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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office Day/Date: Thursday, January 3, 2002 INCIDENTS 01-650 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Antler Theft Conviction On December 13th, R.J, 23, and J.G., 20, both of Joliet, Montana, pled guilty to collecting and removing elk antlers from the park. On July 24th, officers from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks notified NPS special agents that R.J. and J.G. might have been taking antlers from the park. A joint investigation led to the discovery that the pair had about 191 pounds of antlers in their possession, and that they'd been taken from the park last June. R.J. had also collected antlers from the park on several other occasions over the past few years. R.J. was fined $3,000 and placed on probation for five years; J.G. was fined $500 and placed on probation for three years. Both are prohibited from entering the park during their probation. The investigation also revealed that a third person named Frank Curtis had accompanied R.J. and J.G. on one trip to the park. Curtis was on probation at the time for a double homicide in Ravailli County, Montana. The U.S. Attorney's Office and Yellowstone special agents worked with the Ravailli County attorney to produce the evidence needed to revoke his probation. On October 23rd, Curtis was sentenced to 100 years (50 suspended) for the probation violations. [Dick Divine, SA, YELL, 12/31] 01-651 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Sexual Assault A 23-year-old man came to the ranger operations building on November 29th and reported that he'd been sexually assaulted by an unknown person. He said that he'd been sleeping on a couch in an employee dorm when he awoke to find that a man had unzipped his pants and was touching his genital area. Investigative leads led to the questioning of R.M., 41, who subsequently confessed to the assault. A second victim was identified through information gleaned from the interview and has come forward. R.M. was charged with violations of 18 UWC 2244(a)(2). Ranger Phil Mennenoh was the investigating officer. [Phil Mennenoh, GRCA, 12/31] 01-652 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Search On November 28th, a local commuter airline reported that a Japanese visitor had failed to show-up for his return flight to Las Vegas. Investigators determined that Masafumi Yatabe, 50, had failed to remove his luggage from a hotel room at the Maswik Lodge, that he'd rented a room at Circus Circus Hotel in Las Vegas and had also failed to check out and remove his luggage from that room, and that he'd visited the park and had not left by any known mode of public transportation. They also learned that he'd made a trip to the canyon earlier that month, and that he'd employed similar travel arrangements. The park has asked for assistance in the investigation from the FBI, the U.S. embassy, and the Japanese National Police. Any park with any information on Yatabe should contact ranger operations at Grand Canyon. Ranger Phil Mennenoh is the IC. [Phil Mennenoh, GRCA, 12/31] 01-653 - Pacific West Region - Assist; BLM Special Event Pacific West Region's incident management team (IMT) recently assisted BLM with management of a special event at Imperial Sand Dunes NRA in El Centro, California. The team helped oversee the four-day New Year's weekend gathering of between 50,000 and 80,000 off-highway vehicles at the recreation area. There had been an increase in violence, arrests and injuries at similar events held there recently and attended by more than 100,000 people, so BLM asked the IMT to oversee the event and provide the agency with planning, operational and logistical insights to improve management of future events. The team employed ICS to coordinate communication and control actions of the local, state and federal agencies involved in running the event. [Hugh Dougher, IC, PWR IMT, 12/31] PARKS AND PEOPLE Rocky Mountain NP (CO) - The park is advertising for a GS-12 wildlife biologist. The person selected will be responsible for program development and for dealing with resource and habitat issues, particularly for large ungulates, sensitive species, and non-native and pest animals. The announcement number is DD127006 on USAJobs and closes on January 17th. [Sharon Brubaker, RM, ROMO] * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |