NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Friday, September 22, 1995

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

95-620 - Virgin Islands - Follow-up on Hurricane Marilyn

Relief efforts continue for 70 National Park Service employees and their
families.  Water, additional generators, and other supplies (over 500 pounds on
Wednesday) are being flown to St. Thomas and St. John.  Commercial power has
been restored at the Cruz Bay visitor center and maintenance area on St. John,
and a 125-amp generator is providing power to five employee residences. 
Contact has been made with several National Biological Service employees on St.
John who have requested assistance from the incident management team (IMT). 
The IC, operations chief and superintendent of Virgin Islands flew to St. Croix
yesterday - the first visit since the hurricane hit last Saturday.  Although
the NPS facilities on St. Croix were apparently far less damaged in the storm
than those on St. Thomas or St. John, the parks there (Christiansted, Buck
Island Reef and Salt River Bay) have not yet been evaluated by the IMT and
power has not been restored.  Other tasks scheduled for yesterday included
emergency roofing repairs and an initial structure condition assessment.  A
critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) team is scheduled to arrive this
coming weekend.  A helicopter dedicated to the IMT was to have arrived late
yesterday; a helibase and staging area has been established in the San
Cristobal outworks at San Juan.  Meanwhile, Eastern National Park and Monument
Association (ENP&MA) has established a reserve account for Hurricane Marilyn
relief donations.  Individuals and non-ENP&MA parks may contribute to this fund
by sending a check payable to ENP&MA and marked "Hurricane Marilyn Relief" to
Eastern National (Attention: George Minnucci), 446 North Lane, Conshohocken,
PA 19428.  Eastern National parks wishing to make donations from their
percentage donation accounts may do so by notifying George Minnucci by memo or
fax.  Eastern National has already sent $15,000 for immediate relief.  Other
donations will be wire transferred to their sectional office in San Juan and
made available to Virgin Islands employees as quickly as possible.  [Kent Cave,
IO, IMT; John Beck, SEFO]

95-633 - Katmai (Alaska) - Follow-up on Search for VIP

A pack believed to belong to S.E. was recovered from Lethe Creek
yesterday evening.  S.E. has been missing since last Sunday, when she was
swept downstream as she crossed the creek with two other park employees.  The
pack was found approximately five miles downstream from the point S.E. was
last seen and about one mile upstream from the Three Forks confluence. 
Searchers continued to fly the area yesterday, and plan to continue today,
weather permitting.  The water level in Lethe Creek has gone down, but high
winds continue to hamper search efforts.  [Maria Gillett, IO, ARM Team]

95-638 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Suicide

On the afternoon of September 17th, rangers Mark Gall and Herb Racker received
a report that there had been a motor vehicle accident on Route 814 near the
parkway and that the driver had gotten out of the vehicle and was walking
around drinking a beer and firing a weapon.  When they arrived at the scene,
they found the man, later identified as G.B., 30, staggering down the
road.  The rangers employed a PA system to order him to stop; he failed to
respond and continued to walk down the road.  G.B. then turned toward them
with a pistol in his hand.  Gall and Racker got out of their patrol vehicle
with their shotguns and ordered G.B. to put his gun down.  G.B. instead
raised the weapon to his head and shot himself.  He was pronounced dead at the
scene.  Investigation revealed that G.B. was a felon with multiple
convictions for sexually-related offenses.  [CRO, BLRI]

95-639 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Ginseng Poaching

On September 15th, ranger Zeph Cunningham spotted a vehicle believed to be
owned by a person suspected of ginseng poaching and began surveillance of the
area.  The owner, subsequently identified as W.F., 39, of
Waynesboro, soon returned, and was found to have 34 ginseng plants in his
possession.  W.F. permitted a search of his residence by Cunningham and a
Forest Service law enforcement officer, and they discovered seeds and another
78 plants.  W.F., a felon with multiple convictions, has been charged
with an assortment of violations.  [CRO, BLRI]

95-640 - Fort DuPont (D.C.) - Suspected Homicide

On the afternoon of September 18th, a park maintenance employee discovered the
body of an unidentified male in a secluded wooded area of the park near the
Ridge picnic area.  Foul play is suspected.  An autopsy is being conducted, and
an investigation is underway.  [Bill Lynch, RLES, NCFO]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No field reports today.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

1) NLC Actions - The Director's bulletin board for September 20th contains a
report from Deputy Director Reynolds on the recent National Leadership Council
(NLC) meeting in Washington.  Some excerpts:

* NLC members will communicate immediately to employees about the
relationship of proposed concessions, fees, and park closure legislation
in Congress to the future of the organization.

* The NLC will prepare a short written statement rearticulating the goals
and guiding principles of the reorganization.

A working group has been established to assess the financial plans of all
Field Areas and WASO programs.  The group will identify options that get
people and money to the right places, specifically in the Alaska,
National Capital, Midwest and Southeast Field Areas (the latter two areas
are currently below their FTE targets).

See the full report for more details.  Contact your cc:Mail coordinator to
receive regular updates from the bulletin board.

OBSERVATIONS

Today's entry is from yet another edition of "Conservation Quotes", this one a
collection complied by Elizabeth Coiner in 1966 - and provided by Dave
Nathanson at Harpers Ferry Center:

"Our concern is not to see that each and every part of the country has a
National Park System installation.  It is to see that all areas of national
significance which are worthy of preservation of their scenery, their
historical associations, their recreational opportunities, or their scientific
interest are preserved."

                                        Wayne Aspinall, former
                                        chairman, House Interior and
                                        Insular Affairs Committee

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


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