NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, June 4, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-231 - Death Valley NP (CA/NV) - Attempted Armed Robbery

A visitor from Turkey reported that two men in dune buggies attempted to take
his camera from him somewhere between Scotty's Castle and the town of Big
Pine on the afternoon of June 1st.  The report was made to county and state
officers.  The visitor also reported that the two men had aimed an M-16 rifle
and a .45 caliber handgun at him as he fled.  Rangers, California Highway
Patrol officers, and Inyo County deputies responded by air and land.  Rangers
found vehicle tracks and footprints in the vicinity of Crankshaft Junction
which may corroborate the report  They followed the vehicle tracks to the
point where they left the park, heading toward Fish Lake Valley.  The county
is leading the investigation.  [Scot McElveen, ACR, DEVA, 6/2]

99-232 - Olympic NP (WA) - Carjacking; Attempted Kidnapping

On the evening of Saturday, May 29th, two men, ages 22 and 16, approached a
woman sitting in her van near a rented cabin at the Kalaloch Lodge, located
on the coastal strip of Olympic National Park.  The 22-year-old knocked on
the driver's window; while she was distracted, the 16-year-old entered the
van via the unlocked passenger's door and struck her with his fist.  He then
unlocked the driver's door to allow the other man to enter.  Although they
continued the assault and tried to restrain her and drive away, she fought
back and managed to open a door and fall out, sustaining only minor injuries. 
The two men fled the area with the stolen van and drove north on U.S. 101
toward Forks, Washington.  Over the course of the next 20 miles, they struck
a motorhome which was parked on the road shoulder, repeatedly rammed a second
vehicle, causing it to rollover and injuring the driver, and rammed a third
vehicle numerous times before finally disabling the van.  During the latter
ramming, they forced a state Department of Natural resources officer who was
responding to the carjacking off the road.  The men abandoned the van and
fled into the woods.  A search was begun by rangers and officers from
numerous agencies.  During the search, officers came upon a keg party with
several minors participating, informed them of what had occurred, and told
them to leave the area.  While en route back home to Forks, these young
people picked up two men who were hitchhiking.  They realized that the two
might be the men wanted for the carjacking and accordingly drove them to the
Forks police department, where they were placed under arrest and are being
detained on state charges.  The U.S. attorney in Seattle has been contacted
and federal charges are pending.  Criminal investigator Clay Butler was the
lead investigator on the entire incident.  [Bill Frazier, Supervisory CI,
OLYM, 6/2]

99-233 - Glen Canyon NRA (AZ/UT) - Memorial Day Weekend

The park had another busy Memorial Day weekend.  A multi-agency task force
worked together to manage the park over the weekend, including park staff and
representatives from five county sheriff's departments from Arizona and Utah,
the Arizona Highway Patrol, the Utah Highway Patrol, wildlife and state park
agencies from both states, the Coast Guard auxiliary, and the Navajo tribal
police.  Together, they made 47 arrests and issued 150 citations.  The
increased protection coverage, however, limited violent encounters to just
one assault.  Rangers also responded to 34 EMS calls, eight SAR incidents,
and several hundred visitor assists.  There was one drowning on Monday
evening.  Both statistics and observations by park staff confirm a continuing
trend toward a more traditional, family-oriented environment for park
visitors.  This has come about because of inter-agency cooperation and
support, extended hours of patrol coverage, check points, camping
reservations at selected beaches, and the continued closure of Hobie Cat
Beach, a notorious problem spot in previous years.  [CRO, GLCA, 6/2]

99-234 - Cumberland Gap NHP (TN/KY/VA) - Search

The Lee County Sheriff's Office received a report of an overdue horseback
rider on Monday, May 31st.  The report was passed on to the park, and a
search was begun.  J.S., 19, of Sneedsville, Tennessee, was last seen
on his horse that afternoon, galloping east on the 17-mile-long Ridge trail,
which has several feeder trails that connect from the valley below.  J.S.'s
cousins and riding partners reported that he was riding a two-year-old stud
that had been troublesome most of the day.  Five of J.S.'s companions were
already searching for him despite the late hour, and four others were about
to leave the trailhead.  A ranger was stationed at the historic Hensley
Settlement for containment purposes, and another searched the trail and
rounded up J.S.'s friends and relatives.  The search intensified on Tuesday
morning.  Around 3 p.m., J.S. contacted local residents, who gave him a ride
to Middlesboro, Kentucky, to meet family members.  J.S. reported that he'd
been thrown from his horse.  He became disoriented while trying to find his
way out and began following a stream course in the opposite direction from
the trailhead.  He apparently followed the Sand Cave Branch, located in the
most remote and rugged section of the park - an area known as 'Wild River'
that is noted for its extremely rough terrain and dense vegetation.  J.S.
suffered only cuts and abrasions and no serious injuries.  The whereabouts of
his horse is unknown.  [Heidi Rieck, PR, CUGA, 6/1-2]

