NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, December 4, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1765, Zephaniah Kingsley, who would become a major 
planter and slaveholder on Fort George Island, Florida, was born.  The 
remains of his plantation, including slave quarters, are now part of 
Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.

INCIDENTS

99-57/99-401 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Follow-up on Homicides

On September 13th, C.S. pled guilty to the murder of J.A. 
in federal district court in Fresno, California. J.A. 
was an instructor for the Yosemite Institute, an environmental 
education organization that operates in the park. Her body was found 
in a creek near her residence in Foresta on July 22, 1999.  On 
November 30th, C.S. was sentenced to life without parole. Under a 
plea bargain that spared him the possibility of a death sentence, 
C.S. admitted to the murder after kidnapping and trying to sexually 
assault her. He will now be tried for the February 1999 murders of 
C. and J.S. and S.P. in Mariposa County. C.S. 
had this to say in court: "I gave in to the terrible dark dreams that 
I tried to subdue. The craziness that lurked in my mind for as long as 
I can remember became a reality in this terrible crime, and I am sorry 
and ashamed. I wish I could take it back, but I can't. I wish I could 
tell you why I did such a thing, but I don't even know myself." [Brian 
Melley, Associated Press, 12/1]

00-724 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Rescue

Rangers received reports of calls for help in the Mirror Lake area of 
Yosemite valley around 6 p.m. on November 25th. M.L., 27, was 
found on a ledge about 500 feet above the Mirror Lake trail. M.L. had 
been scrambling off-trail when he took a 50- to 100-foot tumbling fall 
and landed on a small ledge. SAR team members worked through the night 
to secure M.L. in a litter and lower him from the ledge to a more 
stable area at the top of a large boulder field. Due to the hazardous 
nature of the boulder field, a rescue helicopter from Lemoore NAS was 
used in the morning to hoist M.L. from the top of the field. He was 
taken to Yosemite Medical Clinic and released a few hours later with 
only minor injuries. [Steve Yu, Operations Chief, YOSE, 11/27]

00-725 - Golden Gate NRA (CA) - Rescue

Park dispatch was notified on November 11th that a fisherman had been 
reported missing in the Marin Headlands area of the park some time the 
previous day. Ranger Matt Ehmann launched the park's rescue Waverunner 
at 8 a.m. and began a near-shore search of the Headlands coastline. 
Coast Guard vessels were unable to search close to shore due to large 
waves and shallow waters. Ehmann found the missing fisherman standing 
at the waters edge in a secluded cove about a quarter mile east of 
Point Bonita at 8:30 a.m. He landed the Waverunner and made contact 
with the fisherman, who told him that he'd spent the night in that 
area. He'd become stranded by an incoming tide and had slipped and 
fallen a couple of times while trying to climb up the adjacent cliffs. 
He'd also set two fires with the hope of attracting attention. The 
fisherman was wet from the waist down and suffering from thirst and 
mild hypothermia. Ehmann transported him to the boat ramp at Fort 
Baker. [Stephen Prokop, SPR, GOGA, 11/29]

00-726 - National Capital Parks (DC) - Rescue

Eagle Two, the Park Police helicopter, was summoned to assist at an 
industrial accident late on the afternoon of November 11th. A 
construction worker on a 200-foot cellular phone tower in Loudoun 
County had fallen and needed to be extricated from a platform on the 
155-foot level. The crew of the helicopter - sergeant pilot Keith 
Bohn, sergeant rescue technician John Marsh, and canine officer James 
Matarese - hoisted the victim clear of the tower and short-hauled him 
to a nearby golf course driving range. He was found to be suffering 
from hypothermia, a possible closed-head injury, and a shoulder 
injury, and was transported to the Fairfax County Hospital trauma 
center. [Sgt. R. MacLean, USPP, NCR, 11/29]

00-727 - Virgin Islands NS (VI) - Illegal Immigrants

On the morning of November 28th, 19 Chinese nationals illegally 
entered the Virgin Islands on the eastern section of St. John. Rangers 
and local police detained them and transported the four women and 15 
men via bus to Cruz Bay. They were eventually turned over to INS. INS 
officers took them to St. Thomas, where they will appear in district 
court. It's alleged that they were smuggled in from the nearby island 
of St. Martin in the Dutch West Indies. [Schuler Brown, CR, VIIS, 
11/30]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Plan

The fourth National Fire Plan update - entitled "IMT Timetables for 
the Urban Wildland Interface Community" - has been transmitted by the 
Fire Management Program Center in Boise. The text follows:

The Incident Management Team and the Fire Management Program Center 
staff have been working with an interagency workgroup to compile the 
urban wildland interface community list in response to Public Law 
106-291.  The following is a list of the due dates for actions on the 
urban wildland interface community list and hazard fuels reduction 
projects:

o       By December 5, 2000, the completed list is due to the 
        Interagency Steering Committee.
o       On December 15, 2000, the completed list of ongoing hazard 
        fuel treatment projects, and planned hazard fuel reduction 
        actions will be published in the federal register.

The National Interagency Fire Center web site, located at 
http://www.nifc.gov will begin posting interagency updates on the 
National Fire Plan on the week of December 4th.

Park Fires

No fires reported.

