NPS Morning Report - Thursday, August 9, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, August 9, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-424 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Assault on Concession Employee

A 32-year-old female concession employee was severely beaten by an 
unknown male assailant at 2 a.m. on August 6th. She had been out 
walking and took a shortcut trail from the park road back to her dorm. 
As she approached the outdoor mailboxes at the park post office, she 
was struck from behind and knocked to the ground. The assailant 
demanded money, but got nothing. He kicked her in the ribs, punched 
her in the face, and kicked her in the head before fleeing on foot 
into the nearby forest. The woman sustained a concussion and numerous 
bruises and was hospitalized at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. This 
appears to have been a crime of opportunity. There are no suspects at 
present. Employees have been advised to carry flashlights at this time 
of day when out and about, and to walk in small groups. Tom Habecker 
is the investigating ranger. [Tom Habecker, DR, North District, DENA, 
8/8]

01-425 - Cape Lookout NS (NC) - Accidental Shooting

On the evening of July 21st, rangers received a 911 call reporting a 
shooting on Shackleford Banks. Ranger Richard Larrabee responded, 
meeting both the victim and suspected shooter at a local Urgent Care 
Medical Center. Larrabee interviewed the two men, both of whom said 
that the shooting resulted from an accident. The alleged shooter was 
reportedly carrying a .22 caliber revolver in his front pocket, which 
fired accidentally when a beer keg he was helping to carry onto the 
island bounced off his leg. The round then ricocheted off the keg and 
grazed the victim's leg, causing a superficial wound. The man said 
that he then threw the weapon into the ocean and escorted the victim 
by boat to the medical facility. He told Larrabee and local officers 
that he didn't have a state driver's license (which proved false) and 
provided them with a fictitious name and address. Since both parties 
said that the shooting was an accident, the shooter was released that 
evening after agreeing to return to the banks the next morning to help 
search for the discarded weapon. He fled the county before the morning 
arrived, however, and failed to appear. Through an intensive 
investigation, Larrabee and supervisory ranger Jim Zahradka were able 
to track down and interview the shooter. They seized the .22, which he 
still had in his possession, and the shorts he was wearing when the 
gun fired in his pocket. A mandatory appearance citation was issued 
for possession of a weapon, providing false information, and 
disorderly conduct. Criminal charges will include a plea for 
restitution on behalf of the victim. [Jim Zahradka, SPR, CALO, 8/8]

01-426 - Klondike Gold Rush NHP (AK) - Rescue

On the morning of July 31st, a 51-year-old woman on her second day 
backpacking on the Chilkoot Trail slipped on a tree root and severely 
fractured her right arm in the resulting fall.  Fortunately, she and 
her three traveling companions are all licensed nurses and were able 
to reduce the fracture, stabilize the arm, and self-medicate for pain 
- all prior to being contacted by park backcountry staff. Recognizing 
the severity of the injury and the need to minimize any delays in 
obtaining definitive treatment, park rangers and archeologists worked 
together to help the trio get to the nearest helicopter landing zone 
about a mile away. Skagway VFD provided an EMT attendant for the 
helicopter evacuation and the subsequent transport to the Skagway 
Medical Clinic. The woman was stabilized there, then flown 100 miles 
south to Juneau later that day for corrective surgery. Consistent with 
standard park procedures, all air evacuation costs were billed 
directly to the patient by the non-NPS parties providing service. 
[CRO, KLGO, 8/8]

01-427 - Chattahoochee River NRA (GA) - Car Clout Arrests

There were 63 car clouts in the park during the period from March 26, 
2000, to January 24, 2001. Investigators learned that several groups 
had targeted the park. Ranger Steve Reynolds developed leads from 
information provided by several witnesses and other police agencies in 
the metropolitan area that led to the indictment of six people. 
Reynolds also pursued leads that resulted in the indictment of four 
other people in Perry, Georgia. The incidence of car clouts in the 
park was significantly diminished through his efforts. (Kevin Tillman, 
SPR, CHAT, 8/9)

