NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Sunday, July 9, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1864, Brig. Gen. Lew Wallace's Union troops delayed 
Gen. Jubal T. Early's Confederate advance on Washington at the Battle 
of Monocacy, enabling other Union forces to marshal a successful 
defense of the capital.  Monocacy National Battlefield, Maryland, 
preserves the site of the engagement.

INCIDENTS

00-311 - Pea Ridge NMP (AR) - Follow-up on ARPA Conviction

On September 5, 1999, J.R. was found using a metal detector 
and digging for artifacts near the Leetown battlefield. J.R. 
subsequently pled guilty to felony ARPA charges and was sentenced by 
the federal magistrate on June 22nd. The public defender asked for 
leniency, arguing that the damage done to J.R.'s front door when 
rangers, police and FBI agents served a warrant at his residence and 
the relatively minimal cost ($200) for site restoration balanced out 
and accordingly constituted a form of "frontier justice." The 
magistrate demurred and explained to J.R. why she considered the 
violation to be serious and not just a mistake. In a 15-minute 
presentation, she explained to those present that protection of such 
sites "was the heart of why the National Park Service exists," that 
J.R. had committed an act against the American public and everyone 
in the courtroom, that parks are "sacred places for generations 400 to 
500 years to come," and that she hoped he would someday appreciate 
that fact. She then ordered him to pay $2,600 in restitution to the 
NPS, forfeit all his equipment, and serve two years of probation. 
Fines and jail time were waived. [Robert Still, PR, PERI, 6/26] 

00-320 - Glacier NP (MT) - Follow-up on Bear Attack

The black bear involved in the June 26th attack on J.S., 24, 
was shot and killed by rangers on July 1st. The bear appeared on the 
porch of the boat concessioner's residence near Two Medicine Lake that 
evening and attempted to enter through both the windows and doors. 
Rangers were notified and shot the bear shortly thereafter. The bear 
was destroyed because of its aggressive behavior toward humans and in 
accord with the park's bear management plan. Trapping and relocating 
was not an option because of this behavior. Two photos J.S. had 
taken of the bear were used to confirm its identity. Evidence 
indicated that this was the same bear that had prompted a short-term 
closure of the Two Medicine auto campground on June 13th, and that it 
was also the same bear that had been reported by numerous hikers along 
the South Shore trail just prior to the attack on J.S. Black bear 
encounters resulting in human injury are uncommon in the park. The 
last such incident occurred in 1978 at Trout Lake, when a camper was 
bitten while in his sleeping bag. There has never been a human 
fatality associated with a black bear in Glacier NP since it was 
created in 1910. [Amy Vanderbilt, PAO, GLAC, 7/3]

00-374 - Pea Ridge NMP (AR) - Disturbed Person

On the afternoon of June 22nd, Benton County sheriff's dispatch 
contacted ranger Robert Still and notified him that a woman had been 
seen driving through the park on Route 62, standing in her car with 
her hands off the wheel and screaming, and that she was entering the 
visitor center parking lot. As Still responded, a local constable 
reported that the woman had turned the wrong way up a one-way tour 
road and that she was headed for a dangerous hill near Elkhorn Tavern. 
The constable saw the woman, later identified as D.B., 44, 
of Fayetteville, stop, get out of her car, spay a hay bale with clear 
liquid, chant, then get back into her vehicle and drive on toward the 
tavern. Local police from the town of Pea Ridge started toward the 
park as D.B. drove to other hay bales and performed a similar act. 
She then drove off the road into a field, turned around, and headed 
back to the visitor center, where she was intercepted by Pea Ridge 
officers. D.B. attempted to drive around them, but was stopped. 
Still joined them in the lot. D.B. said that she was "on a mission 
from God to protect this place" and that the elk had called her there 
to anoint the park with holy water. She showed rangers a map of the 
United States with references to the star of David, then explained 
that the area was "the center of the world," that she was combating 
evil, and that she was on her way to Branson, Missouri, to continue 
her work. She made numerous references to being involved in plans to 
assassinate or prevent the assassination of government officials, 
including the president. A notebook in her vehicle contained addresses 
for Congress, former President Bush and others. D.B. also made 
references to killing police officers. She attempted to flee from 
visitors, particularly young girls, as they came out from the visitor 
center, claiming that they were witches. D.B. was arrested and 
taken into protective custody. The FBI and Secret Service are involved 
in the investigation. The woman's motives remain unknown. Other maps 
were found in the vehicle with other parks marked, including a map of 
Mississippi folded so that Vicksburg NMP was at the front. The 
investigation continues. [Robert Still, PR, PERI, 6/26]

