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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, March 15, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Everglades NP Manatee Speed Zone Enforcement Operation Rangers, in cooperation with officers and agents from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, recently ran two special operations to enforce manatee speed zones in the Gulf Coast District. Officers working in Chokoloskee Bay issued 25 speed citations and numerous safety and resource violation notices over a two-day period. Chokoloskee Bay is considered an “area of inadequate protection” for manatees and is undergoing an interagency review to improve the protection for this endangered species. Enforcement is accordingly increasing in an effort to educate boaters and improve compliance with these speed zones. Statewide, at least 86 manatees were killed by powerboats in 2006. More special operations are planned for the future. [Bonnie Foist, Chief Ranger] National Mall and Memorial Parks Man Brandishing Knife Arrested By Officers US Park Police officers were dispatched to the Jefferson Memorial on the afternoon of February 13th to investigate a report of a man with a knife threatening NPS employees. Responding officers contacted a man brandishing a knife in the memorial's chamber. The man threatened to harm the officers. The memorial was cleared of all visitors and the man was safely arrested. [Lieutenant Scott Fear, USPP] Harpers Ferry NHP Taser Helps Ranger Subdue Man In Confrontation On the morning of March 13th, acting chief ranger Sarah Davis-Reynolds received a complaint of automatic weapons fire along the Appalachian Trail near Keyes Gap. She requested assistance from C&O Canal rangers and Jefferson County officers, then headed for Keyes Gap, where she contacted a highly intoxicated man later identified as J.J. J.J. was unable to identify himself, saying “I'm a little out of it right now,” then began to flee toward the Appalachian Trail with a twelve-pack of beer in his possession. Reynolds was able to catch J.J. and took him to the ground. A struggle ensued and Reynolds attempted to employ her taser on J.J.. The darts failed to penetrate his heavy coat, though, and he again fled with the beer. Reynolds again used her taser, this time stopping him. J.J. was charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest. The sheriff's department will be handling the case. It was later learned that a local landowner had been firing his personal semi-automatic weapon on private property next to the trail. [Sarah Davis-Reynolds, Assistant Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites appear below: Lyndon B. Johnson NHP - This past weekend, Luci Baines Johnson, President Lyndon Johnson's younger daughter, led cyclists on the first-ever bike tours of the LBJ Ranch. Cabrillo NM - Superintendent Terry DiMattio will be retiring on June 3rd. Terry has been a ranger with the National Park Service for 33 years and the superintendent of Cabrillo National Monument since June, 1990. Northeast Region - The executive director/superintendent is the primary operating official for the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Roger Williams NM and is responsible for the management, interpretation and administration of both sites. For more information, go to InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) or NPS Digest ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |