- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, May 26, 1994
- Date: Thurs, 26 May 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, May 26, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-226 - El Malpais (New Mexico) - Follow-up on Explosives
The cleanup of explosives by National Guard troops has been completed. A
total of 21 bombs and nine arming fuses were removed from the park and
destroyed, but clearance was completed on only one square mile of park land.
Another eight square miles remain to be cleared. Until that time, the area
can not be opened to the public. Further clearance operations, however, are
not on the military's project priority list. [Ken Mabery, CR, ELMA, 5/25]
94-243 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Attempted Carjacking
On Sunday, May 22nd, a visitor contacted rangers and reported that a group
of six to eight juveniles had attempted to carjack his vehicle near The
Cliffs on Northshore Road. Although they were unsuccessful, they were able
to damage the car with rocks. All parties subsequently left the area. The
victim was able to describe his assailants' sedan, and the car was
subsequently stopped by rangers and Las Vegas officers. The juveniles were
associated with the Donner Street Crips gang in Las Vegas. One subject was
arrested by rangers and will be charged in federal court. [Eunice Van
Kuren, LAME, 5/24]
94-244 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Armed Robbery
Four men who were fishing in the Cottonwood area of Lake Mohave at 4:30 a.m.
on May 24th were approached by three masked individuals possessing long arm
type weapons. One of the fisherman fled the area; two others hid while
awaiting the opportunity to flee; the fourth was abducted and held at
gunpoint. The abducted fisherman was robbed of $180, then thrown into Lake
Mohave. Ranger Glen Anderson and investigator Ernie Soper were called to
the scene in response to a 911 call from one of the fishermen who'd fled the
area. They were able to positively identify one of the individuals, who is
believed to be a member of the S-M gang in Las Vegas. Investigators have
consulted with the state's district attorney's office; arrest warrants are
now being prepared. [John Marsh, LAME, 5/25]
94-245 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Homicides; Victims Recovered
On May 25th, Las Vegas police and Lake Mead rangers, acting on an anonymous
tip, recovered the bodies of two people who had been killed, wrapped in
cloth, and buried in a shallow desert grave near Calville Bay. The
victims - S.R., 40, and J.S., 27 - had been reported missing
in Las Vegas on February 19th. Three persons have been arrested and charged
with the murders. [Bud Inman, LAME, 5/25]
94-246 - Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Bison Goring
On the afternoon of May 22nd, park visitor T.M., 43, of Marietta,
Georgia, was gored and seriously injured by a large male bison adjacent to
the Lake Hotel. T.M. and a friend had approached to within ten or fifteen
feet of the bison to have their pictures taken. While they were standing
with their backs to the animal, it charged. T.M.'s companion was able to
escape, but T.M. received a severed puncture wound in the right thigh. He
was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Jackson for treatment. [CRO, YELL,
5/25]
94-247 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Concessioner Falling Fatality
B.C., a concession employee with Grand Canyon National Park
Lodges at Phantom Ranch, went off on a day hike to Plateau Point on Tuesday,
May 24th, but failed to return. A hasty search was begun just before 7 a.m.
yesterday morning, and her body was found about two hours later. An
investigator was still en route to the scene at the time of the report, but
it appears that B.C. died from a traumatic fall. [Karen Shinkle, GRCA,
5/25]
94-248 - Bighorn Canyon (Wyoming/Montana) - Employees Convicted of Poaching
On May 13th, W.H. and F.H., both park employees and members of the
Crow tribe, whose lands adjoin the park, were sentenced, respectively, to 18
and 15 months in prison after being convicted of nine Lacey Act violations
for killing bald and golden eagles in 1992 and 1993. The case began in May,
1992, when W.H. and a non-tribal friend shot a sow black bear from a
boat on Bighorn Lake and retrieved three live bear cubs. One cub was
eventually seized in Billings, Montana; a second was sold by W.H. to
a Montana Fish and Game operative; the third died. Montana wildlife
officers then began a 12-month-long undercover operation which led to all of
the felony and most of the misdemeanor charges against the H. brothers,
another member of the tribe, and two non-tribal associates. The brothers
were snaring and shooting eagles, primarily for the sale or trade of the
feathers, and would shoot elk, bear and deer for bait for their snares,
which were set out on reservation land around the park. Among the items
found during warrant service on W.H.'s residence was a videotape
showing him shooting eagles trapped in snares. The video was filmed by his
wife a year before the state and federal investigations were begun, and
therefore demonstrated a predisposition to these illegal activities.
