NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, April 19, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1775, an effort by British troops to confiscate the 
arms of patriot militia met with armed resistance in Lexington and 
Concord, Massachusetts, triggering the Revolutionary War.  Minute Man 
National Historical Park contains scenes of the fighting.

INCIDENTS

00-153 - Glacier NP (MT) - Search in Progress for Missing Aircraft

Park staff are working with the Montana Aeronautics Division in their 
search for a single-engine aircraft with one person aboard which was 
last seen on radar on the afternoon of Sunday, April 16th. The plane 
left the southwestern shore of Flathead Lake around 3:40 p.m. that day 
and was en route to Lethbridge, Alberta, when it dropped off of radar 
near Many Glacier Valley, which is within the park. An ELT was picked 
up Sunday evening from the Crow's Nest Pass area in Alberta. The park 
was notified of the search on Monday morning and soon joined in. No 
further details are currently available. [Amy Vanderbilt, PIO, GLAC, 
4/17]

00-154 - Yosemite NP (CA) - MVA; Resource Damage Recovery

On August 6, 1998, R.D.R. lost control of his 
tractor-trailer while traveling on the Big Oak Flat Road. The truck 
overturned and slid off the roadway and down an embankment, causing 
extensive damage to the soils and vegetation at the accident scene. 
Over 30 park emergency response personnel were involved with the 
accident; a survey team from resource management also responded.  It 
took three days to clear the accident scene. On January 27, 1999, 
R.D.R. plead guilty under a plea agreement to misdemeanor California 
vehicle code equipment violations (brakes) and to a 36 CFR 5.6(b) 
violation (commercial use of park roads).  He was fined and placed on 
12 months' court probation. Ranger Holly Rife and resource protection 
specialist Beth Waldow worked with the DOI solicitor's office to 
prepare a claim under the NPS Resource Protection Act (16 U.S.C. 19jj) 
to recover the costs for resource damage, response, and the damage 
assessment process. On March 16th, $14,734.65 was deposited in the 
department's damage assessment and restoration fund, where it can be 
distributed directly into park accounts or held for future assessment 
or restoration work. [Doug Roe, SA, YOSE, 4/17]

00-155 - Yosemite NP (CA) - EMS Response; Life Saved

On the afternoon of April 4th, park employees heard cries for help 
from the trail behind the Valley District maintenance area. Personnel 
from the trail crew, jail and fire station responded and found an 
unconscious 52-year-old male on the Valley Loop trail. The victim had 
no pulse and was not breathing. Ranger Ted Moe and fire captain Aaron 
Fritzer began CPR within four minutes of receiving the call; park 
medic Tom Wilson and the paramedic staffed ambulance from Yosemite 
Medical Clinic arrived two minutes later. The victim was defibrillated 
and intubated, an IV line was started, and lidocaine was given. He was 
transported by litter to the waiting ambulance and taken to the 
Yosemite medical clinic, then flown by air ambulance to a Fresno 
hospital. The victim was still unconscious and in critical but stable 
condition when he arrived there, and was diagnosed as having suffered 
a myocardial infarction. By the following day, he was awake and 
responding well to treatment. Doctors credit the rapid and effect 
initial CPR and advanced cardiac life support for saving his life. 
[Mark Harvey, PR, YOSE, 4/17]

00-156 - Yosemite (CA) - Search

A search for Irish national K.B., which has been on-going 
since April 11th, was scaled back on April 17th. About 25 field 
searchers, five dog teams and a helicopter were committed to the 
search. K.B. was last seen at Curry Village on April 5th. The 
concessionaire reported K.B.'s belonging's were still in his room 
several days after he was scheduled to check out, and his rented car 
was located in the parking lot. Investigation revealed that K.B. 
entered Yosemite on April 4th, spent the night in a Curry Village 
tent, and was last known to be at his room between 1 and 2 p.m. 
Limited search efforts will continue. [Dan Horner, SA, YOSE, 4/17]

00-157 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - MVA with Fatality

During a flight out of the canyon on March 28th, NPS helicopter pilot 
Eddie Thoroughgood spotted a vehicle inside the canyon, about a 
thousand feet below West Rim Drive at a point known as The Abyss. 
Subsequent reconnaissance flights confirmed the location of a severely 
demolished Toyota, which had left a debris trail as it struck several 
times before coming to rest. A technical recovery team of rangers 
reached the site the next day and found a body along the debris trail. 
The victim has been identified as K.W., 28, of Phoenix, 
Arizona. It's believed that the accident occurred around February 
20th. The body was removed; the vehicle will be recovered by 
helicopter at a later date. Patrick Flanagan served as IC. [Ken 
Phillips, SAR Coordinator, GRCA, 4/13]

