NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, May 10, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1869, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads 
joined to complete the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory 
Summit, Utah, now in Golden Spike National Historic Site.

INCIDENTS

99-385 - Badlands NP (SD) - Follow-up: Theft of Paleo Resources

On July 7, 1999, a backcountry ranger on morning patrol noticed a 
vehicle parked in an area known for illegal fossil poaching. He hiked 
up a cut bank, saw three men breaking open large nodules, and called 
for backup.  The three men - P.K. of Flossmoor, Illinois, and 
two foreign nationals, J.P. and F.D. - were 
contacted and the park's paleontologist was called to the scene to 
both identify the fossils that had been confiscated and to conduct a 
scientific and market value assessment on them. The men had dug up and 
broken open 14 baculites and one caphite in an area of the park where 
exceptional invertebrate fossils are frequently found. On April 20th, 
P.K. pled guilty in magistrate's court to a charge of destruction of 
government property. He was fined $750 (plus a $25 assessment) and 
ordered to pay full restitution for reclamation of the site, as 
determined by the park. Park staff are currently working with the U.S. 
attorney on a 19jj civil case. [Scott Lopez, CR, BADL, 5/9]

00-199 - Little River NP (AL) - Resource Violation

Ranger Jon Newman contacted B.N., 18, and two juvenile 
companions on a park road on April 28th. B.N. and one of the 
juveniles were found to be carrying 323 ginseng roots (with a total 
weight of over three pounds) bundled up in two shirts. Some of the 
plants were found to have been dug up within the park. B.N. and one 
juvenile will be charged through the state with collecting ginseng out 
of season and without a permit. [Dwight Dixon, CR, LIRI, 5/9]

00-200 - Crater Lake NP (OR) - Apparent Suicide

On the morning of May 6th, rangers came upon a vehicle parked at the 
Discovery Point pullout on West Rim Drive that had not been moved for 
some time, possibly several days. It was identified as having been 
stolen from a local Medford family on May 1st. Rangers learned from 
family members that the probable driver was the owner's sister, S.R., 
35; they also discovered that she'd been missing since that 
date, was being treated for severe depression, had stopped taking her 
prescribed medication, and had left suicide notes with them. A short 
search led to the discovery of her body in the forest about 150 yards 
from the parking area. It appears that she died from a self-inflicted 
gunshot wound. [Dan Jacobs, Acting CR, CRLA, 5/8]

FIRE ACTIVITY

National Preparedness Level - Level II 

Current Situation

Diminished winds made it possible for crews to make progress on the 
large fires burning in New Mexico and Texas. No new large fires were 
reported elsewhere yesterday, and initial attack activity was minimal. 
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, New 
Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Michigan.

NPS Fires

Bandelier NM (NM) - The Cerro Grande fire has now burned 3,700 acres 
and is 20% contained. Crews conducted burnout operations east of the 
Pajarito ski area yesterday. Inaccessible terrain, heavy fuels, high 
winds and spotting up to a quarter mile from fire lines are making 
containment difficult. The fire is threatening the Los Alamos 
Laboratory, residences in the city of Los Alamos, gas pipelines, old 
growth timber, watersheds, and endangered species. A Type I incident 
management team (Humphrey) has been assigned; 503 firefighters (up 
from 327 on Monday), 19 engines and seven helicopters have been 
committed. 

Outlook

FIRE WEATHER WATCHES have been posted today for strong and gusty winds 
in north and central New Mexico, for strong winds and low relative 
humidity in northern Arizona, and for low relative humidity in the 
Florida Panhandle.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/10]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Reports pending.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

"Law Enforcement Program Policies, Directives and Standards - 
Director's Order #9 and Reference Manual #9", transmittal memo signed 
on May 8th by the Associate Director, Park Operations and Education, 
and sent the same day to all regional directors and park 
superintendents. The text follows.  PLEASE NOTE that there are no 
attachments to the Morning Report - only on the original transmission:

"Enclosed please find two (2) signed copies each of Director's Order 
#9 (DO-9) and Reference Manual #9 (RM-9), National Park Service Law 
Enforcement Program.  Also included in this package is the most recent 
version of Departmental Manual 446, along with color cover sheets for 
the front of the binder as well as the spine of the binder.  I am 
asking each responsible office to reproduce as many copies as 
necessary locally to ensure that each and every ranger has their own 
copy.  Each ranger, upon receiving a copy, should sign a property 
receipt (filed in the employee's OPF) showing that they received a 
copy.  All commissioned employees are responsible for reading and 
understanding the documents.

"DO-9 and RM-9 constitute the National Park Service Law Enforcement 
Program Policies, Directives and Standards.  These documents must be 
adhered to.  Some new requirements, like psychological screening, will 
be phased in as a component of our medical surveillance program.  
Implementation guidance will be provided when that program begins.
"A 'Train the Trainer' session is being held at Lake Mead National 
Recreation Area the week of May 15, 2000.  Employees from each region 
will gather to develop instructional material that will then be used 
to train commissioned rangers Servicewide over the next several 
months.  As part of this training package, a web based 'Learning Site' 
is being developed through an agreement between FLETC and Northern 
Arizona University.  The majority of RM-9 will be posted on this 
learning site covering the topic areas each commissioned employee 
needs to know.  This learning site will be set up to learn as you go 
with 'test questions' presented at the end of each chapter.  Every 
ranger with access to the Internet, and with a password that will be 
provided, will be able to log onto the site and review the document at 
length.

"The actual effective date for DO-9 and RM-9 will be 12:01 AM on 
Sunday, May 21, 2000.  At that time, Law Enforcement Program 
Guideline, NPS-9, Release No. 3, dated October 1989, is superseded by 
DO-9 and RM-9, and no longer in effect.  Existing copies of NPS-9, 
Release No. 3 should be discarded.

"If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Burnett, 
NPS Law Enforcement Administrator, at 202-208-4874."

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Crater Lake NP (OR) - The park is seeking three seasonal protection 
rangers (two frontcountry and one backcountry). Duties include 
conducting patrols with a primary emphasis on frontcountry 
(backcountry) resource protection and education, law enforcement, 
search and rescue, structural and wildland fire suppression, emergency 
medical services, and other emergency operations. Government housing 
is available. The duty station is at Crater Lake, which is 55 miles 
north of Klamath Falls, Oregon. All positions EOD around June 4th. The 
frontcountry positions end on September 30th and the backcountry 
position ends on November 7th. The announcements (9320-00-30 and 
9320-00-31) will be open until May 22nd.  For more information, please 
contact Pete Reinhardt at 541-594-2211 x 320 or Dan Jacobs at x 340.

USS Arizona Memorial (HI) - The memorial is currently advertising a 
GS-5/6 supervisory park guide position. The announcement, which closes 
on May 22nd, is PISO-MP-00-16.  The incumbent is responsible for 
coordinating and leading daily on-line interpretation operations for 
the visitor center and the memorial.  The USS Arizona Memorial is 
located within the city of Honolulu, the eleventh largest city in the 
United States. Visitation is intense (about 1.5 million per year) at 
this popular historic site. A 25% COLA is provided in addition to base 
salary.  Relocation expenses will be paid.  For more information, 
please contact chief ranger Dan Hand at 808-422-2771 x 111.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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