Additional state charges have been filed and are still pending for felony
livestock violations, misdemeanor illegal possession of bears, drug
possession, and violations of probation. The assistant U.S. attorney
successfully disputed the religious freedom contentions of the defendants.
[Chris Johnson, BICA, 5/16]
94-249 - Dinosaur (Colorado) - Rescue
On May 27th, a state police dispatcher received a report from a ham radio
operator that a 53-year-old student on a Colorado Outward Bound river trip
on the Yampa River was having a heart attack and required advanced medical
assistance. The patient's condition had been diagnosed by a cardiologist
who was also on the trip. Two seasonal rangers were dispatched to the
canyon rim above a helicopter landing zone; they directed an Air Life
helicopter from Grand Junction to the landing area, where the patient was
picked up and transported to a hospital. He is currently in the cardiac
intensive care unit in guarded condition. [Ed Pontbriand, DINO, 5/24]
94-250 - City of Rocks (Idaho) - Larceny Arrests
Four individuals were arrested on May 21st for the theft of over $7,000 of
technical climbing equipment from campsites in the park. The equipment was
taken from vehicles the night of May 20th. Four other thefts, all involving
climbing equipment taken from vehicles under similar circumstances, had been
reported the previous weekend. Some of the items were taken from unlocked
vehicles; others were stolen after windows were pried open in camper shells
and window screens were torn through. A joint park and county investigation
is underway to determine if these incidents are related. [Maura Longden,
CIRO, 5/25]
94-251 - Independence (Pennsylvania) - Special Event
Secretary Babbitt visited the park on May 23rd to deliver a speech to kick
off National Parks Week. The ceremonies were held behind Independence Hall
and were covered by local and national media. Also participating were
Assistant Secretary George Frampton, Director Roger Kennedy, Regional
Director B.J. Griffin, Superintendent Martha Aikens, Mayor Ed Rendell, and
Congressmen Thomas Foglietta and Robert Borski. [Hollis Provins, CR, INDE,
5/24]
94-252 - Independence (Pennsylvania) - Special Event
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Philadelphia hosted the annual
Israeli Independence Day parade and bazaar in the city on May 22nd. The
Judge Lewis Quadrangle portion of the park was employed for the bazaar. The
event drew about 20,000 persons to the park. There were no unusual problems
or incidents. Plainclothes rangers on loan from Valley Forge issued two
citations for possession of marijuana. [Michael Dumene, INDE, 5/24]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level I
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 5/24 5/26 Status
FL State - Turnberry 400 450 CND
NC State - Fish Day - T1 3,000 16,000 CN 6/10
* Angola Bay - 5,112 CND
NM State - * Animas - 250 CND
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 - Containment strategy NEC - No estimate of containment
CND - Contained CN (date) - Expected date of containment
3) FIRES YESTERDAY (BY AGENCY) -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number - 11 6 - 24 13 54
Acres Burned - 2 74 - 21 21 118
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 4 13 5 3 68
Non-federal - - - - 5
5) CURRENT SITUATION - Additional resources and a Type I team (Mann) have
been assigned to the Fish Day fire. The northeast is experiencing hot and
dry conditions. Fire activity has decreased in the Southwest because of
widely scattered precipitation. One large fire in the Southwest is being
managed under confinement strategy; it has burned 6,350 acres.
6) OUTLOOK - A red flag watch remains in effect for low humidity in parts of
Florida. A high pressure area will dominate over Georgia and the Carolinas;
a cold front will cross it later tonight. High fire activity is expected to
continue in the South. There will be thunderstorms and scattered showers
throughout the Southwest and southern California.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/26]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: 202-208-4874
Telefax: 202-208-6756
cc:Mail: WASO Ranger Activities
SkyPager: Emergencies ONLY: 1-800-759-7243, PIN 2404843