NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, April 6, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1844, Edgar Allan Poe - after spending two years and 
writing some of his best short stories in a small brick house on North 
7th Street in Philadelphia - left for New York with $4.50 in his 
pocket.  The house is now Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.

INCIDENTS

99-362 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Follow-up: Weapons Violation

On the morning of July 5, 1999, K.J., 49, of Rock Hill, South 
Carolina, was arrested at Stonecliff Beach for alcohol and firearms 
violations, disorderly conduct, and threatening federal officers.  A 
ranger registering campers noticed a black plastic gun case in the bed 
of K.J.'s pickup.  An NCIC check of the vehicle and a warrants 
check revealed that K.J. was wanted in Oregon for a parole 
violation stemming from a felony drug conviction. K.J. was sleeping 
in his tent at the time of the initial observation.  Two additional 
rangers were called for backup and a felony contact was made on 
K.J..  During the course of the arrest and investigation, rangers 
found that K.J. had a .410 shotgun and alcohol in his possession.  
K.J. became very belligerent, exhibited extreme mood swings, and 
verbally threatened the rangers.  It was later determined that he was 
under treatment for manic depression and was not taking his 
medication.  He was arrested on several charges - felon in possession 
of a firearm, fugitive with a firearm, disorderly conduct, threatening 
federal officers, and alcohol violations.  K.J. subsequently pled 
guilty to the first charge. On March 13th, he was sentenced to two 
years and three months in prison and three years of probation. K.J. 
will serve his time under psychiatric care. [Rick Brown, Protection 
Operations Leader, NERI, 3/24]

00-124 - Big Bend NP (TX) - Drug Seizure and Arrest

Ranger Jason Smith saw a recreational vehicle with two men operating 
in a suspicious manner in the Castolon area of the park on the 
afternoon of March 31st. A Mexican national from the village of Santa 
Elena contacted the pair in the Cottonwood campground. Rangers and 
Border Patrol agents kept them under surveillance and witnessed the 
apparent delivery of contraband to the RV during the early hours of 
April 1st. The RV left the campground during the normal flow of 
morning traffic. Rangers stopped it, seized 504 pounds of marijuana, 
and made two arrests. The marijuana had been concealed under beds in 
the RV. [Kathleen Hambly, DR, BIBE, 4/2]

00-125 - Big Bend NP (TX) - Drug Seizure and Arrest

On the morning of March 31st, district ranger Cary Brown saw a pickup 
heading north on a park road at Panther Junction. The condition of the 
truck and time of day caught his attention, and he followed it for 
about five miles. During that time, he ran a check on the pickup, 
which was traveling at speeds above the posted limit, and discovered 
that the plates had expired. Brown stopped the pickup; as he 
approached it on the driver's side, he noticed bundles stacked in the 
extended cab. Both occupants of the truck were Hispanic and spoke no 
English. As Brown returned to his vehicle to call for backup, the 
passenger jumped out of the truck and ran into the desert. The driver 
also got out, but was immediately placed under arrest. A search for 
the fleeing passenger was begun with the help of Border Patrol agents, 
but he was not found and probably returned to Mexico. A total of 463 
pounds of marijuana was seized. The driver said that the truck had 
been loaded in Mexico, crossed the river at Lajitas (just west of the 
park's boundary), then drove through the park in an effort to avoid 
the Border Patrol. [Bill Wright, CR, BIBE, 4/2]

00-126 - Indiana Dunes NL (IN) - HazMat Spill

On the morning of April 2nd, a resident from Ogden Dune reported what 
appeared to be oil on the beach and a light oil sheen on the water. 
The park notified the Coast Guard, Indiana DNR, and the Porter County 
hazmat team, all of which responded. The extent and source of the 
oil-like material was not known at the time of the report. Park 
resource managers and rangers are continuing to monitor park beaches 
to determine the movement of the substance. FMO Dave Allen is IC. 
[Rich Littlefield, CR, INDU, 4/3]

00-127 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Special Event

Secretary Babbitt announced the new draft Yosemite Valley plan at the 
Commonwealth Club in San Francisco on Monday, March 27th. The plan, a 
consolidation of several previous planning efforts, seeks to restore 
portions of the valley to their natural state while simultaneously 
enhancing the visitor experience. Also attending the event were park 
staff, other NPS officials and representatives from several major 
environmental organizations. About 250 people attended the lunchtime 
speech, which received extensive media coverage (32 news crews were 
present). The event was followed by a press briefing and a 
walk-through in the park on Tuesday. The public comment period for the 
plan runs from April 7th to July 5th; a series of public meetings and 
hearings will be held throughout the country from late May through 
mid-June. Secretary Babbitt's speech will be carried on National 
Public Radio stations some time between April 14th and the 21st. 
[Scott Gediman, PIO, YOSE, 3/31]

