- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, December 7, 1995
- Date: Fri, 7 Dec 1995
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, December 7, 1995
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
95-761 - Sleeping Bear Dunes (Michigan) - Death of Employee
Platte River district ranger Richard Slonaker, 53, died of a heart attack at
his home early on the morning of December 6th. Rich began working for the
Service as a seasonal at Yosemite in 1960, first as a laborer, then as a fire
control aid and park ranger. Following a brief tour at Cabrillo as a park
guide in 1967, he went to Saguaro as a supervisory park ranger. He moved to
Death Valley as a supervisory ranger in 1972, then transferred to Sleeping Bear
Dunes in 1976. Rich was well liked by his co-workers and highly regarded by
members of the local community. He specialized in search and rescue
operations, spent countless hours training local rescue units in SAR
operations, and was often requested by these other agencies to assist in their
SAR incidents. Rich had a keen interest in archeology and worked for several
years with local school children in raising their awareness of archeology. He
is survived by his wife, Carole, and his son, Rob. Funeral services are
pending. The family asks that memorial contributions be sent to Friends of the
Sleeping Bear Dunes, Inc., P.O. Box 6344, Traverse City, MI 49685-6344.
Condolences should be sent to Carole Slonaker, 7907 Deadstream Rd., Honor, MI
49640. [Superintendent, SLBE]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Nez Perce (Idaho) - Negotiations on Park/Tribal Collection
The park and Nez Perce tribe are in the closing days of a three-year campaign
to retain the Spalding-Allen collection, the centerpiece of the park's museum
exhibits since 1983. The collection, which has been on loan from the Ohio
Historical Society (OHS), contains objects obtained on the site from Nez Perce
tribal members by Presbyterian missionary Henry Spalding more than 150 years
ago. Following consultation with the Nez Perce, the park has been assisting
the tribe in its efforts to acquire the items. Despite lengthy negotiations
and a cash offer of almost $600,000 (the 1993 appraised value), OHS appears
determined to have the items returned by December 31st. The collection
contains the oldest documented plateau materials in the United States and also
represents a direct cultural and historical link to the Nez Perce people. The
impending loss of the collection has raised an emotional outcry from tribal
members and persons familiar with the collection's significance. The park has
removed the items from display for documentation. Should last minute
negotiations fail, the park will return the collection as required on December
31st. [Frank Walter, Superintendent, NEPE]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
OBSERVATIONS
Today's quote is the last from a series provided by Susan Garland of the
Intermountain Field Office:
"The American experience has been the confrontation by old peoples and cultures
of a world as new as if it has just risen from the sea. That gave us our hope
and our excitement, and the hope and excitement can be passed on to newer
Americans, Americans who never saw any phase of the frontier, but only so long
as we keep the remainder of our wild as a reserve and a promise - a sort of
wilderness bank...We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we
never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of
reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of
hope."
Wallace Stegner, from a 1960
letter to the Outdoor
Recreation Resources Review
Commission
Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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