NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT
     
     
     To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices
     
     From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
     
     Day/Date:   Tuesday, November 16, 1999
     
                              *** NOTICE ***
     
     There was no Morning Report on Monday, November 15th, due to technical 
     problems.
     
     INCIDENTS
     
     99-670 - Glacier Bay NP&P (AK) - Search; Probable Sinking
     
     An interagency search of park waters for a missing 52-foot sailboat 
     was suspended late last week.  The boat, operated by D.P., 52, 
     departed from Mt. View, California, in September.  D.P., who was 
     making a solo trip to southeast Alaska, was last heard from on October 
     25th when he stopped to refuel his sailboat in Hoonah.  A friend of 
     D.P.'s reported him overdue on November 5th, and an extensive air 
     search was begun.  On November 6th, a private vessel found a 
     custom-built teak refrigerator floating in the park.  The description 
     of the refrigerator and its contents confirmed that it was from 
     D.P.'s sailboat.  Search efforts continued through the weekend; some 
     floating debris was found, but no additional clues on the whereabouts 
     of the vessel.  A storm on Halloween night may have been a 
     contributing factor in the vessel's disappearance.  A commercial 
     fisherman operating in park waters that day reported that winds 
     exceeded 100 mph and that seas were running between 12 and 18 feet.  
     NPS, Coast Guard and CAP searchers logged more than 80 search hours 
     before suspending efforts to find D.P.  [Rick Perkins, Acting DR, 
     GLBA, 11/13]
     
     99-671 - Richmond NBP (VA) - ARPA Case
     
     On February 15th, ranger Barry Krieg came upon a contractor for Bell 
     Atlantic-Virginia trenching and digging two holes for a new 
     underground telephone line on park land along Battlefield Park Road.  
     Krieg ordered the work to be halted immediately, as the park had no 
     prior knowledge of this project.  The contractor was also planning to 
     trench through the adjacent Civil War era earthworks.  A damage 
     assessment was completed by NER archeologist Allen Cooper which 
     documented monetary damage of $8,789.45.  Further investigation 
     revealed that the excavation was in direct violation of an existing 
     right-of-way agreement between the park and Bell Atlantic for 
     maintaining underground telephone cables located in the area.  A 
     notice of violation letter was sent to the company, requesting payment 
     for the cost of the archeological assessment and all site restoration 
     work.  Representatives from the park and Bell Atlantic subsequently 
     met and worked out an arrangement whereby Bell Atlantic paid $1,856.49 
     to cover all costs incurred.  [Tim Mauch, SPR, RICH, 11/10]
     
     99-672 - Pea Ridge NMP (AR) - Resource Violation; Pursuit
     
     On the night of Friday, November 5th, ranger Robert Still and an 
     Arkansas Game and Fish officer conducted a surveillance operation in 
     the park.  They saw a man in a pickup truck spotlighting deer around 3 
     a.m. and approached the truck with the emergency lights of Still's 
     patrol vehicle activated.  The driver - subsequently identified as 
     M.M., 25 - fled the area at a high rate of speed.  Still and 
     the game officer pursued.  They notified the county sheriff's office, 
     and several deputies joined the chase.  The truck reached speeds near 
     90 mph.  The chase went on for over four miles, ending only when 
     M.M. lost control of his pickup and went off the dirt road and hit a 
     tree.  M.M. was arrested, taken into custody, and charged by local 
     authorities with spotlighting game, reckless endangerment, and 
     speeding.  No injuries were reported.  Still will present the case to 
     the assistant U.S. attorney for possible federal charges.  [CRO, PERI, 
     11/8]
     
     99-673 - Coronado NM (AZ) - Resource Violation
     
     Rangers contacted a couple acting suspiciously within a quarter mile 
     of the visitor center in mid-October.  They saw a man arise from a 
     crouching position in front of his parked vehicle, then attempt to 
     wipe off a blood-stained knife on his shorts.  At the same time, they 
     saw a woman hastily place what appeared to be a broomstick in the rear 
     of their truck's camper shell.  In the immediate vicinity was a 
     freshly crushed and decapitated Sonoran Mountain king snake.  The 
     couple admitted to jointly killing the snake.  A check for 'wants and 
     warrants' revealed that the man was wanted on a felony warrant for 
     failure to appear on drug possession and concealed weapons charges in 
     Idaho Falls, Idaho.  He was taken into custody pending extradition.  
     Both the man and woman were also issued violation notices for 
     destruction of wildlife, with fines of $250 each.  [Fred Moosman, CR, 
     CORO, 11/9]
     
