RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/Date:  Friday, April 2, 1993

Broadcast: By 0830 ET

INCIDENTS

93-153 - NCR Areas (Virginia/Maryland/DC) - Follow-up on Oil Spill

As of yesterday afternoon, the oil sheen from last Sunday's spill into the
Potomac River extended 55 miles south from Sugarland Run, where the fuel
entered the river.  Oil has spread over vegetation, wetlands and wildlife
all along the Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia shorelines,
including George Washington Memorial Parkway, Great Falls, C&O Canal, and
National Capital Parks.  No closures are currently reported in any of these
areas.  Colonial Pipeline contractors have begun initial cleanup of areas
within Great Falls and the parkway.  Park resource management staffs are
presently conducting the pre-assessment phase of the overall natural
resource damage assessment process.  [John Howard, NCRO, 4/1] 

93-154 - Great Smokies (Tennessee/North Carolina) - Follow-up on Search 

The search for 13-year-old B.L. has entered its fifth day.  An
additional 40 searchers will be committed today, bringing the total number
of ground searchers to about 190 and the total number of personnel involved
in the incident to just under 300.  Today's efforts will focus on a half
mile by two-and-three-quarter mile search area containing about 700 acres of
park land.  The area covered by ground searchers yesterday included the
entire zone from Rainbow Falls to the trailhead.  This was the correct area
in light of new information learned on Thursday morning.  A public appeal
made by B.L.'s parents to three college-aged males they'd seen at the Falls
on Sunday paid off.  The young men, all from the east Tennessee area and
known by park personnel to be reliable sources, contacted the park to say
that they'd never seen the boy in the falls area.  It now seems likely that
B.L. never reached the falls, which significantly limits the area to be
searched and allows search personnel to concentrate primarily on locations
below the falls.  They will re-check areas to assure full coverage of
boulder fields, cliffs and creeks.  The five search dog teams committed to
the incident will again be employed to search for signs of the boy.  The
weather forecast calls for cold weather (around 45 degrees) and possible
rain or snow.  Agencies and organizations involved in the search include the
Forest Service, BIA, the United States Army (Fort Campbell), Tennessee
Department of Forestry, Tennessee State Parks, Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency, Tennessee Army National Guard, Tennessee Emergency Management
Agency, and a number of local CAP, fire, and search and rescue units.  The
incident commander is ranger Bobby Holland.  [Bob Miller, PIO, GRSM, 4/2]

93-162 - Organ Pipe Cactus (Arizona) - Drug Seizure 

Rangers participating in an Army training course in the park assisted
Customs agents in the seizure of 481 pounds of marijuana on March 31st.  The
agents had been pursuing eleven Mexican nationals who'd entered the United
States illegally and had triggered sensors, but had trouble tracking them
because the smugglers had wrapped their shoes with pieces of carpet.  All of
the trainees and two on-scene helicopters responded, but the pursuit had to
be canceled when the helicopters ran low on fuel and the smugglers escaped
over the border.  Thirty-three bundles of marijuana were seized.  [Paul
Henry, ORPI, 4/1]

93-163 - Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee) - Felony Arrest

On March 29th, a Lauderdale County dispatcher advised district ranger Henry
Tunks to be on the lookout for a man driving a purple-colored vehicle who
was wanted for questioning in connection with the discovery of a woman's
body near a county highway.  Tunks later sighted the described vehicle on
the parkway, stopped it, and advised county authorities.  Two investigators
arrived and took the driver to Lauderdale for questioning.  The man
confessed to the woman's murder and is now in custody in the county jail. 
[Gordon Wissinger, CR, NATR, 4/1]

93-164 - Yosemite (California) - Conviction for Weapons Possession

On September 26, 1992, ranger Noel McJunkin discovered a stolen vehicle
parked near the Southfork Bridge in Wawona, and subsequently discovered that
it had been stolen in Ohio by S.H. and driven to the park by way
of Wyoming.  A BOL (be on the lookout) was issued for S.H., and ranger
Mike Durr soon spotted him walking along Highway 41.  A search of the stolen
vehicle led to the seizure of a .44 magnum revolver and a seven millimeter
magnum rifle.  S.H., a convicted felon, had stolen the weapons from a home
in Wyoming.  He was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm
(18 USC 922) and sentenced to 33 months in prison and three years of
supervised release.  [LEO/YOSE, 4/1]

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: Brady instructing at managing the protection function
training course (3/29-4/1).

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Henry meeting with aircraft
overflight contractor (3/29-3/30) and at seminar on fire management in
wilderness and parks (3/30-4/2).

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Erskine, Broyles, Norum and Botti at seminar on
fire management in wilderness and parks (3/29-4/1).

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone: Branch of R&VP - 202-208-4874
           Branch of F&A (WASO) - 202-208-5572
Telefax:   Branch of R&VP - 202-208-6756
           Branch of F&A (WASO) - 202-208-5977
cc:Mail:   Branch of R&VP - WASO Ranger Activities
           Branch of F&A (WASO) - WASO Fire and Aviation