NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Thursday, June 15, 1995

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

93-597 - Badlands (South Dakota) - Follow-up on Purported Armed Robbery 

On August 14, 1993, the park's fee collection office was reportedly robbed of
$9,695.50.  Seasonal fee collector N.I. told rangers that she was
counting fee receipts when a person wearing a mask and dark leather jacket
suddenly opened the door to the office, ordered her to keep her head down, took
the money which she had been counting, then quickly left the building.  A joint
investigation was conducted by rangers, the FBI and Pennington County sheriff's
office.  Inconsistencies during the investigation led to N.I.'s indictment
by a grand jury for theft/embezzlement of public monies (18 USC 641).  On
February 8th, following a three day trail in Sioux Falls, N.I. was convicted
of theft of government property.  On May 21st, she was sentenced in federal
court to four years' probation with the first three months under house arrest;
a $1,000 fine; restitution of the full amount taken; and court costs.  [Scott
Lopez, CR, BADL, 6/13]

95-276 - Glacier (Montana) - Follow-up on Flooding and Storm Damage

Federal Highway Administration engineers have examined several flood damaged
locations along Going-to-the Sun Road, including the 60-foot length of outside
lane that washed out below the west side tunnel.  Although a total parkwide
estimate of repairs is still pending, engineers have determined that it will
cost from $300,000 to $600,000 in temporary repairs to open that highway and
the Many Glacier access road.  Permanent repairs at these and other sites have
yet to be designed, and final costs have yet to be determined.  The engineers
report that the road bed at the washout below the tunnel is stable enough and
wide enough to allow two lane traffic by moving the traffic lanes closer to the
hillside.  Dead Horse Point on St. Mary Lake, where road shoulders were
weakened, and Rose Creek Bridge, where some of the shoulder riprap washed away,
will be open to visitors while being repaired, but the bridge will be closed to
commercial traffic until further notice.  The Many Glacier access road will be
open to visitor traffic while repairs are completed.  And the entire length of
Going-to-the-Sun Road over Logan Pass will be reopened as soon as crews finish
plowing the "Big Drift" and the visitor center parking lot.  This could occur
as soon as next week.  [Amy Vanderbilt, PAO, GLAC, 6/14]

95-301 - Golden Gate (California) - Gang-Related Arrests

Several thousand people from the city's Filipino community attended the Fiesta
Filipina at Fort Mason on June 10th.  Numerous dignitaries attended the event,
including vice president Estrada of the Philippines.  That afternoon, members
of the CBA (Color Blue Always) and SI (Samahang Ilocanos) gangs started to
congregate at the front of Pier III.  Members of the RPB (Real Pinoy
Brotherhood) subsequently arrived at the pier, wearing red and flashing gang
signs at the two gangs wearing blue.  A large-scale fight immediately ensued
which involved more than 30 gang members.  Park Police officers and members of
the city's gang task force made a total of 14 arrests.  On June 11th, other
gang members were arrested on trespassing, alcohol and disorderly conduct
charges.  Only one weapon was seized, a lock-blade knife with attached brass
knuckles.  The pier sustained damage at several location in the form of gang-
related graffiti.  [Lt. Kevin Hay, USPP, GOGA, 6/14]

95-302 - Sequoia/Kings Canyon (California) - Shooting Incident

A Forest Service biologist was walking in an open area in a section of the
national forest in the Hume Lake area adjacent to the park when two to three
bullets struck the ground within three feet of her.  She did not see the person
who fired the shots, but had earlier seen an adult male in the area.  His
description was relayed to local law enforcement officers, who found and
stopped the man about two hours later.  The man had a .30 caliber handgun in
his possession; he admitted to firing the weapon in the area of the incident,
but said he was only target shooting and had no intent to fire at any person. 
Officers could find no evidence to connect him with any anti-government
movement or "home rule" organization.  The man was charged with discharging a
firearm over a body of water, then released.  [Randy Coffman, SEKI, 6/13]

95-303 - Cumberland Gap (Kentucky/Tennessee/Virginia) - Search and Rescue

Late on the evening of June 13th, rangers were advised that 14-year-old W.H.
and 16-year-old D.V. had not returned to their campsite after
leaving on a hike about two hours earlier.  The father of one of the boys and
several other campers conducted a fruitless search of area trails.  Rangers
tracked the boys for several miles in the dark, but could not find them.  Other
rangers were brought in early on the following morning to assist in the search. 
The boys were found at 8 a.m. on the same trail on which they'd departed the
previous evening.  Other than being cold and thirsty, they were in good
condition.  [E. Dinger, CUGA, 6/14]

95-304 - Cumberland Gap (Kentucky/Tennessee/Virginia) - Drug Seizure

Rangers conducted a marijuana eradication operation within park boundaries on
June 14th and seized 423 plants from nine plots.  Estimated street value is in
excess of $500,000.  [E. Dinger, CUGA, 6/14]

FIRE ACTIVITY

The report was unavailable as of Morning Report release time.

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Bison Mortality

The intensity and duration of the past winter has taken its toll on bison
living in the interior of the park.  Winter in the Lake area continued well
into spring.  As of May 5th, Lake ranger station recorded 40 inches of snow,
with more still falling.  The severity of the winter causes large-scale
movements and mortality among the small bison population that winters in the
Lake area.  A number of bison made their way over Sylvan Pass out the East
Entrance and to the North Fork of the Shoshone River.  Since April, bison
mortality has increased dramatically in the areas of Mary Bay, Sedge Bay and
Indian Pond.  As of May 5th, a total of 23 carcasses had been found in these
areas, 15 of them in the vicinity of Mary Bay.  Another seven were subsequently
found in the Yellowstone Lake area.  The mortality toll will likely continue
until there is significant green-up in the Yellowstone Lake area.  [Daniel
Reinhart, in "The Buffalo Chip", RM newsletter, YELL]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

1) PEB - A message was transmitted from Ranger Activities to all chief rangers
yesterday regarding the new Departmental physical standards contained in 446 DM
Chapter 2.  The text of the manual had an error in it that needs to be
corrected.  The reference to "Physical Examination Battery" which appears in
section 2.1 c (2) should read "Physical Efficiency Battery."  Please make the
necessary pen and ink change.

OBSERVATIONS

"Ever since I have been old enough to be cynical I have been visiting national
parks, and they are a cure for cynicism...They were cooked in the same alembic
as other land laws...but they came out as something different.  Absolutely
American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our
worst.  Without them, millions of American lives, including mine, would have
been poorer.  The world would have been poorer."

                                                Author Wallace Stegner

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

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