NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, February 12, 2010

INCIDENTS

Lake Mead NRA

NPS Assists Forest Service In Petroglyph Theft Case

A man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on felony charges that he unlawfully removed and damaged a large petroglyph from Forest Service lands in the Spring Mountains National Recreational Area near Pahrump, Nevada. M.C., 57, of Pahrump, is charged with one count of violating the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. If convicted, M.C. faces up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is charged under the felony provisions of the statute because the archeological resource is valued at more than $500. According to the indictment, between March and September 2008, M.C. knowingly excavated, removed, damaged, and otherwise altered and defaced a large petroglyph depicting seven sheep from Spring Mountains NRA without a permit or exemption. Nye County Sheriff's Department officials discovered the rock containing the petroglyph in M.C.'s front yard in Pahrump on June 24, 2009, and reported it to the Forest Service. The rock weighed about 200 pounds. M.C. was issued a summons and is scheduled for an initial appearance and arraignment on Friday, February 26th. This investigation is being conducted by the Forest Service, with the assistance of the law enforcement team of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) which includes the Forest Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service (Lake Mead National Recreation Area), and the Bureau of Land Management. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Natural Resource Program Center - This week marks the North American launch of the United Nations' International Year of Biodiversity. To improve NPS knowledge of biodiversity in parks and increase public awareness of the importance of biodiversity, the National Park Service is hosting “Biodiversity Discovery” events in parks across the country.

Visitor and Resource Protection - The previously postponed firearms law phone call has been rescheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today (Friday, February 12th).

Chief Information Officer - The NPS GIS Council and Wilderness Stewardship Division are pleased to announce adoption of a national GIS data transfer standard for legislated NPS wilderness areas.

Rocky Mountain NP - Career ranger Kurt Oliver, 61, who retired from Rocky Mountain National Park in 2006, died of cancer on Wednesday. Services will be in Estes Park on Monday. Photo.

Intermountain Region - Five Intermountain Region employees and a researcher from Utah State University have been selected as the Intermountain Region's Natural Resource Stewardship recipients for 2009.

Servicewide Training Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. Added to this week's listing are the following - a class on preservation of historic iron and steel in bridges and other metal structures in Michigan, a green preservation/LEED preparation workshop in Santa Fe, several new TEL station broadcasts, two more commercial service program monthly chats, and three courses on how to succeed with volunteers in parks - one each at Lake Mead, Golden Gate and Yosemite.

To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):

NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify

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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. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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