NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Monday, November 21, 1994

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

94-622 - Delaware Water Gap (Pennsylvania/New Jersey) - Follow-up on Fraud

On November 15th, a federal grand jury in Scranton returned a one count
indictment against J.M.M. for impersonating a military officer
during ceremonies held at Smithfield Beach on October 22nd. If convicted,
J.M.M. could face up to five years in jail and a fine of $250,000.   J.M.M. was
arrested by FBI agents when he appeared for a preliminary hearing on drunk
driving charges brought against him by a local police department.  It's
expected that J.M.M. will be arraigned on the federal charges within ten days. 
He is currently free on bail.  [Doyle Nelson, CR, DEWA, 11/16]

94-647 - East Coast Areas - Tropical Storm/Hurricane Gordon

Reports have been received from two parks regarding the impacts of Tropical
Storm/Hurricane Gordon:

* Everglades - Gordon dropped up to 23 inches of rain on the park over a two-
day period.  This extraordinary rainfall, which came at the end of the wettest
summer in 36 years, caused flooding in several developed areas.  Shark Valley
was closed to the public on Tuesday, with over a foot of water in the employee
parking lot; the entrance and tram roads were also underwater in places.  The
employee housing area in Shark Valley was evacuated on Wednesday, and
electrical and sewer systems in the area were shut down.  The Chekika area was
closed, and coastal flooding posed problems in the Gulf Coast District.  All
concession boat and tram tour operations were suspended.

* Assateague Island - All campgrounds, the ORV zone, and backcountry sites were
closed on Friday, and hunting was suspended.  The main park road was closed at
6 p.m.  At the time of the report, there was significant overwash in both the
Maryland and Virginia ORV zones, but dunes protecting park facilities in both
districts were still holding out the sea.  The contractor rebuilding the wharf
and pier at the old Coast Guard station may have lost about $15,000 worth of
treated timbers, which were stacked near the site.

[CRO, EVER, 11/16; Brion Fitzgerald, CR, ASIS, 11/18]

94-648 - Mojave (California) - Special Operations

Five members of the Western Region special events team have been assigned to
the new, 1,419,800-acre preserve to bring a uniformed National Park Service
presence to the area until the park can be staffed.  Team members arrived on
site on October 31st, the day President Clinton signed the bill creating Mojave
National Preserve.  Their primary function is to contact as many visitors and
local landowners as possible to establish positive working relationships for
the future.  Team members are also patrolling and monitoring approximately
2,500 miles of secondary roads and 235 miles of paved roadway.  Law enforcement
incidents have included cattle trespass, mining trespass, residential trespass,
recreational bulldozing, motor vehicle accidents, stolen vehicles, search and
rescue, vandalism, off-road use, dumping, and modern day train bandits.  Many
of these are being jointly investigated with BLM rangers.  Hunting is
authorized in the area, so rangers have been contacting hunters, most of whom
come from the Los Angeles basin.  Team members are also employing maintenance
skills to work on generators, water heaters, pumps, fences, new NPS signs on
roads and trails, and facilities.  The rangers are currently working and living
at the "Hole In The Wall" fire station, located in the middle of the preserve. 
Favorable comments have already been received from visitors and some landowners
concerning the team and its work.  Current plans are to keep them on site until
after Thanksgiving, at which time other personnel will be assigned.  [Aniceto
L. Olais, ORPI, 11/17]

94-649 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Search; Probable Boating Fatality

A party of 15 people on five rafts and six kayaks entered Hance Rapid on the
Colorado River just after noon on November 16th.  The first raft made it
through the rapid without problem, but the second struck a large boulder,
flipped, and became wrapped around the rock.  All three people on board were
ejected, and one became tangled in the boat.  Witnesses said that the victim,
who was wearing both a life jacket and wet suit, struggled to get free, but
eventually disappeared below the water's surface.  Two kayakers in the party
continued on to Phantom Ranch,  where they reported the accident to park
employees.  The park's rescue helicopter was dispatched and made it to within
2,000 vertical feet of the scene when it was forced to turn back because of
strong gusting winds.  Two rangers then hiked into the scene from the Hance
Trail, where they stayed with the group until helicopter rescue operations
could continue the following morning.  Sometime during the night, the raft
became untangled; it was found about 15 miles down river below Salt Creek on
the morning of the 17th.  Efforts to locate the victim have so far been
unsuccessful.  Six members of the group asked to be evacuated from the inner
canyon and were taken to the South Rim.  The remaining party was to be guided
down river to Phantom Ranch by a park boatman.  An aerial search for the victim
is continuing.  [Karyn Shinkle, Dispatch, GRCA, 11/17]

                 [More pending incident reports tomorrow...]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No field reports today.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No notes.

