NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Wednesday, May 1, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

93-811 - Fossil Butte (Wyoming) - Follow-up on Burglary

Burglars broke into the park visitor center in November, 1993, and stole
three portable radios and two chargers.  When they broke the window, however,
they set off the building's intrusion system and fled the area.  A joint
investigation by the NPS, BLM, FBI and county sheriff's office led to the
arrest of B.C. and B.W. on burglary and related charges. 
B.C. was recently sentenced to between one and three years in prison
(suspended), with one year in a community alternative living center, and has
been ordered to pay just over $2,500 in restitution for the burglary.  B.W.
was allowed to plead no contest to receiving stolen property and was
sentenced to two to five years in prison and ordered to pay a $500 fine. 
B.C. admitted to the crime and implicated B.W., who continues to deny
involvement.  B.C. has indicated that the two intended to steal fossils
from the visitor center exhibits.  [Andy Banta, CR, FOBU]

96-173 - Amistad (Texas) - Explosives

On the evening of April 28th, park visitors discovered an unexploded, high-
explosive 81 millimeter mortar round and a .38 caliber revolver in a leather
case beneath the Highway 277 bridge.  Both items had been submerged for some
time, and were revealed by receding lake waters.  An Army emergency ordnance
disposal (EOD) team from Fort Sam Houston responded, removed the mortar round
to a safe area, and destroyed it with an explosive charge.  The bridge was
closed during the incident.  The EOD team advised that the shell was from the
Vietnam era and was definitely live.  Investigation into the firearm is
continuing.  [Rod Danner, CR, AMIS]

96-174 - Catoctin (Maryland) - Assist; Bombing Arrest

The detonation of a pipe bomb on an unoccupied Little League field in
Thurmont on April 27th led to a extended chase of the suspects by Thurmont
police and Maryland state troopers.  A state police helicopter reported that
the vehicle was entering the park and directed rangers Kempisty and Voight to
a successful interception as the juvenile driver and his passenger attempted
to leave the park.  Subsequent investigation by state authorities revealed
that the two were in the process of making additional pipe bombs, and that
they had allegedly thrown a Molotov cocktail at a Thurmont home earlier in
the day.  The boys were charged by the state with manufacturing explosives,
bombing a building, assault, eluding authorities, and other violations.  [R.
Steintl, CR, CATO]

96-175 - Prince William (Virginia) - Assist; Armed Robbery Arrest 

On April 27th, ranger Jim Culver saw a vehicle with front end damage and its
headlights off heading the wrong way up an on-ramp to Interstate 95.  The
operator got out of the car immediately after Culver stopped him and told the
ranger that he was lost and had just struck a guardrail.  Shortly thereafter,
a passing motorist stopped and told Culver that the man had just held up a
gas station.  Culver arrested him without incident and turned him over to
county police.  The gas station attendant subsequently made a positive
identification of the suspect.  A search of the vehicle led to the discovery 
of the hold-up weapon, an air-wrench socket.  [PRWI] 

96-176 - Cape Lookout (North Carolina) - Body Found

The body of a 30 to 40-year-old man washed ashore on North Core Banks near
Drum Inlet on April 29th.  The unidentified man, who apparently was not in
the water for more than a few days, was fully dressed.  Both legs were broken
below the knees and a rope was tied around his right ankle.  Two loops were
tied in the rope, indicating that the body may have been weighted down when
thrown into the water.  Although no identification was found, rangers
discovered a laminated newspaper article in his rear pocket which described
the 1991 death of a Maryland woman and listed the names of her three sons. 
An investigation is underway.  [CALO]

96-177 - George Washington Birthplace (Virginia) - Public Event

The park celebrated the 100th anniversary of the United States' commemoration
of Washington's birthplace on April 20th.  In April, 1896, a 50-foot granite
obelisk was raised near the spot where the home stood.  Deputy director John
Reynolds and chief historian Dwight Pitcaithley spoke; several performers,
including an actor portraying George Washington, provided entertainment. 
Twelve Washington-related sites, including Valley Forge, Independence, the
Washington Monument, George Washington Memorial Parkway, Colonial, and Mount
Vernon, sent interpreters and set-up displays.  [John Frye, GEWA]

96-178 - RTCA Field Office (Wisconsin) - Public Event

A new natural resource information center in downtown Milwaukee, known as
America's Outdoors: Center for Conservation, Recreation and Resources, was
dedicated on April 22nd.  The center is jointly sponsored by the Forest
Service, BLM and the National Park Service (through a Rivers, Trails and
Conservation Assistance field office).  The center will provide a single
location for information about national, state and local outdoor recreation
areas, opportunities to learn more about nature, and a professional staff to
assist citizen-based conservation projects.  [Wink Hastings, RTCA]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE SUMMARY

