NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, April 3, 2002

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, April 3, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-081 - Big Bend NP (TX) - Assault on Rangers

Border Patrol agents working in the park saw a vehicle driving slowly on a
backcountry road near Rio Grande Village on the evening of March 23rd and
subsequently determined that the vehicle was disabled and that the two
occupants were intoxicated. Rangers were asked to assist. Driver S.F.
became combative after being arrested and repeatedly resisted
attempts to be placed in a cruiser for transport. S.F. kicked and spit on
the rangers, kicked and damaged the door of a Border Patrol vehicle, and
kicked out the window of an NPS vehicle. He was eventually secured for the
120-mile transport to the county jail in Alpine. S.F. was charged with
six offenses, including assault on a federal officer. [CRO, BIBE, 4/2]

02-082 - Big Bend NP (TX) - MVA with Fatality

Rangers assisted Brewster County officers with a motorcycle accident
outside the park on Highway 385 on the morning of March 30th. The
motorcyclist ran off the roadway while going through a curve and hit a
barbed wire fence. The park ambulance and three rangers responded and
transported the 62-year-old male operator to the Big Bend Regional Medical
Center in Alpine, a drive of about an hour. The man died at the hospital.
[CRO, BIBE, 4/2]

02-083 - Big Bend NP (TX) - Two Rescues

On February 11th, J.B. of Houston was reported overdue from a solo
hike on the Marufo Vega trail in the Sierra Del Caballo Muerto near Rio
Grand Village. A search was begun, and J.B. was found by a dog team two
days later. He said that he had planned to camp for one night (February
9th), but that he'd become disoriented and eventually lost. Over 50
employees and volunteers were involved in the search; a Texas DPS
helicopter was also utilized, as were searchers with tracking dogs from the
U.S. Tactical K-9 unit in Abilene. Boquillas DR David Van Inwagen was IC.
Then, at 10 p.m. on February 16th, rangers received a report that four
teachers and nine high school students from Bucksport, Maine, were overdue
from a strenuous 14-mile hike on the same trail. A hasty team was deployed,
and Customs aircraft equipped with infrared detection gear were summoned to
assist in an effort to find the group during the night. The group was
spotted six miles off course north of the trail from one of the aircraft.
The next morning, a Texas DPS helicopter provided group members with food
and water, and a hasty team hiked to their location and led them out. Van
Inwagen was again IC. [CRO, BIBE, 4/2]

02-084 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Drug Arrests

On the morning of March 29th, park special agents saw and stopped a car on
the North Entrance Road that was operating without brake lights and whose
occupants were not wearing seatbelts. They found that the driver's license
had been suspended due to a failure to appear in court, and that none of
the three occupants owned the car. A consent search led to the discovery of
$8,500 in cash, a loaded 9 millimeter handgun, and drug paraphernalia. Two
of the three were arrested and subsequently released on an unsecured bond
pending an upcoming trial. The Park County Sheriff's Department and
Missouri River Drug Task Force assisted with the case. [Mona Divine, YELL,
4/2]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

Park Fire Situation

Everglades NP (FL) - The Tower 3 Fire started on Monday afternoon near the
FAA tower on 197th Street and 136th Avenue and was burning in sawgrass. The
tower and several outbuildings were threatened. The park, state and county
responded and controlled the fire at approximately 35 acres.

Rocky Mountain NP (CO) - The dry winter has led to unusually high fire
danger for the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies. A fire weather watch
was issued on Monday. The forecast for the next six to ten days calls for
above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme - N/A
Very High - N/A
High - Lake Mead NRA, Hawaii Volcanoes NP, Bent's Old Fort NHS, Rocky
Mountain NP

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 4/2]

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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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