NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, May 13, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-172 - Bighorn Canyon NRA (MT) - Boating Accident with Serious Injuries

M.S. crashed his 16-foot aluminum motorboat into the canyon wall in
Bighorn Lake at what appeared to be a high rate of speed on the afternoon of
April 30th.  M.S. and passenger A.A. sustained numerous injuries but
were able to motor back one mile to where they had stashed some gear.  Two
boaters found them and their now 14-foot boat the following day and called
911 from a cellular phone at Ok-A-Beh Marina.  Ranger John Osgood was first
to arrive on scene and performed patient assessments; ranger Wendy Bredow,
two local EMTS and a Big Horn County Sheriff's Office deputy, who responded
from the north end of the lake, provided treatment and transported the two
men via boat to the marina.  M.S. sustained tibia and fibula fractures
and was flown by helicopter to Saint Vincent's Hospital in Billings.  A.A.
sustained a patella fracture and was taken by ambulance to the same hospital. 
Both subsequently underwent surgery.  A.A. also suffered severe internal
injuries and is still hospitalized.  The investigation is continuing.  It
appears that M.S. was traveling too close to the canyon wall and was
operating a boat with an oversized engine and a possible mechanical problem
with the steering mechanism.  The two men may also have been under the
influence of alcohol.  [Chris Ryan, ACR, BICA, 5/10]

99-173 - Big Thicket NP (TX) - Spider Poaching
     
On the evening of March 23rd, park neighbors phoned ranger Regina Klein at
her residence to report a man spotlighting along a road in the Big Sandy
Creek Unit.  Klein found C.K. getting out of his rental car
with a headlamp on his head.  C.K., who is from Pennsylvania, said that
he was looking for black widow spiders, and that he had an order from Merck
Labs for 3,000 of them.  He denied that he was collecting in the park, but
had in his possession eight live black widows, several thousand collection
vials, and photography equipment.  C.K. said that he knew that
collecting was not allowed in the park because he had previously obtained a
collection permit from Grand Canyon NP in the early 90s and was familiar with
Park Service restrictions.  He also spoke of collecting spiders for his
business, Spider Pharm, Inc., in Arkansas, Arizona, and California.  After a
brief investigation and consultation with the U. S. attorney's office,
C.K. was cited for CFR violations for possession of wildlife,
possession of traps, and viewing wildlife with artificial light in a closed
area.  C.K. has paid his fines and a representative of Merck Labs has
confirmed that they flew C.K. into Houston for a week-long collection
trip where he had the potential to earn $9,000 for collected black widows. 
[Charles Boettcher, ACR, BITH, 5/11]

99-174 - Whiskeytown NRA (CA) - Suicide

Rangers received a report of a man down on Paige Bar Road near the
Whiskeytown cemetery around 8 p.m. on May 9th.  They discovered a pickup
truck parked in front of the cemetery, but found nobody in the area.  Ranger
Bill Watkins approached the vehicle on the driver's side and saw a man lying
on the front seat with a fatal wound to the left side of the head.  Further
investigation revealed a suicide note attached to the steering wheel column
and a written note on a $50 bill which read "Please bury me here."  A Colt
.357 was later discovered near the victim's head.  [Larry Carr, CR, WHIS,
5/10]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                      Tue     Wed    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT      5/11    5/12  Con  Con

FL   Everglades NP           Brown            --       400     600   40  5/14
     State                   Bonita Springs   --       400     400   50  NEC

MI   State                   Troll            --       875     770  100  CND 

                                  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

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Saturday, 5/8        0      1         0       0       31      5        37
Sunday, 5/9          4      0         0       1       55     14        74
Monday, 5/10         0      1         1       0      148     12       162
Tuesday, 5/11        0      2         0       1      141     10       154

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Saturday, 5/8       25         56          12             2           392
Sunday, 5/9         13         34          12             0           214
Monday, 5/10        19         39          12             2           245
Tuesday, 5/11       14         34           7             2           203

CURRENT SITUATION

Moderate fire activity was reported in the South on Tuesday; there were few
fires elsewhere.

Very high and extreme fire indices were reported in Quebec, Michigan,
Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.  [NICC Incident Management Situation Report,
5/12]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Kolodski Memorial Cookbook - "Cooking by Design," a cookbook which was
created as a fund-raiser for the family of ranger Joseph Kolodski, has been a
success.  All of the published books have been spoken for.  Last week, the
cookbook committee of the Harpers Ferry Center social activities committee
mailed a check for $10,050 to the family.  The committee has sent along this
message: "We thank everyone at the Center and the rest of the National Park
Service family for opening their hearts and making this possible.  Beginning
with the collection of tantalizing recipes to the sale of the books and the
donations we have received, this has been an experience everyone should be
proud of.  We wish Florie Takaki and her family well and hope this small
gesture will help with the expenses of raising a family."  [Juanita Gustines,
HFC]

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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