     99-674 - Coronado NM (AZ) - Drug Seizure; Arrest
     
     In early November, rangers pursued and attempted to stop a stake-side 
     truck that passed through the park's developed area at a high rate of 
     speed.  The truck stopped, then continued on for a short distance.  
     While it was still rolling, both occupants jumped from the cab and 
     fled on foot toward the Mexican border.  The truck came to a halt in a 
     roadside ditch.  One of the two men was caught and taken into custody. 
      The truck was found to contain just under 900 pounds of processed 
     marijuana with an estimated street value of $900,000.  The vehicle was 
     seized.  An investigation was underway at the time of the report.  
     [Freed Moosman, CR, CORO, 11/9]
     
     RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROTECTION AND EDUCATION
     
     Point Reyes NS/Golden Gate NRA/Muir Woods NM -  Northern Spotted Owl
     
     In 1994, NPS biologists from the three parks began a long-term 
     inventory and monitoring program for the federally threatened northern 
     spotted owl.  The NPS worked with researchers from the non-profit 
     Point Reyes Bird Observatory, neighboring land managers, and project 
     volunteers to monitor the population of spotted owls on federal, state 
     and county lands in Marin County. The purpose was to determine site 
     occupancy, survival, and reproductive success at sites with management 
     concerns and within the variety of occupied habitat types on public 
     lands in the county.  By 1998, the researchers had documented 53 pairs 
     and 82 known owl sites within the county, which may support the 
     highest density of northern spotted owls known. Over 75% of 30 
     monitored pairs nested in 1997 and 1998.  More than 90% of those nests 
     were successful.  Researchers located 43 nests and 67 fledglings 
     (young capable of flight) over the two years. In 1999, 53 known owl 
     sites were surveyed on federal, state and county lands; 39 pairs were 
     found, and 29 were monitored for reproductive success.  Sixteen of 29 
     pairs (55%) nested, seven nests (44%) failed, and 15 young were 
     fledged in the other nine nests.  Reproductive success is determined 
     only at long-term monitoring sites, with the selection based upon 
     management concerns, land ownership and habitat type.  Although 
     significantly lower that the previous two years, the 1999 reproductive 
     success in Marin County's spotted owl population is in notable 
     contrast to the dramatically reduced numbers of owls located in the 
     Pacific Northwest this past year.  Marin County experienced wet and 
     unusually cold weather early in the breeding season, but conditions in 
     the county are mild compared to the Pacific Northwest, where the 
     snowpack was deep and stayed late in 1999.  This may have influenced 
     prey availability, limiting nesting and adult survivorship.  In 1998, 
     a banding program was begun on NPS lands to learn more about site 
     fidelity, reproductive success and dispersal of Marin County spotted 
     owls.  To date, 39 spotted owls (five juveniles, 19 females, and 15 
     males) have been banded.  Eleven of 12 adults banded in 1998 were 
     relocated in 1999.  As well as providing demographic study data, the 
     uniquely identified owls furnish interesting owl anecdotes.  The most 
     entertaining tale of the year was an adult female observed with four 
     different males over an eleven-month period - three of them during the 
     1999 breeding season.  In one instance she was seen kicking one of the 
     males.  This owl's nest was built in the intertwined branches of an 
     eleven-inch diameter California bay tree and contained one nestling 
     but no owls fledged at the site.  Researchers suspect that nest 
     failure may have been related to loss of (or, possibly, divorce from) 
     one of her several mates.  The project has been made possible by a 
     grant from Canon, USA, Inc., through the National Park Foundation.  
     The Point Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate National Parks 
     Associations and the Marin Audubon Society provided additional 
     support.  (Dawn Adams, RM, PORE; Daphne Hatch, RM, GOGA)
     
     OPERATIONAL NOTES
     
     No submissions.
     
     MEMORANDA
     
     No submissions.
     
     INTERCHANGE
     
     No submissions.
     
     PARKS AND PEOPLE
     
     Upper Delaware S&RR - Chief ranger Glen Voss will be retiring next 
     month after 33 years with the NPS.  During the course of his career, 
     he has also had tours at Albright Training Center, Big South Fork, 
     Lake Mead, Natchez Trace, Gulf Islands, Catoctin Mountain, and G.W. 
     Parkway.  Glenn and Martha will be going into the antique business.  A 
     dinner and roast will be held on December 10th in Beach Lake, PA.  If 
     you'd like to contribute a story, photo, or other memory, please send 
     it to Barbara C. Perry, NPS, Upper Delaware S&RR, RR 2, Box 2428, 
     Beach Lake, PA 18405-9737.  She can also be reached by name on 
     cc:Mail.
     
                              *  *  *  *  *
     
     Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
     by park, office and/or regional cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please 
     address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your 
     servicing hub coordinator.  The Morning Report is also available on 
     the web at http://www.nps.gov/morningreport
     
     Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
     cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
     
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