00-375 - Redwood N&SP (CA) - First Amendment Demonstration

Approximately 200 people participated in a demonstration at Freshwater 
Spit on July 2nd. The group protested planned actions stemming from 
the recently completed interagency (NPS and California State Parks) 
general management plans, which call for phasing out overnight use of 
the spit and converting it to a day use area.  The plans also call for 
closing the parks' seashores to off-road vehicle travel, except 
through permits for commercial fishing activities, mobility-impaired 
access, or Native American access to state park beaches. Many of the 
protestors were residents from the nearby town of Orick who were 
seeking to maintain the status quo. Although park representatives had 
contacted informal leaders of the demonstration in advance of the 
event, they refused to obtain a permit for the demonstration. The 
protestors walked the mile-long length of the spit, which parallels 
busy U.S. 101, carrying banners stating their disapproval of park 
plans. The protests affected visitors camped in nearly 300 tents and 
RV's on the spit, but no incidents occurred during the event. Rangers 
monitored the protest to assure public safety. Other incidents at 
Freshwater Spit over the Fourth of July weekend included the arrest of 
a man who held a knife to a woman's throat and an accident on U.S. 101 
involving three motorcycles that resulted in a fatality and numerous 
major injuries. [Bob Martin, CR, REDW, 7/5]

00-376 - Lake Roosevelt NRA (WA) - Ferry Fire

An old ferry abandoned at the mouth of the Colville River was 
discovered on fire during the early morning hours of July 5th. The 
park was notified at 6:15 a.m. Ranger Gig LeBret and park archeologist 
Ray DePuydt arrived on scene around 6:45 a.m. and found the ferry 
totally engulfed in flame. It could not be reached due to rising lake 
waters, so LeBret and DePuydt launched a park patrol boat and 
extinguished the remaining flames with a float pump. The ferry was 
completely destroyed. No sign of the cause or evidence of who may have 
started it was found. The ferry was abandoned some time after 1973, at 
which times its engine and all salvageable metal were removed. 
Prehistoric artifacts from a known site were seen around the location 
where the ferry burned, which will necessitate care during cleanup 
operations. Rising lake waters may move what's left of the ferry, 
however, before such a cleanup can be arranged. [Gig LeBret, DR, North 
District, LARO, 7/6]

00-377 - Valley Forge NHP (PA) - Lewd Behavior Conviction

On April 12th, park dispatch received a cell phone report from a woman 
who said she was the victim of indecent exposure near the Wayne Woods 
picnic area. She said that she was in training for a marathon, and 
that a man had exposed himself to her as she ran past him. Rangers 
Duane Buck and George Krafft responded, contacted the victim, and 
located a man who fit her description of the suspect. She subsequently 
confirmed that he was the man who'd exposed himself. The rangers 
arrested the man - D.B., of Fort Washington, Pennsylvania - 
and charged him with open lewdness and disorderly conduct. On June 
28th, the case was brought before a federal magistrate, who sentenced 
D.B. to a $5,000 fine, two years reporting probation, a two year ban 
from the park, and a 90-day suspended jail sentence. D.B. will also 
continue psychological treatment for a year. [CRO, VAFO, 6/29]

