NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, July 19, 1999

                               *** NOTICE ***

There will be no Morning Reports between Tuesday, July 20th, and Friday, July
30th, due to the editor's out-of-country travel.  The Morning Report will
resume on August 2nd.  Incident report submitters are reminded of the
criteria for submission contained in the memorandum issued last year entitled
"1998 Incident Reporting Procedures" (soon to be reissued without substantial
change), which call for simultaneous reporting of major incidents to several
parties.  An informational copy follows.

INCIDENTS

99-381 - Glen Canyon NRA (AZ/UT) - ARPA Case
     
D.D., a teacher at Kellogg Middle School (KMS, city and state not
given), organized and supervised an archaeological field trip to the park for
a group of KMS students in the early spring of 1994.  The trip was known at
the school as the "Lake Powell Expedition, 1994."  The students belonged to a
school archaeological society that D.D. organized and supervised as advisor. 
The student club was organized and conducted in conjunction with an inter-
disciplinary curriculum (history, language arts, math and science) that
focused on the study of ancient civilizations which was called "Digging the
Past."  The field trip was approved by the school's principal, the
superintendent of the school district, and the district's board of education. 
At no time during either the planning stages of this student group activity
or the field trip itself did D.D. or anyone associated with the school seek
guidance, assistance, a student briefing, or any information concerning
archaeological resource protection and/or the federal laws and regulations
pertaining to them.  The itinerary for the expedition included a visit to an
archaeological site known as Crumbling Kiva Ruin, located just west of the
better known Defiance House archaeological site in Forgotten Canyon.  D.D.
actively encouraged and counseled the students to search for, find, and
remove prehistoric artifacts at the ruin.  The students disturbed the surface
and subsurface of several structures within the ruin by digging with
collapsible shovels and removing several artifacts.  On May 6, 1999, D.D.
entered into a pre-trial diversion agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office
that included the following:  

o     Restoration to the park in the amount of $1,079. 
o     Supervised probation for 18 months. 
o     A requirement to write, edit and submit a manuscript for publication to
      the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Association
      of Secondary School Principals, the National Middle School Association,
      and the Society for American Archaeology's Public Education Committee. 
      The manuscript, which will be entitled "A Case Study: Students on Field
      Trip Damage Federal Archaeological Site - Mistakes Made and Lessons
      Learned by Their Teacher," will be reviewed by the Archeology and
      Ethnography Program, WASO.  D.D. will also have to make oral
      presentations on the manuscript to the Rocky Mountain Regional Council,
      the National Council for the Social Studies (at their spring, 2000,
      conference in Colorado), and the Idaho Middle Level Association or Utah
      Middle School Association.  
o     Payment of $1,065 in restitution by the school district to cover the
      park's investigative costs.

Assistant U.S. attorney Wayne Dance was the prosecutor and instrumental in
arriving at the successful resolution to a very difficult case.  [Jim
Houseman, CI, GLCA, 7/9]

99-382 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Falling Fatality
     
On the afternoon of Saturday, July 7th, S.P., 31, a park visitor
from Diamond Bar, California, died when he slid into the rapid current of the
Merced River while soaking his feet near the top of 600-foot Nevada Falls and
was swept over the edge.  Witnesses saw S.P. go over the brink of the falls
and were able to point out the location where he landed.  Rangers recovered
his body from that location a few hours later.  [Jana Pederson, PR, Valley
District, YOSE, 7/16] 

99-383 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (PA/NJ) - MVA with Fire, Spill

A northbound tractor trailer went off the east side of Route 209 north of
Bushkill at 4:30 a.m. on July 16th.  The truck hit a large tree and came to
rest against a utility pole, where it burst into flames.  The driver, Edward
Hechman, kicked out the back window of the cab and escaped the burning
vehicle.  The fire was suppressed by a local fire department, and the driver
was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital, where he is in stable condition.  The
tractor was totally consumed by the fire.  About 90 gallons of diesel fuel
was spilled; it was cleaned up on the 17th.  The highway was closed and
traffic was detoured for about four hours.  [Ed Whitaker, DR, Pennsylvania
District, DEWA, 7/16]

99-384 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Rescue

On July 10th, rangers responded to two calls of foot entrapments at Big
Baloney Rapid, a class II rapid on the New River.  Both rescues involved
children who were on commercial "duckie" trips with licensed outfitters.  A
duckie is an inflatable kayak; customers paddle the duckie by themselves and
are accompanied by at least one guide in a support raft and a guide in a
safety kayak.  The first rescue involved a nine-year-old boy who broached his
boat on a rock, fell out, and apparently tried to stand up in the rapid.  His
foot became stuck under the upstream side of a large rock located near the
middle of the river.  The rest of his body was forced downstream in a head-
down position.  Guides on the trip reacted quickly, stabilizing his body in a
position that kept his head above the surface of the water.  As rangers were
arriving on scene, the guides were able to pull his leg out from under the
rock.  He was treated for shock and transported to a local hospital.  The
second call came minutes after rangers cleared from the first incident.  This
incident occurred in exactly the same location as the first, and on the same
rock.  The victim was a six-year-old boy on a duckie trip with another
rafting company.  As in the first incident, the boy's foot became lodged
under the rock when he fell out of the boat.  Rescuers were able to swim to
the boy and free his leg without the use of ropes or other technical
equipment.  He suffered only minor injuries and was treated and released at a
local hospital.  [Rick Brown, Protection Operations Leader, NERI, 7/11]