                                                                     %   Est
State      Unit                Fire          IMT     4/30      5/1  Con  Con

NM    Santa Fe NF            Dome             T2   14,600   15,130   30  5/3

AZ    Coronado NF            Clark Peak       T2    2,735    2,905   50  5/3
                           * Slate            T2        -      250   30  5/4
      Tonto NF               Lone             T2   35,200   42,100   10  5/4

CO    San Juan NF            Snow Springs     T2      406      406   90  5/1

CA    Los Padres NF          Grand            --   10,100   10,366   48  5/4
      San Diego RU           Otay #121        --      700    1,050   30  5/2

Heading Notes

     Unit --    Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
                or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
                district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
     Fire --    * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
                limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
                strategy
     IMT --     T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
     % Con --   Percent of fire contained
     Est Con -- Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
                containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report

FIRE NARRATIVES 

Santa Fe NF/Bandelier NM - Efforts continued yesterday to contain the
critical north flank of the fire in order to protect the community of Los
Alamos and the national laboratories there.  Holding and mop-up efforts are
continuing to secure the perimeter.

FIRES AND ACRES BURNED

                NPS     BIA      BLM     FWS    States     USFS      Total

Number            2      23        0       0       178       47        250
Acres Burned    400      78        0       0     2,144      529      3,151

COMMITTED RESOURCES 

               Crews     Engines     Helicopters     Airtankers     Overhead

Federal          107        60           21              13            623
Non-federal       72        68           12               5            247

CURRENT SITUATION 

Large fires in the Southwest continued to burn actively yesterday.  Initial
attack was moderate, considering the hot and dry conditions.  Forty-six
unites in the Southwest are reporting very high to extreme fire indices. 
Resource mobilization through NICC continues to decline.

NATIONAL OUTLOOK 

Fire activity is expected to continue in the Southwest and southern
California.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/1]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Incident Reports - Offices submitting incident summaries for the Morning
Report need to assure that their reports contain the following ON THE REPORT
itself:

o the name of submitting person, her or his title, and the name of the
submitting park;
o the full names of the park personnel involved, when and if appropriate
for inclusion;
o the names, or at least the genders, of the "suspects", "alleged
perpetrators," and "subjects", when permissible to release.

Submitters should also take a minute to review their reports - or, better,
have an uninvolved second party review them - to assure that they make sense
and that all relevant information is included, and should make a concerted
effort to avoid jargon, acronyms and other specialized terminology.  [Bill
Halainen, RAD/WASO @ DEWA]

Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) - The WASO Office of Strategic
Planning is now putting out a GPRA newsletter and news on strategic planning
on the WASO strategic planning bulletin board.  Please check it for current
updates on strategic planning and GPRA.  Interested parties can get on the
bulletin board by contacting their hub coordinators or by contacting WASO
Strategic Planning at NP-DSC-AP.  [Heather Huyck, OSP/WASO]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

Archeological Field Assessments - Bering Land Bridge contains more than 300
documented archeological sites spread throughout its 2.7 million acres.  This
summer, they will be developing a protocol to allow field personnel to
conduct follow-up evaluations of archeological observations and compare
indicators to assess current conditions and measure changes.  They're
interested in obtaining any "handbooks" or other guidance that other areas
have prepared to allow general personnel to conduct LAC, VIM or field
assessments of resource conditions.  If you can help, contact Rich Harris at
NP-BELA.

Cave Lighting - Timpanogos Cave is seeking NPS electricians who have
experience in wiring and installing lights in developed caves.  They'd like
to hear from such folks, and are also interested in hearing from maintenance
workers who might be interested in a detail to help them install new lights
that the park has acquired.  Once funding is acquired, they hope to be able
to pay wages and M&IE for two electricians and two workers for a six- to
eight-week detail.  Contact resource management specialist Rodney D. Horrocks
at NP-TICA or at 801-756-5239.

OBSERVATIONS

No responses as of yet on the identity of Phillip Elwood, provider of
yesterday's "Observation."  Okay - how about the identity of today's
selection, another from the 1950s compilation disseminated by the Department?

"You may guess that I have become 'sold' on the national park idea.  I have -
and in a big way.  Whether one seeks beauty, amusement or education, one is
sure to find it, efficiently organized, but with the iron hand of regulation
craftily concealed beneath the velvet of a real desire to serve."

                                       Howard Vincent O'Brien, from
                                       "Quotable Quotes: Relating to
                                       Conservation in General and the
                                       National Parks in Particular,"
                                       Department of Interior

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
office and/or field area cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please address requests
for the Morning Report to your servicing hub coordinator.

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

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