01-428 - Chattahoochee River NRA (GA) - Drowning

G.B.G., 27, of Wexford, Pennsylvania, and three 
friends attempted to cross the Chattahoochee River without lifejackets 
on the afternoon of August 4th. G.B.G. began to have difficulty 
in the fifteen-foot channel near shore and disappeared below the 
surface. NPS rangers, Georgia Department of Natural Resource rangers, 
and Cobb County and Fulton County rescue units were notified and an 
immediate search was begun. The search had to be terminated, though, 
due to severe thunderstorms that had moved into the area. On August 
6th, members of the Cobb County dive team located G.B.G.'s body 
near the point last seen. Media interest has been high.  (Kevin 
Tillman, SPR, CHAT, 8/9)

01-429 - Big Bend NP (TX) - Drug Seizure

On July 7th, Border Patrol agents asked rangers to help them find a 
vehicle that was heading toward the park on US 385. The vehicle had 
turned around at an immigration check station and was heading back 
south. Rangers intercepted the vehicle, arrested three people, and 
seized 444 pounds of marijuana. The vehicle had evidently crossed the 
border at Lajitas, Texas, and traveled through the park before being 
stopped just outside the park's boundary. [Cary Brown, DR, BIBE, 8/8]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 2

Eleven new large fires were reported on Wednesday - five in the Great 
Basin and three each in northern California and the Northwest. Six 
large fires were contained - three in the western Great Basin and one 
each in the South, Northwest and northern California. Moderate to 
heavy initial attack was reported in eastern Great Basin and southern 
California; light initial attack was reported elsewhere.  

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, 
California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, 
Washington and Wyoming (Colorado was dropped from yesterday's 
listing).

NICC has not issued any watches or warnings today.

For the full NICC report, see http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.

National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)

                        Sun     Mon     Tue     Wed     Thu
Date                    8/5     8/6     8/7     8/8     8/9
        
Crews                   145     134     181     201     243
Engines                 377     319     341     369     405
Helicopters             84      75      85      80      95
Air Tankers             4       6       7       4       8
Overhead                1,279   1,078   1,388   1,324   1/535

Park Fire Situation

Yellowstone NP (WY) - Crews on the Arthur Fire (2,800 acres, 50% 
contained) continued to make excellent progress yesterday in efforts 
to contain the fire on its northeastern, eastern and southeastern 
flanks. Residents at the East Entrance have been allowed to return. A 
total of 822 firefighters and overhead were committed to the fire as 
of yesterday. For a full report on the fire, please go to: 
http://www.nps.gov/yell/technical/fire/Fires/Arthur/arthur.htm. 

Park Fire Danger

Extreme         Joshua Tree NP, Hawaii Volcanoes NP
Very High       Zion NP
High            Rocky Mountain NP, Big Bend NP

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 8/8; NICC Incident Management Situation 
Report, 8/9]

FILM AT 11...

The July/August edition of Wildlife Conservation, a publication of the 
New York Zoological Society, has an article on the impacts of roads on 
wildlife. The article, entitled "Road Rage", features Saguaro NP's 
wildlife road mortality study. It was written by Tucson free-lance 
conservation writer Tom Dollar, who spent several hours interviewing 
the park's resource management staff on the road issue in general and 
Saguaro's study in particular. The article gives a good overview of 
both. Though better known in the northeast, the magazine should be 
available at larger newsstands nationwide. [Natasha Kline, SAGU]

                            *  *  *  *  *

The Morning Report solicits entries from the field and central offices 
for its daily and weekly sections (below). The general rule is that 
submissions, whatever the category, should pertain to operations, be 
useful to the field, and have broad significance across the agency. 
Additional details on submission criteria are available from the 
editor at any time (Bill Halainen at NP-DEWA, or 
Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). Ask for either incident reporting criteria 
(issued by WASO, June 18, 2000) or general criteria. 

Daily and weekly sections are available for news or significant 
developments pertaining to:

Field incidents                 Interpretation and visitor services
Natural resource management     Cultural resource management
Operations (WASO only)          Memoranda (WASO only)
Requests/offers of assistance   Park-related web sites
Parks and employees             Media stories on parks
Training, meetings, and events  Queries on operational matters  
Reports on "lessons learned" 

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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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