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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office Day/Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2002 INCIDENTS 02-035 - Santa Monica Mountains NRA (CA) - Commercial Filming Violations The historic house at the Peter Strauss Ranch has been the site of several illegal commercial filming operations over recent weeks. Groups of young men have been entering the area at night, some bringing in portable generators and lights, and filming commercial skateboarding videos by sliding down the handrails on the steps of the historic house. Through numerous contacts, rangers have purchased commercial videos in local skateboard shops showing skateboarding on the site. Classic stunts performed by internationally known skateboarders have inspired skateboarders from San Jose to San Diego, one even from Brazil, to come to the ranch to ride the same rail and try and get the same shot. The latest event was on February 2nd, when rangers contacted a group of seven young men at the ranch. They had connected portable halogen lights to the main house's electrical system and had attempted to remove steel obstacles that park maintenance staff had put on the rails to prevent skateboard use. They intended to use the video to seek commercial sponsorship at an upcoming skateboarding convention. Others in the group were already sponsored. A simple handheld digital video camera is of sufficient quality to provide footage for commercial skateboarding videos. Total cumulative damage to the main house at Peter Strauss Ranch has yet to be assessed. Nearly 30 individuals, averaging between ages 16 and 18, have been cited in the past year for a variety of offenses, including commercial filming, damaging government property, and closure violations. [Greg Jackson, DR, San Vicente District, SAMO, 2/10] PARKS AND PEOPLE Lincoln Home NHS (IN) - The park is advertising for a permanent GS-2210-9/11 information technology specialist. The announcements are open through both merit promotion and open competitive procedures and close on February 22nd. Look for more information on USA Jobs ( http://www.usajobs.opm.gov ) or call AO Barbara Fearon at 217-492-4241 extension 223. Additional information about the park can be found on the park's web site (http://www.nps.gov/liho ), and information about Springfield can be found on the city's web site (http://www.springfiedl.il.us ). [Barbara Fearon, AO, LIHO]Potomac Heritage NST (MD/VA/DC/PA) - With support from the National Park Service's "Challenge Cost-Share" program and others, the Potomac Trail Council (PTC) recently published an assessment of trail development opportunities in the Potomac Heritage Trail corridor. This is the first such comprehensive inventory and analysis since the trail corridor's designation in 1983. This report on the state of the trail, which runs from the mouth of the Potomac River at Chesapeake Bay to the Allegheny Highlands in western Pennsylvania, is available from the PTC by sending an email to info@potomactrail.org or leaving a message at 888-223-4093 extension 208. [Dong Briggs, Superintendent/Coordinator, PHNSTO]FILM AT 11.... The Saturday edition of the Akron Beacon Journal ( http://www.ohio.com/bj/) has an article reporting that "the federal government has reached a $15.5 million settlement with one company that disposed of toxic wastes at a now-closed dump in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co., 3M, will pay $14.7 million to reimburse the U.S. Department of the Interior for cleaning up the 47-acre Krejci Dump off Hines Hill Road in Boston and Northfield Center townships in northern Summit County. The company will pay an additional $800,000 for damage to natural resources in the 33,000-acre federal park."* * * * * Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |