishna lodges, located about 90 miles
west of headquarters, were brought out in a convoy on Saturday night. 
Campers at interior campgrounds were evacuated on Friday.  The high passes
along the 90-mile road have had avalanches and drifts of at least four feet. 
About 60 park, concession and inholder employees remain in the park
interior.  The park's fall road opening for 1,200 vehicles to go into the
interior was canceled on Friday.  [John Quinley, PA, ARO, 9/14]

92-504 - Jefferson National Expansion (Missouri) - Illegal Jump

Just after 7 a.m. on September 14th, an unidentified man scaled the Gateway
Arch by "suction cupping" up one leg and successfully base-jumped by
parachuting to the ground.  The jumper landed between the legs of the arch,
where he was met by two individuals who had been photographing the jump; the
trio then gathered their gear and headed to waiting vehicles.  The jump had
been observed by park staff, however, and pursuit was begun.  The jumper
made it to a waiting car and sped away.  The other two individuals went to a
vehicle at the river-front parking area, but were stopped by a park
maintenance man as they attempted to leave the area.  Rangers arrived
immediately thereafter, took the pair into custody, and confiscated 35 mm
and video equipment and a voice-activated transceiver.  The jumper later
called a local radio station and described his escapade.  He said that he
started his climb at 3:30 a.m. using eight-inch suction cups, and that it
took him two and a quarter hours to reach the summit.  The man also said,
among other things, that he'd base-jumped the World Trade Center in New
York, that he was not from St. Louis, that his girlfriend had driven the
getaway vehicle and that the people photographing the jump were unknown to
him and just happened to be present.  Rangers discount the latter statement,
since the individuals ran towards the jumper, left park grounds with him,
and had the transceiver, which they apparently used to communicate with him. 
Suction cup marks have been found on the south leg of the arch, and two
water bottles have been found on the top.  One of the bottles contained some
written material, which is being inspected.  The jumper has contacted a
local television station and offered to sell the video tape from his helmet
camera for $2,000.  [Daryl Stone, JEFF, 9/14]

92-505 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Drowning

J.D., 22, of Los Angeles, drowned at Crawdad Cove on September 12th. 
He was last seen swimming with companions at 4:20 that afternoon.  NPS
divers, who were notified just after 6:30 p.m., dove with negative results
that day, but found his body 80 feet from shore in 12 feet of water late the
following morning.  No further details on the incident are available. 
[Scott Olson, LAME, 9/14]

92-506 - Coulee Dam (Washington) - Marijuana Eradication

A marijuana eradication operation which resulted in the destruction of 1,639
plants and five arrests was conducted in the park by a multi-agency task
force between August 3rd and 19th.  Additional arrests and property seizures
are pending.  Agencies participating in the operation were the NPS, Forest
Service, DEA, Washington Air National Guard, Washington State DNR, and four
local sheriffs' departments.  [Daryl Cook, CR, CODA, 9/14]

92-507 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Death of Employee

Glen "Bud" Wohlbrandt, who was a maintenance employee at Lake Mead, died of
cancer on September 12th.  Funeral services are being held this afternoon in
Boulder City.  His family asks that donations be sent in lieu of flowers to
help defray medical expenses.  They may be sent to his wife, Maudie
Wohlbrandt, 1320 Appaloosa Road, Boulder City, NV 89005.  [Carole Messick,
LAME, 9/15]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level I

No large fire activity nationally.  Most geographic areas have low to
moderate fire danger.  Little or no commitment of national resources.

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency     Area             Fire/Incident      9/15     9/16  Status

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

 HI    FEMA    Honolulu           Hurr. Iniki - T1     N/A      N/A  ___

 OR    USFS    Fremont NF       * Robinson Crk. - T2     -    1,000  NEC

 UT    BLM     Salt Lake City   * Pole Canyon            -    2,000  CND

Notes:

* - New fire/incident (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 ACTIVITY - 108 fires for 2,906 acres in past 24 hours.

4) ANALYSIS - Initial attack activity continues.

5) PROGNOSIS - The potential for fire activity remains high because of high
to extreme fire dangers in most Western states and the forecasted arrival of
a dry air mass with strong winds.

[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 9/15]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Padre Island (Texas) - Attempted Whale Rescue

On September 7th, a baby sperm whale weighing about 1,200 pounds and 14 feet
long beached itself in the park.  Rangers Randy Reader, Carl Dyer, Paul
Hindman, Dan Wirth and Tom Crowson spent over eight hours attempting to save
the whale; during the effort, constant communications were maintained with
representatives from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Marine
Mammal Stranding Network, who attempted unsuccessfully to obtain a
helicopter large enough to move the whale to Sea World in San Antonio. 
Rangers were in the water with the whale, keeping it moist and preventing it
from drowning.  Although freed, it later beached itself a second time, and
rangers again worked for hours to keep the whale alive while waiting for
assistance.  When it was realized that all hopes of saving the whale were
futile, the animal was euthanized by members of the Marine Mammal Stranding
Network.  Sperm whales appear only very rarely near Padre Island and this
was the first documented incident of a sperm whale beaching itself in the
park.  [Tom Crowson, PAIS]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

1) Incident Commander Rick Gale of the Hurricane Andrew ARM Team has
requested a list of temporary and seasonal maintenance employees who are
interested in short term appointments with the cleanup crews in the
Everglades and surrounding parks.  At this time, we are only generating a
list of potential applicants for these appointments.  Trades and crafts
needed include carpenters, electricians, heavy equipment operators,
plumbers, and maintenance mechanics.  There is less need for laborers at
this time, but they may include their names on the list.  Details on the
possible appointments are sketchy at this time, but employees will be
involved in cleanup operations and rebuilding of park facilities. 
Appointments will probably be in 21 day shifts, with 10 to 16 hour work days
typical.  Other types and lengths of appointments may be available.  The ICS
team is still working out details regarding tours of duty, per diem, housing
and other logistics.  Work will be physically demanding.  Weather conditions
in southern Florida are currently very hot and humid.  Interested employees
should submit the following information to their park chiefs of maintenance: 
1. Name,  2. Position Title and Grade,  3. Dates Available for work (Include
termination date),  4. Current Park Area and Phone Number where you can be
reached.  Send your park list to your Regional Chief of Maintenance via FAX
or CC Mail.  The Regions will submit the lists to Rick Gale in Everglades.  
Please submit these regional lists no later than today, Wednesday, September
16th.  They will be sent on to the Everglades on Friday, September 18th. 
[Don Herring, Engineering and Safety Services, WASO]

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Martin at NIBRS meeting, Seattle,
WA (9/14-9/16); Smith at NIBRS meeting, Seattle, WA (9/14-9/18).

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Hurd at NWCG meeting (9/14-9/17); Gale and
Broyles, ARM Team, Everglades and Biscayne, FL (indefinite); Farrel at IAFC
annual meeting, Anaheim, CA (9/14-9/16) and ISC seminar and NFPA 1561
committee meeting, Phoenix, AZ (9/16-9/19); Clark at fire behavior committee
meeting, Reno NV (9/14-9/18).

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
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - WASO Fire and Aviation