RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/Date:  Thursday, May 20, 1993

Broadcast: By 0830 ET

INCIDENTS

93-267 - Homestead (Nebraska) - Death of Employee

Randall K. Baynes, 47, the park's superintendent, died yesterday at Bryan
Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska.  He had suffered a stroke on Monday
evening.  Randy is survived by his wife Judy, daughter Melissa and son
Keith, all of Beatrice, Nebraska, and his father, Charles, of Omaha.  A
native of Omaha, Randy returned to his home state in 1983 to become
superintendent of Homestead.  His 24-year career with the Service began when
he took a position as a seasonal ranger at Black Canyon of the Gunnison in
1969.  Subsequent assignments included stints as a seasonal ranger at
Colorado, a park technician at Ford's Theater, a ranger at C&O Canal, and
nearly ten years as a district ranger and assistant chief ranger at
Shenandoah.  [Mary Palensky, MWRO, 5/19]

93-268 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Boat Fire

Just after 8 p.m. on May 18th, rangers received a report of a boat and man
on fire at Las Vegas Bay Marina.  When they arrived on scene, the boat was
fully engulfed in flames, but had been pushed from its mooring slip into
open water.  The victim, G.B., 41, had third degree burns on his
arms, legs, face and head; he was air evacuated to the University Medical
Center burn unit, where he is currently listed in critical but stable
condition.  [Karen Whitney, LAME, 5/19]

93-269 - Southwest Region - Interagency ARPA Task Force Conviction

On May 14th, G.B., 28, of Algodones, New Mexico, was found
guilty of vandalizing Tower Ruin, a Navajo refugee period archeological
site, on BLM lands at Tapia Canyon in the Cabezon Peak area in May, 1991. 
NPS special agent Phil Young (the case agent) and NPS archeologist Judy Reed
were assigned to the investigation and prosecution of the case - the first
ARPA task force investigation that has gone to a jury.  The defendant was
found near the ruin with a semi-tractor trailer full of rock and wood.  He
admitted taking a prior load of rock from the area the previous weekend, but
contended that all the rock was from a natural source along a ridge line. 
His family held the BLM grazing lease for the area.  Investigators
discovered that two walls of the ruin had recently been dismantled and
removed.  Tower Ruin was used primarily from 1700 to 1810 following the
Spanish reconquest of New Mexico following the Pueblo Revolt.  The Canoncito
band of Navajo consider the site to be "the First Hogan" and the center of
the world; they've been unable to perform over half of their ceremonies
there over the past two years due to the vandalism.  Sentencing is scheduled
for July.  Restitution will be sought.  Two of G.B.'s associates agreed
to pre-trial diversion and restitution payments; his uncle, Rudolfo Romero,
48, was acquitted by the jury.  [ARPA Task Force, 5/17]

93-270 - Golden Gate (California) - Assault; Robbery

A man and woman were parked in Merrie Way parking lost at 1 a.m. on May 19th
when they were approached by two men who knocked on the driver's side window
with a gun and demanded money.  The driver of the vehicle heard his window
shatter and received another demand for money.  He tossed his wallet out of
the window, then realized his companion had been shot.  The assailants fled
on foot in the vicinity of Point Lobos Avenue.  The wounded victim was
admitted to Mission Emergency Hospital for treatment.  [USPP Dispatch, 5/19]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level I

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency     Area            Fire              5/19     5/20    Status

 AK    State   Delta Area        312080            1,301    1,301    CND    

 MT    USFS    Lolo              Little Bear         123      123    CND    

 NM    USFS    Gila            * Lobo                  -      700    CND
       BLM     Las Cruces      * Armendaris            -      600    CND

 TX    State   Culbertson Cty    Six fires         4,000+   4,000+   NR 
               Hudspeth Cty      One fire          4,000    4,000    NR 
               Pecos Cty         Five fires        3,000    3,000    NR 

NOTES:

- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this report). T1 and T2
  indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Status - The following abbreviations are employed:

  NR - No report received      MS - Modified suppression strategy
  CL - Controlled              MN - Being monitored
  CS - Confinement strategy    NEC - No estimate of containment
  CN (date) - Expected date    CND - Contained
     of containment

3) PARK FIRE REPORTS - No reports today.

4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 111 fires for 1,545 acres in past 24 hours.

5) ANALYSIS - Initial attack activity continues in southern California, the
Southwest, South and East.
   
6) PROGNOSIS - The potential for increased initial attack activity exists. 
No resource shortages are expected.

[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0530, 5/20]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee) - Herbicide Impacts

During the last two weeks of April, the herbicide Command 4EC was applied by
a farmer along two miles of land adjacent to the parkway in Alabama as a
pre-emergent herbicide in an area recently converted to no-till cotton
production.  By May 3rd, symptoms of herbicide injury to park vegetation
were apparent to rangers.  Deciduous trees, herbs and grasses along the
parkway and over a larger area of hedgerows and intermittent woodlands
scattered over four square miles of private lands sufferer non-target
herbicide injury.  Plant injury was selective by species, with hackberry
trees most affected.  All foliage pigment was lost, leaving the trees
standing white against their surroundings.  Other plant species also lost
pigment, most notably oaks, dock, red clover, chervil and trillium.  Loss of
pigment is a sign of Command 4EC injury.  The foliage on several red maples
did not lose color, but has instead been killed and is turning brown.  It's
believed that the impacts resulted from application of the herbicide under
windy conditions, which caused the spray to drift onto non-target vegetation
up to 1,100 feet away from the point of application.  An effective spray
drift reduction additive was not used.  Manufacturer labeling information
specifies that the herbicide should not be applied within 1,500 feet of
desirable vegetation or when weather conditions favor drift from the treated
area.  Recovery of the affected vegetation is expected; vegetation will be
monitored for any continued effects.  The park, FMC Corporation
(manufacturer of Command 4EC) and the state of Alabama are continuing to
follow the incident. [Gary Mason, RMS, NATR]

NOTES

1) Copies of the "Ranger Futures" report were distributed via cc:Mail
yesterday afternoon to all those who had submitted requests for such a
transmittal.  If you'd like a copy, please send a short note to that effect
to WASO Ranger Activities.  The report will be sent out each afternoon as
long as requests are received.

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Henry at Society of American
Foresters' interagency wilderness conference (5/17-5/21).

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Spruill at NPS-60 workgroup meeting (5/17-
5/21); Gale coordinating incident management training course (5/18-5/22);
Broyles at meeting of steering committee for fire management for agency
administrators' course (5/17-5/20); Farrel at structural fire specialist
fire applications review (5/17-5/20).

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
SkyPager:  Emergencies ONLY (numeric message) - 1-800-759-7243, PIN 2404843 
SkyTalk:   Emergencies ONLY (voice message) - 1-800-759-8255, PIN 2404843