00-158 - Voyageurs NP (MN) - Special Event

On April 8th, Voyageurs celebrated its 25 years as a national park. 
Open houses were held throughout the park's three gateway communities. 
Additional festivities are planned this summer, including the 
reenactment of a voyageur "rendezvous" in conjunction with governor 
Jesse Ventura's visit to the park to kickoff this year's statewide 
fishing opener, various festivals in the adjacent communities, and a 
grand celebration with NPS, state and local dignitaries on August 5th 
during a voyageur encampment at the Rainy Lake visitor center. [Jim 
Hummel, CR, VOYA, 4/17]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Environmental Crimes Office - The Service has established the 
Environmental Crimes Office, located at the AOC building in Herndon, 
Virginia. Bob Marriott will be supervising and managing the office's 
day-to-day operations and coordinating regional and interagency 
contacts and related projects. The program currently has a limited 
budget, but there are plans to increase this in the next two fiscal 
years. Projects currently underway include:

o       The development of an MOU with the National Response Team  
        (NRT) and the Department of the Interior to clarify law 
        enforcement's roll in an incident.  Marriott is the NPS 
        representative on a subcommittee developing this MOU.  
o       Identification and cleanup of NPS firearms ranges. Fall 
        meetings are planned to discuss funding opportunities for 
        development of demonstration projects to limit the amount of 
        lead used on park ranges. Allen Foster of Whiskeytown NRA has 
        researched and submitted an excellent proposal for his park. 
        The cost for a non-polluting, recyclable backstop has been 
        researched, and several companies have expressed interest in 
        working with the NPS on this project. The plan did not make 
        the cut for a demonstration project in FY 2000, but the WASO 
        Facilities Management Division (FMD) has provided supplemental 
        funding to allow parks and FLETC to test and evaluate the use 
        of non-lead ammunition for practice purposes.  A major 
        ammunition manufacturer is in the process of producing 
        lower-priced, non-lead ammunition for this purpose.  The 
        Service will not allow the use of non-lead ammunition for 
        official  qualification purposes.   The goal is to reduce NPS 
        lead use by 50% by next year. Chief rangers are also 
        encouraged to purchase "green" cleaning materials whenever 
        possible, If you want to learn more about this subject, 
        contact Fred Sturniolla in FMD or check out his postings on 
        the web.
o       An arrangement for equipment sharing between USPP and NCR 
        areas. Marriott and USPP special investigator Jon Crichfield  
        have been discussing such an arrangement, but funding is not 
        yet available for this project.
o       Additional environmental crimes training courses. The 
        superintendent of FLETC and EPA have agreed to sponsor such 
        training this fall at the EPA training center in Denver. 
        Rangers are encouraged to apply. Space will be limited. The 
        class will likely be held in the next FY in early October. 
        Some local EPA training courses will also be arranged; please 
        contact either Paul Henry or Tom Cherry at FLETC for more 
        information. 

If you have questions on any of these projects or information to 
share, please contact Bob Marriott.  His mailing address is PO Box 
1000, Herndon, VA 20171-9998; the phone number is 703-487-9424, the 
pager number is 1-888-687-5613. Your questions and or comments are 
important in order to get this project started off on the right foot.  
Contacts are not just for law enforcement issues - all inquiries and 
suggestions  are welcome.   Confidentiality is assured. [Chris 
Andress, RAD/WASO]

Supreme Court Ruling - On April 17th, the Supreme Court ruled that a 
bus passenger does not lose his expectations of privacy regarding the 
contents of a bag when he or she places that bag in an overhead bin. 
While it is reasonable to assume that other passengers or bus 
employees may move it for one reason or another, it would be 
unreasonable for a law enforcement officer to physically manipulate 
the bag without some articulable reason or consent.  In this case, 
Border Patrol agents squeezed the soft baggage of passengers as they 
left a bus after confirming that all aboard the bus were lawfully in 
the United States.  The "brick" of methamphetamine located during such 
a manipulation was ordered suppressed by the court as being seized in 
violation of the Fourth Amendment.  This decision does not affect the 
right of rangers to frisk or search the containers of passengers 
discovered in vehicles when the ranger possesses the requisite level 
of suspicion or when the container is located within the vehicle 
during a valid search incident to arrest.   Bond v. United States, No. 
98-9349 (S.Ct. 4/17/00).  For more information on this case or other 
court decisions, contact NPS legal instructor Don Usher at FLETC via 
cc:Mail at NP-WASO.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

FLETC - Former NPS ranger and current FLETC instructor Woody Jones is 
retiring. He has run the ARPA and wildland fire investigator programs 
at FLETC for over ten years. This is an important position to the NPS 
and other land management agencies and the Service will have a big 
part in the selection of his replacement. Qualified NPS employees 
should consider applying. The job is a Treasury/FLETC position and has 
been announced as a GS-1801-12/13 law enforcement specialist 
(instructor).  The vacancy announcement number is 00-078MC and it 
closes on April 28th. If you'd interested, contact FLETC's human 
resources division at 912-267-2289 or send an email to 
thorvath@fletc.treas.gov to get more information about eligibility 
requirements and required documentation. 

                            *  *  *  *  *

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
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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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