NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Friday, December 16, 1994

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

94-674 - Organ Pipe Cactus (Arizona) - Drug Seizure

On the evening of December 13th, Border Patrol agents were alerted to sensor
activations in an area thought to be used by drug smugglers utilizing horses
and mules for transport - a traditional route which crosses through the park to
a pass along the Ajo Mountains.  On the following morning, a joint NPS, Army,
Customs and Border Patrol search led to the confiscation of 134 bales of
marijuana totalling just over 3,000 pounds, or about one-and-a-half tons.  One
individual was arrested, and 20 horses and mules were seized.  Several other
smugglers fled the scene.  The street value of the marijuana is estimated at
about $2,257,000.  This harvest season marks the first time in numerous years
in which stock have been utilized to smuggle marijuana across the border. 
[Aniceto Olais, CR, ORPI, 12/15]

94-675 - Padre Island (Texas) - Drug Seizure

On December 8th, a shipment of 50 pounds of marijuana was seized and two
individuals were arrested in the park in an on-going investigation into drug
smuggling.  The arrests came about through a joint effort by the NPS, FBI,
Texas Department of Public Safety, and Corpus Christi and Nueces County
officers.  [Dan Wirth, CI, PAIS, 12/13]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Badlands (South Dakota) - Black-Footed Ferret Reintroduction

Following six years of negotiations, compromises, and paperwork, 36
black-footed ferrets were released in the Conata Basin/Badlands prairie dog
complex this fall, thereby laying the founding for reestablishment of a viable
population of the most endangered mammal in North America.  The ferrets - 14
females and 22 males - were allocated to the park, one of three sites
nationally where reintroductions will be attempted.  About half were
preconditioned to prairie dogs and their burrow systems at Sybille Wildlife
Conservation and Education Center in Wyoming; the remainder were reared in zoos
in Toronto, Phoenix and Omaha.  The first post-release monitoring period ran
from September 19th to December 11th.  Sixteen animals were radio collared and
monitored by air and ground telemetry during the life of the collars.  A total
of 62 individual locations were recorded, 97 percent of them within the three
release prairie dog colonies.  Foot and vehicle spotlight surveys were
conducted from November 28th through December 11th despite temperatures
approaching zero.  Eight animals were detected, representing a minimum of 22
percent survivorship, a little better than expected.  Post release survival
ranged from 21 to 82 days for the four males and three females identified, with
71 percent being preconditioned ferrets.  Movements of five animals were
limited to the three release colonies, while the other three black-footed
ferrets moved up to five miles into adjacent active prairie dog habitat.  One
day of snow tracking provided no additional information on ferret dispersal. 
The ferret reintroduction has been a multi-agency effort involving the National
Park Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, South Dakota
Game, Fish and Parks, and South Dakota Department of Agriculture.  Additional
introductions are planned for the next three to five years.  [Bruce Bessken,
RMS, BADL]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No notes.

MEMORANDA

No memoranda.

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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