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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, December 22, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Intermountain Region Winter Storm Causes Park, Office Closures The blizzard that struck Colorado and neighboring states on Wednesday and Thursday caused temporary closures in NPS offices in the Denver area and at two parks: Rocky Mountain NP - Most operations on the east side of the park closed down around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, except for ranger patrols and plowing. The snow stopped on Wednesday night and the park returned to regular operations on Thursday. As of Wednesday afternoon, from 20 to 30 inches of snow had fallen on the east side of the park, with 26 inches of new snow at Bear Lake - bringing the seasonal total at that location to 57 inches. Scotts Bluff NM - The storm closed the park for 24 hours from noon on Wednesday to noon on Thursday. About 10 inches of snow fell in the first eight hours. [Kyle Patterson, ROMO; Ken Mabery, SCBL] United States Park Police Yacht Club Pleads Guilty In Illegal Dumping Case In May, 2003, the National Park Service charged the District Yacht Club with knowingly depositing debris without a permit into the navigable waters of the United States in direct violation of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1898 (33 USC 407 and 411). During the ensuing investigation, detectives from the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Park Police's Criminal Investigations Branch determined that the club had deposited 240 square feet of cement debris in the Anacostia River without permits from the Secretary of the Army. On December 14th, the Department of Justice notified USPP that the District Yacht Club had pleaded guilty under the terms of a plea agreement to one criminal count of knowingly depositing the debris in the river. As part of the plea, the club agreed to three years' probation, a payment of $10,000 to the National Park Foundation, and a payment of $10,000 to the U.S. Treasury. Assisting in the investigation from other agencies were SA Strickland (FBI), SA Solari (EPA), SA Zelen and environmental specialist Hewitt (NPS). Support was also provided by the Charles County volunteer dive unit. [Detective Jon Crichfield, Criminal Investigations Branch, Environmental Crimes Unit] OTHER NEWS Other news from today's edition of InsideNPS, the National Park Service's home page: Gettysburg - The most recent fight for Gettysburg ended Wednesday when Pennsylvania gambling regulators rejected a proposal for a slot-machine casino near the Civil War battlefield. Lake Roosevelt - Ron Fosback is retiring. To link to InsideNPS, click on HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/ * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |