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Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, October 26, 2000
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Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 10:11:54 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, October 26, 2000
ALMANAC
On this date in 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at one of
the Mandan and Minitari Indian villages near the confluence of the
Knife and Missouri rivers, where they camped until the following
spring. Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, North
Dakota, contains remains of these villages.
INCIDENTS
00-668 - Isle Royale NP (MI) - Follow-up: Death of Employee
Superintendent Doug Barnard passed away peacefully on October 24th
after a long struggle with cancer. Doug was a 35-year veteran of the
NPS. He began his career as a seasonal ranger at Isle Royale' s
Windigo Ranger Station in 1964. In 1966, he was selected for a
permanent position and was assigned to Lake Mead. While there, he was
a leader in the modernization of the Service's law enforcement
program. Doug had later assignments as chief ranger at Apostle Islands
and as a district ranger at Big Bend and Yellowstone. He subsequently
served as chief ranger at Grand Teton, then took the top job at Isle
Royale in 1993. Doug was a leader in developing innovative programs in
search and rescue, law enforcement, resource management, park
planning, and other programs vital to successful accomplishment of the
NPS mission. He received numerous awards throughout his career for
his contributions and dedicated service, including the Department of
the Interior's superior service and meritorious service awards. A
memorial service will be held at Grace United Methodist Church, 201
Isle Royale Street in Houghton, Michigan, at 1 p.m. on Saturday,
October 28th. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, LY 120, P.O. Box 19024, Seattle, WA
98109. Notes celebrating Doug's life and career may be sent to his
wife, S.B., and their children in care of Isle Royale
National Park, 800 East Lakeshore Drive, Houghton, MI 49931.
[Elizabeth Rossini, ISRO, 10/26]
00-669 - Gulf Islands NS (MS/FL) - Kidnapping
A 22-month-old girl was kidnapped from the Davis Bayou campground on
October 25th. The girl, E.P., had been staying in a tent at
the campground with her parents, C.S. and W.P.,
and a family that they'd met several days previously at a truck stop.
E.P. and C.S. contacted police at 2:30 a.m. yesterday morning and
reported that B.M., 32, and U.K.M., 21, had
taken Emily to a truck stop for dinner so that their own child of
approximately the same age would have a companion. The M.'s
never returned. They are believed to be driving a black Volkswagen
Jetta with a temporary Missouri license plate in the rear window. The
investigation is being directed by police from Ocean Springs with
assistance from the NPS, Jackson County SO, and the FBI. The names
(not yet confirmed to be their actual names) have been entered into
NCIC and the child has been listed on the FBI's national missing
children bulletin board. Information has been prepared for regional
law enforcement agencies to distribute to truck stops throughout the
Southeast, as the M.'s are known to frequent them. [Mark Lewis,
DR, GUIS, 10/26]
00-670 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Homicide
Ranger Uwe Nehring was contacted by a hunter as he was entering the
Longmire administrative area just before 11 a.m. on October 24th. The
hunter said that he'd just shot and killed someone in his hunting camp
nearby in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. He said that an
intruder had entered his camp, started a discussion that led to an
argument, and ended in a fight in which the hunter shot the intruder
with a .45 caliber handgun. The hunter's camp was located on Forest
Service land adjacent to the park. The shooting allegedly occurred the
previous evening around 6:30 p.m. The hunter left his victim in the
camp, stayed the night, then headed out to report the incident the
next morning. The hunter was taken into custody and held for Lewis
County SO deputies and USFS officers. Rangers Rick Kirschner, David
Langley, Nina Stevens and John Leonard assisted deputies and
detectives with the arrest, crime scene management, evidence
processing and security. [Uwe Nehring, MORA, 10/25]
[Additional reports pending....]
CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES
Mesa Verde NP (CO) - Park History; U.S.S. Mesa Verde
Park staff have begun writing the definitive history of the park,
which is to be published for the centennial celebration in 2006. The
project is being funded by several grants from the Colorado Historical
Society and will be published by the Mesa Verde Museum Association.
The large-format history book will describe the park's colorful
history through historic and original photographs and illustrations,
original writings, and commissioned essays. That history will include
a recent event, the naming of a Navy San Antonio class amphibious
transport dock ship as the U.S.S. Mesa Verde. Ships in this class are
used to transport and land Marines, their equipment and supplies by
embarked landing craft or amphibious vehicles augmented by
helicopters. [Will Morris, MEVE]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No submissions.
MEMORANDA
"Wildland Fire Season 2000," signed on October 11th by Director
Stanton and sent to all employees. The full text follows:
"As fall approaches and the wildland fire season begins to come to a
close, memories of one of the country's most severe wildland fire
seasons are still with us. This season was like no other in recent
memory. Fortunately, due to our combined efforts nationwide (and
internationally) we were successful in limiting the loss of life and
property. Our thoughts remain with those who lost someone dear to
them.
"The effort of each and every National Park Service employee was
critical to the success of this enormous task. Whether you were
dispatched to a wildland fire either as a firefighter or in one of the
many critical support positions, or if you remained at your home unit
to maintain operations, your contribution did not go unnoticed.
"I want to commend each and every one of you who supported these
efforts. Your participation in these activities demonstrates our
commitment to our neighboring communities and our interagency
partners."
INTERCHANGE
No submissions.
PARKS AND PEOPLE
FLETC (GA) - NPS land management training program class 005 graduated
from FLETC on July 24th. The class continued the NPS tradition of
superior individual and class performances. Greg Johnston (GUIS) was
the top driver with a perfect 300 score. K.J. Glover and J. Roger Mayo
(HALE) had perfect 500 PEB scores, and either others in the class
scored above 95% on the test. Ken Meyer (INDE) was the high expert
shooter, with a score of 298 out of 300; nine others in the class also
qualified as experts. D. Michelle Busbee (ASIS) was the high academic
scorer with an average of 98.36 over five written examinations. She
was jointed by five others with scores of 95% better in the academic
phase of their training. David Hubbard (EVER) was the class
distinguished graduate, having maintained a score of 95% or better in
all phases of training; Busbee was the class honor graduate and is now
eligible to win the honor graduate of the year award. [Don Usher,
FLETC]
Santa Rosa JC Ranger Academy (CA) - Although it's not an NPS or
NPS-related unit, Santa Rosa Junior College has graduated scores of
rangers from its Ranger Academy. The academy will graduate its 100th
class this December, bringing the overall total of graduates over its
22 years in operation to 2,400. The graduation ceremony will be at 3
p.m. on December 20th at the Petaluma Community Center on 320 North
McDowell Boulevard in Petaluma. Director Bill Orr has invited all
former students, graduates, instructors, evaluators, role players,
staff members and others associated with the academy over its history
to attend the reception and social hour following the ceremony. It
will be held at the same location. For further details, contact the
academy by phone (707-776-0721), fax (707-776-0814), or their web site
(www.santarosa.edu/PublicSafety). [Rene Buehl, VOYA]
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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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