00-378 - Little River Canyon NP (AL) - Search; Stolen Vehicle Recovery

On June 25th, rangers found that a vehicle had crashed through a split 
rail fence at High Rock, a popular swimming spot, and saw that it was 
upside down in about 20 feet of water in the river below. Divers 
checked the vehicle and found that there were no occupants. Evidence 
indicated that the vehicle, which had been reported stolen from Fort 
Payne earlier that morning,  had been run off the cliff into the pool 
of water by placing a large rock on the gas pedal. Three wreckers were 
employed to pull the vehicle from the river. This was the third stolen 
vehicle incident in the park in as many weeks. [Dwight Dixon, CR, 
LIRI, 6/26]

00-379 - Organ Pipe Cactus NM (AZ) - Fatality; Probable Heat Exposure

On May 5th, rangers and Border Patrol agents found the body of R.G., 
23, of El Zapote, Michoacan, Mexico, on a trail frequently used 
by illegal immigrants into the United States. His body had been there 
for several days. Heat exposure is believed to have been the cause of 
death. [Dale Thompson, CR, ORPI, 7/3]

00-380 - Upper Delaware S&RR (NY/PA) - Drowning

A 14-year-old boy who was on an educational foundation outing drowned 
while swimming in the Delaware River around 6 p.m. on June 30th. The 
group was on a canoe trip and had banked their canoes south of the 
village of Hancock in order to go swimming. The victim was seen going 
underwater and was brought to shore by a counselor and another student 
and given CPR. Local fire and EMS units responded and transported him 
to a hospital in Walton, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy will 
be performed to determine cause of death. [Alan Henry, UPDE, 7/2]

00-381 - Colorado NM (CO) - Attempted Suicide

On the afternoon of June 23rd, a vehicle entered the park through the 
west entrance without stopping. Park electrician Jim Pratt, who was on 
his way home from work, passed by the car and saw that the driver was 
crying and driving erratically. Pratt employed the entrance station 
radio to immediately notify ranger Bill Rodgers, then followed the 
vehicle about three miles to Historic Trails overlook. Pratt saw the 
41-year-old female driver stop the car, then run toward a 180-foot 
cliff. When Rodgers arrived on scene, he found her lying on her back 
and crying near the cliff edge. Members of her family arrived on scene 
and advised that she'd told them she was going to jump off a cliff and 
that she had made prior suicide attempts. Rodgers and the woman's son 
slowly approached her; when she put her hand over her eyes while 
crying, they were able to grab hold of her. She was taken to a 
hospital and placed on a 72-hour mental health hold. [Ron Young, CR, 
COLM, 6/26]

00-382 - Natchez Trace Parkway (MS/AL/TN) - Suicide

The body of a 58-year old Tallulah, Louisiana, man was found at a 
picnic table in the Owens Creek pullout on July 2nd. He died from a 
self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Statements from his family 
indicated that he'd been depressed lately due to recent events at 
work. [Tim Francis, DCR, NATR, 7/3]

FIRE SITUATION

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

CURRENT SITUATION

New large fires were reported yesterday in the northern Rockies, 
eastern Great Basin and the Southwest. Initial attack was light to 
moderate nationwide. 

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from yesterday's numbers in parentheses): 94 crews (- 43), 
473 overhead (- 35), 213 engines (+ 8), 109 helicopters (+ 51), and no 
air tankers (- 1).

Very high to extreme fire danger indices were reported in Alaska, 
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.

NPS FIRES

Dinosaur NM (CO) - The Buster Flats Fire has burned 11,033 acres, and 
increase of 973 acres from yesterday, and is 65% contained. Full 
containment is forecast for Tuesday, July 11th. High cumulus clouds 
provided shade over the fire area for most of the day.

SIGNIFICANT NON-NPS FIRES 

Containment objectives have been or will soon be met for most large 
fires outside of Alaska. 

OUTLOOK

NICC has issued the following for today:

A RED FLAG WARNING for strong winds, low relative humidity and dry 
lightning has been posted for southwest and central Wyoming.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/9]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No submissions.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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