NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date: Monday, October 16, 1995 

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

95-680 - Cape Lookout (North Carolina) - Shooting Incident

Rangers Jim Zahradka and Greg Griffis responded to a shooting incident on North
Core Banks on the afternoon of October 8th.  E.G., 43, had shot the knob
off the bathroom door of his camper while his cousin, Russell Morgan, was
sitting on the toilet.  E.G. was arrested at the camper with the assistance
of two state fisheries officers who were working in the park.  E.G. was
incarcerated until October 10th, when he was released from jail on a $10,000
bond.  He's been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon.  Morgan was
not injured.  [Chuck Harris, Chief of Park Operations, CALO]

95-681 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Suicide

Just before 8 a.m. on October 13th, ranger Chris Fores stopped J.H.,
20, for speeding near the entrance to Mather campground.  A routine check on
his car indicated that it had been stolen several days previously.  Fores then
ordered J.H. to get out of the vehicle.  J.H. instead reached under the
passenger seat, retrieved a .380 automatic hand gun, and shot himself in the
head.  Park emergency crews responded, provided advanced life support, and
transported him to the park clinic, where he was pronounced dead.  The incident
is being investigated by the park and the county sheriff's department.  J.H.
was reported as absent without leave (AWOL) from Fort Benning, Georgia. 
[Charlie Peterson, DR, South Rim District, GRCA]

95-682 - Biscayne (Florida) - Special Event

Over Columbus Day weekend, a multi-agency task force comprised of rangers from
Biscayne and other area parks and officers from Metro Dade PD, Florida Marine
Patrol, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Coast Guard issued approximately
2,000 citations within the park for infractions that occurred during the
regatta weekend.  Among these were 30 citations for boating under the influence
(BUI) violations, 11 for drug-related activities, eight for weapons possession,
23 for disorderly conduct, and 962 for violations of special regulations
established by the superintendent.  Other incidents included three boating
accidents (one of which damaged four vessels), four stolen boats, five EMS
incidents and four sinkings.  The regatta is a traditional yachting race that
has taken place for the past 41 years.  The event, however, has little to do
with yacht racing these days, and more to do with excessive alcohol and drug
consumption and other illicit activities.  [Wayne Elliott, CR, BISC]

95-683 - Yosemite (California) - Special Event

On September 22nd, John Garamendi, new deputy secretary of the Department of
Interior, was sworn into office by superintendent B. J. Griffin in a ceremony
in Yosemite Valley.  Garamendi said that he choose to be sworn in at Yosemite
because he wanted to make a statement.  He paid tribute to all the rangers who
serve in the 369 national parks, monuments and historical sites, and said that
our nation's resources must be protected for future generations to enjoy.  He
also said that it is the public's moral obligation to safeguard the treasures
that our ancestors were perceptive enough to place under protection, and that
we must work to find an environmentally sound balance between business and
protection of natural resources.  [Debi Drake, YOSE]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Saguaro (Arizona) - Identification of Proposed Endangered Species

Biological technicians Tani and Andy Hubbard recently located a cactus
ferruginous pygmy owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactoreum) in a remote area of
the park's Rincon Mountain unit after three weeks of surveys for the bird. 
Although the owl was never sighted, they heard its distinctive call for over 20
minutes, thereby confirming its presence.  This verification is notable since
the owl is federally listed as "proposed endangered" for Arizona, where fewer
than ten of the birds have been located despite intensive efforts by state
biologists.  [Natasha Kline, RMS]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No notes.

OBSERVATIONS

"Perhaps second only to liberty itself, the national park idea is the finest
contribution of the United States to world culture.  These parklands are more
than physical resources.  They are the delicate strands of nature and culture
that bond generation to generation.  They are, moreover, the benchmarks of our
heritage by which we may chart a new course of human and corporate behavior in
our nation so essential to the restoration of quality in our daily lives and of
a sense of community in our society."

                                    Director George Hartzog, "Battling
                                    for the National Parks", 1988

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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