NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

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INCIDENTS

Mojave NP

Property And Vehicle Theft Investigation

On the afternoon of October 4th, ranger Mike Ice contacted two people in a parked ATT company vehicle on a road in a remote part of the park. Ice suspected that they might be stealing copper or other metals due to some items that he saw on the ground next to the truck. The passenger, G.D., produced a Nevada identification card, but the driver said that he had no identification on him. Ice checked both G.D. and the truck on NCIC - both returned clear. The driver then looked around a couple of times and ran to the truck. As he was putting it into gear, Ice was able to open the door and deploy his taser. The door slammed shut as the truck went forward, though, and the taser evidently had no effect. Ice decided not to pursue and instead questioned, cited and released G.D. In the ensuing investigation, rangers learned that the ATT truck had been stolen from Las Vegas, but had not yet been reported. Ranger Brian Cooperider found it on BLM land west of Searchlight on October 8th. Numerous items of stolen property were recovered from it. Ice is working on this case with Las Vegas Metro PD and NPS agents from Lake Mead. [Kirk Gebicke, Acting Chief Ranger]

Great Basin NP

Mule Deer Poached Inside Park

A visitor reported a poaching incident at the park visitor center early on the afternoon of October 5th. He said that he'd seen four hunters shoot a deer in the meadow along Strawberry Creek Road inside the park around 8 a.m. that morning. The visitor, who'd been camped at a designated campsite nearby, contacted the four men and told them that they were in a national park and that he didn't think that they could hunt there, but added that the hunters had convinced him that it was okay to hunt in the park. He watched as the hunters gutted the deer and packed out the meat, hide and antlers. Ranger Katy Lloyd was notified of the incident. She went to the Strawberry Creek area and began contacting hunting parties camped outside the park on BLM land. Several hunters said that they'd heard the shot and that they believed the hunters involved were camped in the Sage Creek Canyon area, located immediately outside the park boundary. Lloyd then traveled toward that location. While en route. she encountered a truck occupied by two hunters. During her conversation with them, Lloyd warned about the prohibition on hunting in the park, which prompted several boundary questions from the passenger. Lloyd then asked the pair if they had talked to a visitor earlier in the day about hunting in the park and both admitted that they had. After further questions, the passenger admitted to shooting a four-point buck mule deer within the park in the location described by the visitor. He said that he thought that they were on Forest Service land, but both hunters admitted that they had area maps and GPS units in their possession. Lloyd later met them at their camp, where the hunter involved was cited for illegally taking wildlife within the park. The deer meat, hide, and antlers were confiscated along with the hunter's Nevada state deer tag. The area where the deer was taken is approximately two miles from the park boundary along the Strawberry Creek Road. The area immediately adjacent to the park where the hunters were camped was formerly administered by the U.S. Forest Service, but last December was transferred along with all Forest Service land surrounding the park to the Bureau of Land Management by Congressional act. [Curt Dimmick, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories (among others) 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 are, respectively, HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/ and ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/).

* Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center - The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center has just posted the 21st edition of its newsletter, Scratchline, along with a toolbox for public information officers and a report on the “fire siege” of 2003 in southern California.

* Everglades NP/Crater Lake NP - Steve Robinson, long-time seasonal interpretive ranger at Everglades and Crater Lake National Parks, passed away on October 1st. Steve was an icon for 25 seasons in the interpretive program in the Flamingo District, influencing thousands of visitors and employes through his dedication.

* Northeast Region - Chrysandra L. “Sandy” Walter, deputy regional director for Northeast Region since 1994, will be retiring on December 18th following over 38 years of service.

* Edison NHS - Greg Marshall has been selected as the park's new superintendent. He follows Maryanne Gerbauckas, who left Edison earlier this year to become associate regional director for research, stewardship and science in Northeast Regional Office.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-686-3828).

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