MEMORANDA

No memoranda.

MEETINGS/TRAINING CALENDAR

Calendar appears in the morning report every other Monday.  If you know of a
conference, meeting or training session with Servicewide interest and
implications, please forward the listing to WASO Ranger Activities.  Entries
are listed no earlier than FOUR months before the event.  Asterisks indicate
new entries; brackets at end of entry indicate source of information:

11/29-12/9 -- Management Program for Natural Resource Managers, Smeal College of
Business Administration, Penn State, PA.  Contact: Mrs. Jean Rose,
Manager of Sales and Customer Relations, Pennsylvania State
University, 310 Business Administration Building, University Park,
PA  16802-3003, 814-865-3435.  [Steve Cinnamon, MWRO]

11/30-12/2 -- 1994 EPA Region 3 SERC/LEPC Conference, Marriott Waterside Hotel,
Norfolk, VA.  Training will focus on the Clean Air Act, the Oil
Pollution Act, worst case scenario planning, federal facility
compliance, a hazmat exercise, and related topics.  Contact:
Charles Stewart, 215-597-3152.  [Al Brown, EPA]

12/2 -- Call for contributions, Fourth International Outdoor Recreation and
Tourism Trends Symposium, to be held May 14-17, 1995, in St. Paul,
MN. You are invited to participate by submitting a proposal to
present or contribute a paper to the symposium proceedings, become
a panel member in a workshop, or prepare an exhibit, display, or
poster session.  Proposals will be judged on the extent to which
they address the implications of the symposium themes below.  The
deadline for submitting proposals is December 2nd.  Contact:
Jerrilyn LaVarre Thompson, Trends Symposium Coordinator, University
of Minnesota, Department of Forest Resources, Cooperative Park
Studies Unit, 115 Green Hall, 1530 North Cleveland Avenue, St.
Paul, MN 55108 (phone: 612-624-3699, fax: 612-625-5212,
Internet:jthompso@mercury.forestry.umn.edu.  [Roger Brown,
SPO/WASO]

12/4-7 -- "The Future of Fish and Wildlife is Now", Midwest Fish and Wildlife
Conference, Indianapolis, IN.  Contact: Ed Theroff, Chairman,
Division of Fish and Wildlife, RR2, Box 477, Mitchell, IN 47446
(812-849-4586).  [Steve Cinnamon, MWRO]

2/13-16* -- "Energy and the Environment: Application of Geosciences to Decision
Making", McKelvey Forum, U.S. Geological Service, Washington, DC. 
There will be oral and poster presentations addressing energy
resources of the future, the environmental effects of energy
resource development, and the environmental impact of naturally
occurring oil, gas, and coal.  There will also be a panel
discussion on the environmental, technological, economical, and
political aspects of energy resources of the future, with panel
members ranging from the Sierra Club to the National Coal
Association.  WASO Mining and Mineral Branch staff will have a
poster presentation titled "Reclaiming the scars of Energy's Past,
Examples from the National Park Service."  Contact: Bruce Heise,
WASO-MMB, through cc:Mail or at (303) 969-2017. [Bruce Heise,
MMB/WASO]

2/26-28* -- "Restoration 95, Affordable Preservation", Boston, MA. Emphasis is
on architectural preservation.  Contact: 617-933-9055.  [Diane Vogt
O'Connor, CSD/WASO]

3/8-10* -- Introduction to Environmental Conflict Resolution, Banff Centre for
Management, Barrie, Ontario, Canada.  Contact: Carole Stark or
Debbie Stephan, Banff Centre for Management, Box 1020, Station 45,
Banff, AB, Canada T0L 0C0; 403/762-6327 or 6133.  [Kathy Jope,
PNRO]

3/19-21* -- Annual conference, Virginia Association of Museums, Richmond, VA. 
The conference will focus on technology, administration, exhibit
design, partnerships, conservation, legislative advocacy,
collections management, visitor services, education, and
evaluation.  Contact: 804-367-1079 for further information.  [Diane
Vogt O'Connor, CSD/WASO]

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

Telephone: 202-208-4874
Telefax:   202-208-6756
cc:Mail:   WASO Ranger Activities
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