99-235 - National Capital Parks (DC) - Rescue

Maryland state police asked the Park Police for assistance in locating a
downed aircraft on the morning of June 2nd.  The USPP helicopter Eagle
responded to the area, a densely wooded location about a half mile from the
runway at Potomac Airfield in Clinton.  Eagle crew members spotted part of
the downed aircraft's wing suspended at the top of a tree, landed nearby in a
dangerously small clearing, and made their way through dense woods to the
aircraft.  They provided first aid to the pilot, who was conscious, until
fire department personnel arrived on scene.  The pilot was then extricated
from his aircraft and flown to Prince Georges General Hospital in Eagle. 
[Sgt. Robert McLean, USPP, 6/3]

99-236 - Western Arctic NP (AK) - Illegal Hunting Conviction

R.K., 52, the former police chief for Nome, Alaska, pled guilty on
May 26th to two big-game guiding violations for hunting-related incidents
that occurred near Bering Land Bridge NP in 1994 and 1995.  He was fined
$20,000 and placed on probation for one year as part of a plea agreement.  
R.K. was accused of failing to accompany two Montana residents into the
field while serving as their bear hunting guide, a violation of state law. 
The animals the hunters killed were shipped out of Alaska, which is a
violation of the Lacey Act.  In the second incident, R.K. allowed a
California hunter to kill a bear in an area where the hunter's permit was not
valid.  R.K. initially claimed that the bear was shot lawfully in the park,
but he lacked the required commercial use permit to guide hunters there.  The
actual kill site was subsequently found by investigators and was found to be
outside the park.  This bear had also been shipped to the Lower 48, violating
the Lacey Act.  R.K., a state-registered big-game guide, retired from the
Nome Police Department last year after serving as chief for 19 years.  The
charges stemmed from a joint federal/state investigation of big-game guiding
practices on the Seward Peninsula.  [Greg Dudgeon, CR, WEAR, 6/1]

99-237 - Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD) - Body Found

A park employee discovered a body lying face down in a grassy area adjacent
to the parkway on June 1st.  Park Police criminal investigators and
identification personnel investigated.  No obvious signs of trauma were found
on the body.  An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. 
[Sgt. Robert McLean, USPP, 6/3]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                      Tue     Wed    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT      6/1     6/2   Con  Con

FL    Osceola NF             Friendly         T1    53,800  64,000   20  6/15
      State                  Broken Creek     --       300     300   50  NR

NV    Ely District           Blue Garden      T2    10,000  10,000  100  CND

MN    Superior NF            Little Trout     --       177     140   20  6/5

NJ    State                * Woodmansie       --         -     394  100  CND

AZ    State                * Crossroads       --         -   1,200    0  NEC
      Yuma/Havasu District * Hidden           --         -     500  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; UNK = unknown; NR = no report
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

Sunday, 5/30         1      4        16       0       56     29       106
Monday, 5/31         4      4         6       0       63     22        99
Tuesday, 6/1         0      5         4       0      246     26       281  
Wednesday, 6/2       0      3         5       0       54      8        70  

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Sunday, 5/30       108        132          38             2           700
Monday, 5/31       114        106          40             0           720
Tuesday, 6/1        93        142          34             0           737
Wednesday, 6/2      73        161          27             0           668

CURRENT SITUATION

Moderate initial attack was reported on Wednesday in the Southwest.  There
was little activity elsewhere.  Very high or extreme fire indices were
reported in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Georgia.  [NICC Incident
Management Situation Report, 6/3]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Law Enforcement Needs Study - A web site survey procedure has been developed
to help gather information from parks on their law enforcement needs in the
following areas:

o     vehicles, vessels and aircraft
o     special law enforcement equipment
o     communications centers
o     capital construction projects

Instructions sent to the field by email last Friday were interrupted by a
software glitch - the memo was sent, but the instruction box would not
transmit on cc:Mail.  The problem has been corrected and the memo was
retransmitted on Tuesday night.  The memo was sent to each park
superintendent in both Word and Word Perfect formats.  You may use whichever
format applies in your park.  The due date for responses is June 21st.  For
most parks, the time required to complete the four surveys should be about
three hours.  Thanks to WASO Park Facilities Management Division for help in
developing the web site.  [Steve Shackelton]

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Great Smoky Mountains NP - Joseph Kolodski, father of ranger Joe Kolodski,
who was killed by a gunman last summer, died on Saturday, May 29th.  His
health had been declining since Joe's death last June.  Cards may be sent to
his wife, Jean Kolodski, at 425 Octorara Avenue, Parkesburg, PA 19365.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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
pertaining to receipt of 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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