NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT
  
  
  To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices
  
  From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
  
  Day/Date:   Thursday, March 2, 2000
  
  ALMANAC
  
On this day in 1889, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation
authorizing land containing Casa Grande Ruin in the Arizona Territory to
be reserved from settlement or sale, the first federal act providing for
protection of a prehistoric feature.  What is now Casa Grande Ruins
National Monument was reserved by his successor, Benjamin Harrison, in
1892.

  INCIDENTS

00-072 - Ozark NSR (MO) - Search and Rescue

Late on the afternoon of Saturday, February 19th, P.L., five, of Van
Buren, Missouri, wandered away from the mouth of Coalbank Cave into a
rugged, wooded area of the park. The boy had been waiting outside the
cave for his father, who had gone inside to illegally harvest bat guano
to use as fertilizer. When his father emerged from the cave about 10
minutes later, he found the boy gone and searched for him until total
darkness. The Carter County sheriff's office was notified at 7 p.m.;
they in turn contacted the park, local volunteers, and several federal,
state and local agencies. The park assumed management of the incident. A
command post was set up at a nearby park resident's home, with ranger
Gary Smith as IC. The boy was wearing only a light jacket. The
temperature that night dropped into the low 20s and it became very
foggy. The nearby Current River was also at flood stage. To make matters
worse, the boy's parents told searchers that he probably wouldn't
respond to their calls. Four dog teams, a helicopter with thermal
imaging capability, and several hundred personnel and volunteers
searched through the night. The joint Intermountain Region-Midwest
Region all-risk incident management team was activated and responded on
Sunday morning. The regional Air Force Rescue and Recovery Center was
contacted, and they dispatched Civil Air Patrol units from St. Louis and
Cape Girardeau, an Army helicopter from Fort Riley, and two search teams
to the area. Local searchers checking an abandoned hunting cabin about
two-and-a-half miles from the cave just after noon on Sunday found P.L.
in the building. He had discarded his soaked clothing and crawled
between two old foam mattresses with a blanket to stay warm. A doctor
found that he was in good condition. The boy said that he'd heard
searchers calling for him and the helicopter passing overhead, but had
not responded. He returned to school on Tuesday morning. [Tim Blank,
Manager, South Unit, OZAR, 2/24]

00-073 - Badlands NP (SD) - Search and Rescue

On the afternoon of February 23rd, the Pennington County Sheriff's
Department notified rangers that they'd received a 911 call reporting
that a person had fallen and seriously injured himself at an overlook on
Sheep Mountain Table. Rescue personnel from the park, county and state
highway patrol were dispatched to the scene. They found that W.K., 35,
had evidently fallen off the cliff face and landed face down in a ragged
crevice on a steep embankment about 75 feet below. A companion, T.R.C.,
33, had apparently jumped off the same cliff in an effort to help W.K..
It took emergency medical and technical rescue personnel approximately
three hours to stabilize W.K., who was then flown to Rapid City Regional
Hospital. He was listed in fair condition at the time of the report.
T.R.C. was rescued without incident and found to be uninjured. A joint
criminal investigation by rangers and county deputies determined that
alcohol was a factor in the accident. Alcohol and suspected narcotics
were found in their vehicle. T.R.C. was charged with being under the
influence of alcohol and released to family members; a juvenile who was
with the two men was arrested on several outstanding local warrants and
also charged as a minor in possession of alcohol. [Mark Gorman, Acting
CR, BADL, 2/28]

00-074 - Natchez Trace Parkway (MS/AL/TN) - Attempted Suicide

A 53-year-old man from Nashville attempted suicide by cutting his wrists
while parked near the northern end of the parkway on February 26th. A
passerby found him outside his vehicle and called 911. Rangers found a
note and items in his vehicle that indicated he was having personal
problems. He was taken to a local hospital, then to a mental health
facility. Alcohol may have been a contributing factor. [Tim Francis,
ACR, NATR, 2/28]
  
CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE
  
Zion NP (UT) - The park is seeking to fill a permanent, full-time GS-9 frontcountry law 
enforcement ranger position. The incumbent performs a full spectrum of ranger duties in a 
challenging environment. Required occupancy. Level 1, full-performance rangers should send 
applications directly to Brent McGinn, Zion NP, Springdale, UT 84767. For further information, 
call 435-772-0187.
  
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  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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