99-385 - Badlands NP (SD) - Multiple Incidents

Rangers responded to several significant incidents over a two-day period last
week.  Early on the morning of July 7th, ranger Tim Rand came upon a vehicle
parked at an area known to contain significant fossil resources.  Rand saw
three people employ rock hammers to break apart rock nodules. The three were
discovered to be in possession of approximately 15 fossils, primarily
baculites and ammonites, which had been removed from the park.  An additional
50 fossils were seized from the vehicle until their origins can be
determined.  Two of the subjects were foreign nationals and were cited under
36 CFR 2.1, possession of fossilized paleontological resources.  A grand jury
indictment is being sought for the third subject, who is a graduate student
in paleontology at the University of Michigan.  While the fossil theft
investigation was underway, rangers responded to a report of a fee collector
at the Pinnacles entrance station being assaulted.  A foreign national who
had been refused a fee waiver reached into the booth and assaulted the fee
collector. The subject was arrested and charged with felony assault and
interfering with an agency function.  He pled guilty to a state charge of
disorderly conduct the following day and was fined $100, put on probation for
six months, and has now left the country.  At 4:15 a.m. the next morning,
rangers responded to a 911 report of a motor vehicle accident at the
concession area involving an unconscious, intoxicated driver.  The man had
been involved in an assault outside of the park, then had stolen a bicycle,
entered the park, stolen a concession vehicle and wrecked the vehicle after
driving it a short distance.  He was arrested and is being charged with
felony theft, driving under the influence, and other charges.  That
afternoon, rangers responded to a report of an injured woman in the Saddle
Pass area.  She was found with a suspected broken ankle in the midst of a
series of steep chimneys.  Rangers set up a lowering system to evacuate the
woman; she was then carried through a system of narrow gullies to the
trailhead, where she was transported to Rapid City Regional Hospital. 
Immediately following the technical rescue, rangers responded to an ankle
injury on the west side of the park.  The woman was found at the base of a
steep badlands wall, approximately 300 feet below the Sage Creek Rim road.  A
multi-agency team of park employees and local rescue personnel evacuated the
victim after locating a non-technical route to her location.  [Scott Lopez,
CR, BADL, 7/10]

99-386 - Badlands NP (SD) - Assault; Resisting Arrest

On July 12th, off-duty ranger Mark Gorman saw a sedan traveling across the
prairie and badlands formations directly across from Cedar Pass Lodge.  The
vehicle crossed a highway and park land behind the lodge before stopping at
the lodge's employee entrance.  Gorman contacted the female driver after she
got out of the car and found that she'd just been assaulted by her
intoxicated boyfriend, who was still in the vehicle.  Gorman asked for
assistance and was backed up by chief ranger Scott Lopez.  The boyfriend was
determined to be both drunk and unlicensed.  He began yelling obscenities at
Lopez and demanded to be arrested.  When Lopez attempted to handcuff him, he
pulled away and ran toward the Cedar Pass campground.  He was found behind a
lodge building and arrested.  The man repeatedly threatened Lopez while being
taken to jail.  The rangers learned what had happened during the
investigation that ensued.  The man had driven to the lodge to pick up the
woman from work.  She found that he was drunk and tried to talk him out of
driving.  He instead went into a rage and drove the car off the road into a
ditch.  One of the vehicle's occupants struck his jaw on a door, possibly
fracturing it; an unrestrained two-year-old in the back seat had been tossed
around.  The man was charged with DUI, assault and interfering with an agency
function.  State charges of vehicular battery may also be filed.  [Scott
Lopez, CR, BADL, 7/14]

99-387 - Gulf Islands NS (FL/MS) - Drug Seizure

A visitor walking along the beach in the Perdido Key area on July 10th found
a package with a hermetically sealed clear-plastic outer wrap.  He opened the
package to find a black latex inner wrap, then two individually wrapped,
rectangular packages inside the inner wrap.  Each package measured
approximately six inches by nine inches by two inches and bore two gold seals
embossed with "Republic of Columbia."  He reported the packages to ranger Tom
Howell and led him to their location.  Howell photographed and weighed the
suspected contraband before securing it in an evidence locker.  The packages
were turned over to a Customs agent on July 12th.  Each contained a kilo of
cocaine with a street value of about $23,000.  The agent told Howell that
they were nearly identical to a recent cocaine recovery he investigated in
the area of Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  On July 11th, a package of suspected
contraband was found by a park visitor on Petit Bois Island in the
Mississippi District.  The package was picked up by a local police officer
and has since been turned over to Customs.  [Skip Prange, ACT, GUIS, 7/14]

