NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Friday, March 24, 1995

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

95-89 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Follow-up on Storm Damage

The incident management team has prepared and transmitted its final report on
the flood recovery efforts.  The Roaring Springs trail crew was flown out on
Wednesday, and supplies and equipment for the next phase of the operation were
taken into Phantom Ranch and Roaring Springs.  The South Kaibab and Bright
Angels trails are to open today, and barricades are to be placed across the
closed section of the North Kaibab trail.  Some incident statistics have been
provided which give an idea of the scope of the tasks undertaken and
accomplished:

* The Bright Angel trail crews rehabilitated over four miles of trail and
204 waterbars.  They also constructed 3,461 square feet of wall and
placed the equivalent of over 200 mule loads of dirt and fill on the
trail.

* The two Phantom Ranch crews repaired more than five miles of trail and
200 waterbars.  They also excavated 118 tons of material for placement of
gabions and worked on the irrigation system at Phantom Ranch.  About 240
mule loads worth of fill were placed on the trail.

* The crews at Roaring Springs constructed 971 square feet of wall and
repaired 139 waterbars.  They removed 181 tons of slide material - 400
wheelbarrow loads - and placed 298 tons of fill material around pipeline
breaks.

* The Skikorsky Sky Crane lifted a great deal of material in to the crews
working in the canyon - 5,000 75-pound bags of cement, about 200 tons of
soil and backfill, two Accutracks and a D-3 caterpillar/bulldozer.

* Three miles of pipe line have been laid to the landfill, and over a
million gallons of water have so far been pumped to the park's wastewater
treatment plant.  It's estimated that it will take four to five more days
of pumping to remove all the water from the landfill.

* The seven members of the regional SET team, who acted as trail blocks and
assisted with visitor protection duties, made 8,000 contacts, assisted on
four medicals and six SARs, issued 171 verbal warnings and 25 citations,
and made two arrests.  Team members were also used for traffic control,
resource management, and wildlife management problems.

Permits for overnight trips originating on the Bright Angel and South Kaibab
trails through April 14th were canceled after the storm, but are now being
reinstated; about 300 permit holders are being notified by mail.  Permits for
available spaces will also be issued in person on a first-come, first-served
basis at the park's backcountry office.  An additional mailing is being done to
permit holders for trips from mid-April through July, advising them of the
summer-long closure of the lower section of the North Kaibab trail.  Meetings
are being held with the Arizona Conservation Corps for work on the next phase
of the operation - the repair of that trail.  This is the first time that the
corps will be assigned to a park project.  The estimated cost for the first
phase of the operation has been placed at $1.7 million; the estimated total
cost for all phases of the incident, including the trail rehab to take place
this summer, is $2.5 million.  [IMT, GRCA, 3/23]

95-96 - Yosemite (California) - Follow-up on Storm Damage

The park continues to receive heavy rains and snow at higher elevations. 
Moisture content in the snow pack is about 160 percent of the average level for
this time of year.  Highway 140 remains closed, and work has stopped because of
the danger to workers and the continuing rain fall.  Highway 41 was reopened on
March 19th, but was closed again early yesterday morning because of heavy snow
and falling trees.  It was to be reopened later in the day.  Many employees
have been assigned tasks outside their normal jobs because of their inability
to get into the park.  Essential personnel are being shuttled into the Valley
via Highway 41.  This practice will continue until Highway 140 is reopened,
probably two weeks from now, possibly later.  [Bob Andrew, CR, YOSE, 3/24]

95-115 - Canyonlands (Utah) - Search 

On the morning of March 17th, park visitor C.M. reported that his
girlfriend, 25-year-old S.G. of Flagstaff, had walked away from their
illegal campsite in Devils Canyon the previous evening and had not returned. 
Thorough interviews were conducted with C.M. and his five companions, one of 
whom had a fractured ankle resulting from a short fall from a rock.  One of the
members of the group said that he'd seen S.G. take three hits of LSD and some
Valium on the day she disappeared; rangers had already noted that C.M.
appeared to be under the influence of some drug at the time he reported S.G.'s
absence.  Reports indicated that S.G. was dressed in a bikini and hiking boots. 
During the night, the area received hard rain for several hours, but
temperatures remained mild.  Hasty teams were immediately dispatched to the
point last seen, and an aircraft was brought in to search roads and trails in
the area.  Three search dog teams, additional rangers and a helicopter joined
the search effort the following day.  Around 4 p.m. that afternoon, S.G. walked
into the Needles visitor center, where she'd been dropped off by someone who'd
picked her up.  She did not understand that she'd been missing for 48 hours,
and rambled about being confronted by armed men and Indians who were "shooting
rocks" at her.  Except for a few scratches and contusions on her legs and feet,
she was in good condition.  County officers searched S.G.'s vehicle and found
marijuana in C.M.'s pack.  He was charged with possession by the county;
federal charges are pending.  [Larry Van Slyke, CR, CANY, 3/23]

