NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, March 10, 1999

INCIDENTS

98-113 - Lake Mead NRA (NV/AZ) - Follow-up: Fatal Boating Accident 

A high-performance 47-foot Fountain "cigarette" boat, valued at $375,000, ran
aground at high speed in upper Boulder Basin east of Burro Point some time
after midnight on the morning of March 23, 1998.  Four of the seven occupants
were killed; three, including the operator, M.Y., were injured.  The
deceased were M.Y.'s wife, C.Y., 44, M.K., 26, E.C., 27,
and P.E., 47.  On Monday, February 1st, M.Y. pled guilty to four
counts of manslaughter in Mohave County superior court in Kingman, Arizona. 
On March 3rd, M.Y. was sentenced to four years in prison for the death of
Cason and ordered to pay $4,700 in restitution to E.C.'s family.  He was
also sentenced to concurrent, seven-year probation periods for the three
other deaths and must perform 1,000 hours of community service.  [Paul
Crawford, SPR, Boulder Basin District, LAME, 3/8]

98-632 - Redwood N&SP (CA) - Follow-up: Resource Violations

Rangers received a report of three people with knives acting suspiciously on
Cal Barrel Road on September 26, 1998.  They found an unoccupied van on the
road; in plain view were recently collected plants.  About 20 minutes later,
three people were confronted as they approached the van.  They admitted to
collecting two redwood burls and 16 pieces of three types of fungus, the
largest of which measured 26 by 17 inches.  Park biologists determined that
it took about 17 years to grow to that size.  The trio admitted to collecting
the items because they were in demand for commercial use by artists who paint
and draw on the fungus' flat surfaces and carve burls into various forms.  A
search of the van led to the discovery of knives, marijuana, and drug
paraphernalia.  All three suspects were convicted in county district court
this month and fined $430.  The state is considering billing them to recover
costs for damages and the investigation.  Illegal mushroom picking is a
growing problem in the four inter-connected parks.  A Humboldt State
University fungi study plot that had been closely monitored for seven years
was recently plundered by mushroom pickers.  This theft will have serious
implications for the park's efforts to better understand the mycological
realm.  [Paige Ritterbush, PR, REDW, 3/8]

99-73 - Death Valley NP (CA) - Airplane Crash

On the afternoon of February 26th, L.B., 59, of Lawndale,
California, was landing his rented Cessna 172 Skyhawk at the Furnace Creek
airport when he overshot his approach and crashed off the runway, flipping
the airplane.  L.B. and his passenger, Peter Machin, 53, were able to get
out of the plane after it flipped and were not injured.  L.B. said that
the plane skidded off the runway after he applied the breaks; the plane
flipped over when the landing gear hit the dirt at the end of the runway. 
The accident is being investigated by the NTSB and the FAA.  [Scot McElveen,
Acting CR, DEVA, 3/9]

99-74 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (PA/NJ) - B&E; Theft of Cultural Resources

Ranger Ron Matthews came upon and investigated vehicle tracks going one way
down a dirt access road to the Delaware River on Sunday, March 7th.  The
tracks led him to two men who were looting a secured historic structure. 
Investigation by Matthews and ranger Mike Croll revealed that the two men had
been to four other historic structures in the park that afternoon and had
forced their way into at least two of them.  Their vehicle contained a pot-
bellied stove and other cultural artifacts.  Both men have extensive criminal
histories, including convictions stemming from thefts and possession of
stolen property.  They were arrested and incarcerated pending initial
appearance before the magistrate on charges of trespassing and
misappropriation of property.  [Wayne Valentine, Acting DR, New Jersey
District, DEWA, 3/9]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

Yellowstone NP (WY) - Bison Management Plan

The draft plan for management of bison in and around the park has received
more than 67,000 public comments from across the country and around the
world.  The park has just released a summary analysis of these comments which
details the areas of support and concern generated by the draft plan.  During
the public comment period on the draft EIS, the park received 67,520 letters
containing 212,249 individual comments.  The dominant themes in the letters
were bison management and the alternatives for bison management presented in
the draft EIS.  The EIS was jointly developed by the state of Montana, the
NPS, the Forest Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS).  The comment period on the draft EIS lasted from June 12 through
November 2, 1998.  Comments were received from federal and state agencies,
tribes, non-governmental organizations, and interested individuals from every
state in the United States and 66 countries throughout the world.  The
cooperating state and federal agencies will now use the public comments to
revise the draft EIS and correct errors, incorporate relevant new
information, and evaluate new proposed alternatives.   The report on the
summary of public comments is now available.  Copies may be obtained by
writing to the Bison Management Plan EIS Team (Sarah Bransom, DSC-RP, P.O.
Box 25287, Denver, Colorado 80225-0287), by calling 303-969-2251, or by
visiting the web site at http://www.nps.gov/planning/current.htm. [PIO, YELL,
3/9]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No entries.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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

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