00-128 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Probable Suicide

Park dispatch received a cellular phone call reporting a motor vehicle 
down an embankment with a woman trapped underneath around 4 p.m. on 
March 26th. Rangers found the overturned vehicle about 200 feet down 
the hillside; the woman underneath it was in her early twenties and 
had been dead for about a week. Dental records were used to determine 
her identity as J.K., 21, of Munhall, Pennsylvania. J.K. 
was last seen on March 13th after an argument with her boyfriend. 
Investigation revealed that her car went off the road at an extremely 
high rate of speed and traveled through the air for over 100 feet 
before hitting the ground and tumbling down the rocky embankment. 
J.K. had a past history of depression and suicide attempts. [Ginny 
Rousseau, CR, SHEN, 4/3]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Restoration of Natural Quiet

President Clinton announced new measures to assist in substantially 
restoring "natural quiet" to the park on March 28th.  The new rules, 
released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), consist of four 
components - a notice of availability modifying the air tour route 
structure; a final rule modifying the vertical and lateral dimensions 
of the park's special flight rules area and flight-free zones; a final 
rule limiting the number of commercial air tours that may be conducted 
in the special flight rules area; and a final supplemental 
environmental assessment.  These rules are collectively known as 
Federal Aviation Regulation Part 93, Subpart U. Taken together, the 
rules reduce the number of air tour routes crossing the park, increase 
the total area of the park under flight-free zones from 45 to 75 
percent, place nearly 100 percent of the park within the special 
flight rules area, and limit the number of commercial air tour 
operations to 1997/1998 levels.  The air tour limitation rule will 
become effective May 4th and the other regulations will go into effect 
on December 1st.  The rules are the latest in a series of steps taken 
by the FAA and the Service to bring the park closer to achieving the 
statutory mandate of Public Law 100-91, commonly referred to as the 
"National Parks Overflights Act." However, with implementation of 
these rules, the park does not yet meet the goal of "substantial 
restoration of natural quiet."  The NPS defines natural quiet as the 
natural ambient sound conditions (e.g., naturally occurring, 
non-mechanized sounds) found in the park, and defines substantial 
restoration as a condition in which over half the park meets those 
conditions for more than three-fourths of each day.  The NPS, in 
coordination with the FAA, continues to work on noise analyses and the 
development of a comprehensive noise management plan to achieve 
"substantial restoration of natural quiet."  Copies of the documents 
can be obtained by submitting a request to the FAA Office of 
Rulemaking, 800 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20591, or by 
calling the FAA at 202-267-9677.  The documents should also be 
available soon at the FAA's Internet site at http://www.faa.gov or at 
the Federal Register site at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs.  [Mike 
Ebersole, Chief Pilot, GRCA, 4/3]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Federal Facilities Council Web Page - The council has a new home page 
on line at http://www4.nationalacademies.org/cets/ffc.nsf. Significant 
new features of the home page include: 

o       a listing of all FFC reports with links to those that are 
        on-line;
o       a list serve function that allows anyone to subscribe to 
        notices of new reports, upcoming conferences, other 
        information of general interest; 
o       lists of committee members and activities; and 
o       links to the home pages of FFC sponsor agencies. 

A list serve function is being employed in an effort to reach a much 
broader segment of federal facilities staff both inside and outside of 
the Washington, D.C., region and other public sector, nonprofit, and 
private sector organizations. (Please note the list serve will not be 
used for notices of standing committee meetings.)  Over the next year, 
efforts will be made to further enhance the home page with features 
that will be helpful to the sponsor agencies.  Your suggestions for 
enhancements would be welcome. Comments, suggestions for improvements 
or modifications, and questions are welcome. Call 202-334-3374.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Gettysburg NHP (PA) - The park is currently advertising to fill the 
position of chief of the cultural and natural resource management 
division.  The announcement closes May 2nd and is open to all sources. 
The vacancy has been announced as interdisciplinary, both for 
historian (GS-0170-12/13) and supervisory park ranger (GS-025-12/13).  
The successful candidate will oversee implementation of the 
battlefield rehabilitation projects called for in Gettysburg's newly 
approved GMP.  For more information, see USA Jobs or contact Carmen 
Doyle at 717-334-3370.

Boston NHP (MA) - The park is seeking a commissioned GS-025-5/7/9 law 
enforcement ranger for lateral transfer/permanent reassignment. The 
position is subject to shift rotation, night and weekend work. 
Protection activities include law enforcement, EMS, safety, full 
dispatch center operation, special events management, and protection 
of the USS Constitution. Park housing is available. There is a cost of 
living adjustment for Boston - a GS-9, step one, currently makes 
$38,812/annual base salary. This position will also be advertised 
competitively on USA Jobs shortly. Please contact supervisory park 
ranger David Ballam at 617-242-5659 or via cc:Mail for more 
information.

Northeast Region - Bill Shiner, who has been teaching ranger training 
courses at Slippery Rock University for 31 years, will be retiring 
this May. If you've gone through one of his courses or worked with 
him, this would be a good time to send along a note of thanks. You can 
write to him at 312 Normal Avenue, Slippery Rock, PA, 16057, or 
contact him via email at william.shiner@sru.edu.  

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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