NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Sunday, May 20, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-227 - Ozark NSR (MO) - Plea Agreement; Cruelty To Animals Charges

On May 7th, H.W. entered a plea of guilty to five counts of 
animal abuse for killing five free-roaming horses in the park last 
November. Under the terms of the plea agreement, H.W. acknowledged 
his personal and sole responsibility for shooting each of the horses. 
The maximum penalty he faces is a $1,000 fine and/or one year in jail 
on each count. H.W. agreed to plead "open" to three counts, with 
each side free to argue for the appropriate punishment and the 
sentence being left to the absolute discretion of the court. He also 
agreed to a year of prison on each of the remaining two counts, and 
that the sentences will run consecutively with those for the first 
three counts - but that the execution of the sentences shall be 
suspended while he serves two years probation on each count. All 
parties agreed that the court would defer sentencing on the latter two 
counts until such time as H.W. completed any imprisonment imposed 
for the first three. H.W. also agreed to pay $2,500 in restitution 
to the Missouri Wild Horse League and to reimburse Shannon County for 
his incarceration, if any. [Bill Terry, DR, OZAR, 5/8]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Plan

No new information. Please check the NPS Fire Management Program 
Center web page (www.fire.nps.gov) for further information on fire 
plan projects.

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 1

Initial attack activity was moderate in the South on Saturday and 
light elsewhere. Three new fires were reported in Georgia and two in 
Florida. Northern Florida and Georgia may receive some showers and 
thunderstorms today, but southern Florida will remain hot and sunny 
with no relief predicted. Cooler temperatures in the Southwest will 
lower the fire danger there. Very high to extreme fire indices were 
reported in Arizona and Texas.

NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for low relative humidity this 
afternoon in southeastern Georgia and most of Florida.

The full NICC Incident Management Situation Report can be found at 
http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf

National Resource Status

Date                    5/16    5/17    5/18    5/19    5/20

Crews                   54      36      29      23      13
Engines                 88      84      101     84      39
Helicopters             22      22      19      17      18
Air Tankers             1       0       0       0       0
Overhead                337     287     294     234     108

Park Fire Situation

Big Cypress NP (FL) - The Bear Island Fire (22,500 acres, 75 FF/OH, 
five engines, one helicopter) is burning to the north and east toward 
I-75. The fire was particularly active during the afternoon hours.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme         N/A
Very High       Everglades, Carlsbad Caverns, Big Bend
High            Grand Canyon, Hawaii Volcanoes, Great Smokies, Great 
                Smokies

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/20; NPS Situation 
Summary Report, 5/19]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Western Archeological and Conservation Center (AZ) - Senior staff 
archeologist Jeffery Burton has received the John L. Cotter Award for 
excellence in archeology for his work at Manzanar NHS and at other 
sites where Japanese-Americans were confined during WWII. The award 
was given to Burton in recognition of the work he and his colleagues 
at WACC have done to document the structures, features, and artifacts 
remaining at the sites related to the Japanese-American relocation. 
The resulting report, entitled "Confinement and Ethnicity," covers the 
ten main relocation centers and also highlights some of the 
lesser-known sites associated with the internment. For example: 
Burton's research uncovered a l ink between an abandoned prison site 
on national forest land and Dr. Gordon Hirabayashi, a civil rights 
activist who had been imprisoned there for his stand against the 
internment. As a results, a USFS campground now at that location was 
renamed to honor him and an on-site interpretive display on the 
internment is nearing completion. Burton's archeological studies have 
involved former internees and their families, students, volunteers, 
government agency officials, White House staff, and leaders of 
Japanese-American community organizations. His exemplary work at 
Manzanar was recognized for its interdisciplinary research design, 
scientific historical archeological analysis, very broad public 
involvement, and sharing of research results through a variety of 
media. [WACC]

Richmond NBP (VA) - The park has received the John Wesley Powell prize 
of the Society for History in the Federal Government for its Tredegar 
Visitor Center. The VC was deemed exceptional for the 
"comprehensiveness, scholarship and effectiveness" of its historical 
displays. [NERO]

ADDITIONAL SECTIONS

Regular sections not appearing today (due either to lack of 
submissions or time constraints in preparing this edition) but are 
available at all times:

o  Natural/Cultural Resource Management - Significant developments in 
   these fields.
o  Interpretation/Visitor Services - Significant developments in these 
   fields.
o  Operational Notes - Any information of consequence to the field on 
   operational matters.
o  Memoranda - Memoranda from WASO to the field on all operational 
   matters.
o  Interchange - Requests or offers from any park or office for 
   materials, information or any other operational needs.
o  Hot Links - Web addresses for NPS-related sites.
o  Film at 11 - Reports on current or upcoming print or electronic 
   media stories on the NPS.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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