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Yellowstone NP/Grand Teton NP (WY) - Final Winter Use Decision

Protecting visitor safety and enjoyment, air quality, wildlife and the 
natural quiet of the two parks were the determining factors in the 
November 22nd decision to phase out most snowmobile use over the next 
three years in favor of multi-passenger snowcoaches. The record of 
decision (ROD) was issued following years of study on appropriate 
winter activities in the parks and the completion of an EIS. The ROD 
concludes that snowmobile use in these parks so adversely affects air 
quality, wildlife, natural "soundscapes" and the enjoyment of other 
visitors that the resources and values of these parks are impaired - 
contrary to the mandate of the Organic Act, which stipulates that 
parks be left "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." 
Executive orders issued by Presidents Nixon and Carter and the 
Service's own regulation on snowmobile use also prohibit snowmobile 
use in national parks where it disturbs wildlife, damages park 
resources, or is inconsistent with the park's natural, cultural, 
scenic, and aesthetic values, safety considerations, or management 
objectives. The selected alternative announced in the ROD emphasizes 
cleaner, quieter access to the parks using the technologies available 
today.  Effective with the winter of 2003-2004 and thereafter, 
over-snow motorized recreation access will be permitted via 
NPS-managed snowcoach only, with limited exceptions for continued 
snowmobile access to other public and private lands adjacent to or 
within Grand Teton National Park.  Until then, interim actions will 
progressively reduce the impacts from snowmobile use in the parks. 
During the coming winter, snowmobile use will continue under current 
rules. The NPS will then propose changes to regulations to establish 
interim limits in the winters of 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, and end most 
snowmobile use effective the winter of 2003-2004.   Those changes will 
be proposed for public comment, and will not be finalized until public 
comments are received and considered.  For the winter of 2001-2002, 
the proposed new regulations will generally allow snowmobile use to 
continue at current levels, with daily use limits that will keep 
snowmobile numbers on the busiest peak days from exceeding historic 
peak-day levels.  These limits will not reduce overall snowmobile use, 
but will keep the level of use on the busiest days from increasing.  
For the winter of 2002-2003, the proposed new regulations will 
establish daily use limits that are expected to lead to an 
approximately 50 percent reduction in snowmobiles entering 
Yellowstone's south and west entrances.  Current snowmobile use levels 
will remain the same at the east and north entrances.  The ROD is 
available at www.nps.gov/planning. [Public Affairs, YELL]

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Commercial Filming Legislation and Regulations - Public Law 106-206 on 
commercial filming, which was signed by President Clinton on May 26th, 
allows the NPS to charge and retain both cost recovery and location 
fees.  Departmental solicitors have been directed to develop 
regulations to implement this law. This process is underway, but not 
yet completed. The NPS will not be enforcing the new law until the 
regulations are finished. During the interim, parks will:

o       continue to follow the procedures published in RM-53; 
o       recover and retain costs under the authority found in 16 USC 
        3a; 
o       deposit these monies into the park annual account under PWE 
        318; and 
o       waive location fees unless individual park legislation allows 
        them to do so.  

Questions on any of the above should be directed to Dick Young at 
757-898-7846 or by email.  [Dick Young, RAD/WASO]

Supreme Court Decision - On November 28th, the Supreme Court held that 
highway checkpoint programs whose primary purpose was the discovery 
and interdiction of illegal narcotics violates the Fourth Amendment.  
At each checkpoint location, officers stopped a predetermined number 
of vehicles and questioned the driver while a narcotics dog was led 
around the vehicle.  The stop was to last no longer than five minutes, 
unless consent or an appropriate level of suspicion was developed. The 
checkpoints were generally operated during daylight hours and were 
identified with lighted signs reading: "Narcotics Checkpoint, __ Miles 
Ahead, Narcotics K-9 In Use, Be Prepared To Stop." The court noted 
that other forms of roadblocks had passed constitutional muster in the 
past, such as Border Patrol checkpoints, sobriety checkpoints aimed at 
removing drunk drivers from the road, and similar types of roadblocks 
with the purpose of verifying drivers' licenses and vehicle 
registrations.  The court also recognized that certain exigent 
circumstances, such as the use of a checkpoint to prevent an imminent 
terrorist attack or capture a dangerous criminal known to be fleeing 
in a particular direction, would also be lawful. But the Court was 
clear in  stating it has never approved a checkpoint program where the 
primary purpose was to detect evidence of ordinary criminal 
wrongdoing.  "We cannot sanction stops justified only by the 
generalized and ever-present possibility that interrogation and 
inspection may reveal that any given motorist has committed some 
crime."  The court also stated that the primary purpose of the 
checkpoint will determine its validity, and secondary purposes, such 
as sobriety determination or registration inspections, will not 
justify an otherwise unlawful checkpoint.  [Indianapolis v. Edmond, 
99-1030). For more information on this decision or other legal issues, 
contact Don Usher of the NPS-FLETC staff via cc:Mail or at 
912-267-3190. [Don Usher, FLETC]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

WASO (DC)/Hopewell Furnace NHP (PA) - Superintendent Bill Sanders, 
Hopewell Furnace, and special agent Bob Marriott, RAD/WASO, were 
presented with award plaques by the NPS contingent to the 
International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in November, 
recognizing them for their long term and continued efforts in support 
of the Service's professional law enforcement program, particularly 6c 
retirement, ranger careers, professional credentials and shields, the 
drug program, the ARPA program, and overall support for rangers in the 
field. Seventeen NPS chief rangers, special agents and superintendents 
were at the conference, which was held in San Diego and attended by 
nearly 17,000 people. [Dwayne Collier, SOAR]

USPP Headquarters (DC) - Carl Holmberg, assistant chief of the Park 
Police, will retire on December 16th after 35 years of dedicated and 
faithful service. A retirement celebration will be held on December 
8th. If you are interested in attending or sending along any thoughts, 
stories or messages, please contact Sharon Stephenson at 202-619-7350 
or via cc:Mail by December 10th. [Sgt. Rob MacLean, USPP]

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 month, 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]

FILM AT 11...

The November 30th National Public Radio segment on the Grand Canyon, 
which focused on the rediscovery of architect Mary Colter's work there 
in the early 1900's, can be heard on NPR's website. Go to 
www.npr.org/programs/morning, then click on, successively, "Archives", 
"November" under the year 2000, and "30". 

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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