NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

BLACKBERRY EDITION

Thursday, March 9, 2006

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INCIDENTS

Redwood N&SP

Conviction for Redwood Poaching

A local man who pled guilty to attempted grand larceny for poaching downed old-growth redwood in Redwood National and State Parks was sentenced last week to serve 120 days in jail and three years probation. He was also ordered to pay $400 in restitution and was banned from the parks for three years. Rangers began an aggressive program of detection, investigation and prosecution of redwood poaching last summer. Last fall, two other men were convicted of destruction of natural resources and were banned from the parks. A fourth suspect is scheduled for a preliminary hearing later this month. All four men are from the nearby town of Orick. [Pat Grediagin, Chief Ranger]

Gettysburg NMP

Follow-up on Vandalism to Monuments

The park's monument preservation staff will reset the life-size bronze sculpture of a Zouave infantryman onto the pedestal of the 114th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Monument this afternoon. The monument was damaged along with two other monuments on the Gettysburg battlefield during the night of February 15th or the early morning hours of February 16th. Rangers are investigating the incidents and are looking for information that may help them find the responsible individuals. So far, they have developed no significant leads. The Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg and other organizations and individuals have posted a reward of $36,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the vandalism. Preservation specialists at Gettysburg spent a total of 130 hours working on the 114th Pennsylvania monument - fabricating a new ramrod, which had been stolen, carefully removing gouges, and refurbishing the bronze figure. This afternoon, a crane will hoist the figure onto its base at the Sherfy House along Emmitsburg Road. Repairs are underway on the cast iron fence that surrounds the monument. Vandals also pulled the top stone and sculpture off the 11th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Monument, and pulled the bronze sculpture of a Civil War artilleryman from the monument to Smith's battery, also known as the 4th New York battery. The bronze artilleryman from the Smith's battery monument was dragged 162 feet and its head was severed and stolen from the scene, along with the ramrod. The park has estimated the repair costs for the two severely damaged monuments and the historic fence at between $55,000 and $65,000. [Katie Lawhon, Public Affairs Specialist]

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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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