99-388 - Organ Pipe Cactus NM (AZ) - Drug Seizure
     
On July 13th, a ranger assisted Border Patrol agents with the seizure of 448
pounds of marijuana.  The agents employed night vision equipment to detect
ten "backpackers" along Highway 85 within the park.  Once they realized they
had been detected, the packers dropped their loads and fled into the desert. 
Air observers, tracking teams, and lookouts failed to locate them.  [Karl
Pearson, ACR, ORPI, 7/13]  

99-389 - Indiana Dunes NL (IN) - Car Clouts

On June 11th, rangers Bill Tadych and Gordie Zwick saw four young men walking
through the West Beach parking lot and occasionally ducking down behind cars. 
One subsequently entered an unlocked car twice and removed a portable CD
player, adapter cords and 14 CDs.  He gave some of the items to each of his
three friends, who put them inside their baggy swim trunks.  Tadych and Zwick
attempted to contact them, but they fled from the area.  Tadych saw them
talking to other young people on the beach before he lost sight of them,
however, and obtained the boys' names from their friends.  All attend a local
high school.  Tadych arranged to interview three of the juveniles with their
parents present.  They admitted to the theft, with each putting much of the
blame on the others.  The fourth juvenile, who was identified by his friends
as the one who entered the car and removed the items, is known to the county
juvenile department.  The case was referred to the local juvenile department
for further action.  This latest case brings to eleven the number of car
clouters who have been identified and referred to either the federal court or
local juvenile authorities over the last three years.  [Rich Littlefield, CR,
INDU, 7/13]   

99-390 - Santa Monica Mountains NRA (CA) - Arson

An arson fire was set on park lands on the afternoon of July 15th which
burned 84 acres of grasslands at Rancho Sierra Vista.   Ventura County
firefighters were first on scene; a park crew and engine were second on
scene, by which time the fire was approximately three acres in size.   The
fire, which burned in light fuels and was carried by light easterly winds,
was contained by 6 p.m. and controlled by 8 p.m.  An arson investigator found
a book of burnt matches, several aerosol cans and an empty can of carburetor
cleaner at the point of origin, the south end of a culvert on Potrero Road.  
Witness reported seeing three young boys running away from that location
shortly before they saw the smoke.  The fire is still under investigation by
rangers and county arson investigators.  [Jon Dick, SAMO, 7/15]

99-391 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - MVA with Fatality and Injuries

Five people were injured and one killed in a single-vehicle accident that
occurred around 9:30 p.m. on July 16th near Tower Fall in the northern
portion of the park.  All but one worked for park concessioners.  It appears
that the driver was going too fast, went off the road on a curve, then
overcorrected, causing the car to leave the road, go over a cliff, and fall
about 100 feet to Tower Creek.  A.D., 22, of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, who worked for Amfac Parks and Resorts at Roosevelt Lodge, was
pronounced dead at the scene.  The other five occupants were taken to Lake
Hospital with a variety of minor injuries, such as scrapes and bruises.  One
was then transferred to West Park Hospital in Cody because of a possible head
injury.  Park personnel responded from Mammoth Hot Springs, Tower, Lamar,
Northeast, Canyon, Norris and Madison.  Technical rescue and water rescue
techniques were required to remove the victims from the scene.  The accident
is currently under investigation.  None of the occupants were wearing
seatbelts at the time of the accident. [Public Affairs, YELL, 7/17]

99-392 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (NJ/PA) - Suicide

Ranger Mike Fernalld came upon a truck parked in a unusual spot along a dirt
road in a low visitor use area in the New Jersey District just after 10 p.m.
on Friday, July 16th.  He found a suicide note taped to the steering wheel of
the vehicle.  The body of R.Y., 65, of Landing, New Jersey, was found
a short distance away.  He had apparently died from a self-inflicted shotgun
wound to the chest.  The incident is being investigated by the New Jersey
State Police and the NPS. [Brad Clawson, Ops Supervisor, DEWA, 7/17]       

99-393 - Mount Rushmore NM (SD) - Special Event

President Clinton and a large entourage made a short notice visit to the park
on the evening of July 6th.  The president was in the area to make a major
speech at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on July 7th.  The park had been
aware for more than a month that a presidential visit was possible, but was
formally notified only 75 minutes before his arrival.  Included in the
president's party were South Dakota senators Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson,
South Dakota congressman John Thune, several senators and congressman from
other states, two cabinet secretaries, reverend Jesse Jackson, and other
dignitaries.  President Clinton arrived just after 9 p.m., toured the new
museum, then watched the evening lighting of the Mount Rushmore sculpture. 
Approximately 3,000 people were in the park for the evening program and
pressed into quickly established rope lines in order to see the president. 
After talking with numerous visitors, the president met briefly with NPS
officials and the state congressional delegation and talked about the need
for more funding for the protection and management of national parks.  He
talked about how people of ordinary means can have the same great experiences
as millionaires at Mount Rushmore and other national parks and said that we
need to do all we can to provide those opportunities.  He departed the park
after about an hour.  There were no serious incidents during the visit. 
[Mike Pflaum, CR, MORU, 7/12]