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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Monday, December 17, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Mount Rainier NP Elk Poacher Sentenced An Arlington, Washington, man has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in an elk poaching case that took place in the park in 2004. D.H., 48, who pled guilty to federal charges of acquiring and transporting illegally taken wildlife, was sentenced to a year's probation and required to pay a fine of $500 and restitution in the amount of $2,500. He's also been banned from the park for a year and has had his Washington state hunting privileges revoked for a year. On November 6, 2004, a park volunteer discovered a fresh elk kill site on Carlton Ridge, which is located in the park's southeast corner. Rangers verified that the kill site was well within the park and began an investigation. Three days later, they contacted six hunters camped just south of the park in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. They had with them a four-point elk that they'd killed and tagged two days before. D.H., who was a member of the party, told the rangers that he'd shot the elk in the White Pass area on the opening day of elk season. Rangers asked for tissue samples from the tagged elk to determine whether or not it was the same elk that had been taken in the park, but D.H. refused their request. The rangers gathered DNA evidence from blood spatters in the camp where the elk was stored and blood drippings from sacks of meat hanging in the trees and from the carcass at the kill site. The evidence was sent to the Fish and Wildlife's forensics lab in Ashland, Oregon, for analysis. The lab confirmed that the DNA from the two locations matched. The case was investigated by rangers, with significant assistance from Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service officers. [Uwe Nehring, Park Ranger] Suitland Parkway Man Receives 20 Year Sentence In Drug, Weapons Conviction On Wednesday, December 5th, a Maryland man was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he pled guilty in Maryland circuit court to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a handgun linked to drug dealing. The case stemmed from a traffic stop near the intersection of Suitland Parkway and Naylor Road last May. Park Police officer Joseph Bellino stopped a car with illegal window tinting, then arrested the operator, H.D., 32, when he performed poorly on standardized field sobriety tests. A search of H.D.'s car led to the discovery of a large brass-knuckle knife, a fully loaded .38-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun, marijuana, 20 ecstasy pills and 76 bags of crack cocaine. The handgun was one of 49 guns that had been reported stolen in 2006 from Commando Canine Inc., a private kennel club in Clinton, Maryland. During a subsequent search of H.D.'s home, police found a .380-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber long rifle, ammunition and $6,300. [Sergeant Robert Lachance, Public Information Officer, with report from Gazette.Net] HYPERLINK "http://www.gazette.net/stories/120707/prinnew171414_32355.shtml" http://www.gazette.net/stories/120707/prinnew171414_32355.shtml OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS (internal) or NPS Digest (external): Mesa Verde NP - The USS Mesa Verde, LPD-19, was commissioned on Saturday in Panama City, Florida, the most recent Navy ship to be named after a national park. Representatives from the park and from the state of Colorado attended the ceremony. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6076" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6076 Chief Information Officer - It's that time of year again - the time for holiday safety reminders. Along with fire prevention and safe driving considerations, the holidays also call for heightened cyber-safety awareness. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6077" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6077 Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service. HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6078" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6078 Intermountain Regional Office - L. Dean Clark has announced his retirement, effective January 3rd, following 39 fire seasons and 34 years of government service. Photo. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6072" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6072 * * * * * 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). --- ### --- |