95-116 - Obed (Tennessee) - Assist to Agency; Search

On March 17th, the Morgan County sheriff's department asked rangers to assist
them in the search of a farm near the park where illicit activities were
suspected.  The raiding party arrested eight persons on charges of possession
of marijuana and crack cocaine.  They also found hundreds of crystals and
replicas of pyramids scattered throughout the house and associated
outbuildings, hawk feathers and talons, and a small supply of park brochures. 
The group living at the farm, which calls itself the Aquarian Prospectus, is
part of an international chain following the teachings of a spiritual leader. 
At the time of the incident, they were preparing for an alien spaceship landing
by cutting numerous patterns in the hundreds of acres of cleared fields
surrounding the house.  One of the eight people arrested escaped from jail
shortly thereafter and fled into the park.  Rangers initiated a search, but the
escapee remains at large.  Investigations continue into the group's involvement
in trafficking in marijuana from Mexico.  [Rob Turan, OBRI, 3/22]

95-117 - Whiskeytown (California) - Search

Park dispatch received a report of two overdue persons on the morning of March
21st.  The two men had reportedly left their home in Redding the previous day
to go four-wheeling in the park; when they failed to return, one of their
spouses became concerned and advised the county sheriff's office.  Personnel
from the park and Shasta County SAR immediately began a search for the men. 
Efforts were hampered by intense storm cells which produced snow, hail, heavy
rain and winds up to 60 mph.  The search was terminated at nightfall.  On the
following morning, park dispatch received a voice mail message stating that the
two had been found and were in good shape.  Investigation revealed that they
were practicing four-wheeling behind one of the men's homes when they became
stuck between two trees and could not extricate themselves.  They ended up
breaking one of the windows and crawling out; in the process, however, they
somehow managed to roll their vehicle into a creek bottom.  County detectives
are continuing the investigation.  [Larry Carr, CR, WHIS, 3/22]

95-118 - C&O Canal (Maryland) - ARPA Convictions

On March 17th, B.B., 37, and C.B., 42, entered guilty please
for ARPA violations before a federal magistrate.  They were fined a total of
$200, placed on a year's unsupervised probation, ordered to pay $1,400 in
restitution to the NPS, and ordered to forfeit equipment used to discover the
Civil War artifacts found in their possession when arrested by rangers in
November of 1993.  The investigation of this case, conducted by ranger Mike
Sabitini, led to the discovery of more than two dozen freshly excavated holes
in former Union Army fortifications on park land.  [Kevin Fitzgerald, ACR,
CHOH, 3/20]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Follow-up on Wolf Reintroduction

On Wednesday afternoon, the gate on the Rose Creek pen was opened by park and
Fish and Wildlife Service biologists.  This site has been home to three of the
Canadian wolves that arrived in the park in January.  It's also the only pen to
hold wolves from two different packs.  The two female wolves - an alpha female
and her pup - were part of the group that arrived on January 12th; the alpha
male arrived on January 20th.  The gate to the Crystal Bench pen was locked
open on Tuesday; the gate to the Soda Butte pen is to be opened today.  As of
yesterday evening, none of the wolves had yet exited from the two open pens. 
Park biologists hiked to the Crystal Bench pen and cut a new opening in the
fence closer to the wolves' "comfort zone"; that is, the back portion of the
pen where they have spent most of their time.  A road-killed deer carcass was
left about 20 yards outside the new opening.  A motion detector and camera
equipment were moved to this location.  By providing an opening where there has
been virtually no human activity, biologists hope that the wolves will feel
more inclined to explore and exist the pen.  [Marsha Karle, PAO, YELL]

Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Follow-up on Bison Operations

Since the last update on February 3rd, rangers have assisted Montana game
wardens on seven bison control operations outside the park boundary near
Gardiner.  The state's livestock department has also conducted five bison
control operations outside the park in the vicinity of West Yellowstone without
assistance from the park or FWS.  Since last September 11th, 303 bison have
been removed in the Gardiner area, and 108 in the West Yellowstone area.  Bison
migrating out of the park are considered by livestock officials to pose a
threat for spreading brucellosis to cattle, although wildlife and land
management agencies believe that the threat is minimal.  The issue continues to
be politically contentions, and progress has been slow on the interagency
development of an EIS to reach a long-term solution.  [Mike Murray, ACR, YELL]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

1) Telephone Fraud Advisory - A telephone scam has been hitting police
departments and dispatch centers in the Southwest in which a person calls,
identifies himself as an AT&T technician, and asks the answering party to dial
9-0-# in order to check telephone lines.  This process opens the telephone line
to the caller, who then makes long distance calls that are charged to the
department or dispatch center.  [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA]

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
SkyPager:  Emergencies ONLY: 1-800-759-7243, PIN 2404843