NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, February 4, 2011

INCIDENTS

Hot Springs NP

Two Campers Arrested For Drug, Weapons Violations

Ranger Clint Forte was on patrol in Gulpha Gorge Campground on the afternoon of January 29th when he came upon two people parked at a campsite who'd failed to pay the required camping fees. While Forte was attempting to identify the male driver, he ran from the campground, crossing Gulpha Gorge Creek and fleeing up the adjacent mountainside. Forte kept an eye on his female companion while coordinating a pursuit. Rangers David Van Nest and David Anderson responded from the nearby ranger station and Van Nest chased the man into the woods. After about a half mile, the man surrendered, saying that he was an asthmatic and couldn't breathe. Van Nest took him into custody, called for an ambulance, and got him inhaler treatment. Another camper subsequently told rangers that the woman had meanwhile entered their vehicle, removed an item, thrown it into the creek, and returned to the site. Forte found just under 48 grams of marijuana in the vehicle along with scales, empty plastic baggies, and other items consistent with possession of narcotics with intent to deliver. The man was found to have a suspended driver's license and four Hot Springs PD warrants out against him. A 9mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered from Gorge Creek, which was found to have been stolen in Garland County. Both the man and woman face multiple weapons, drugs, and interfering charges. Rangers are assisting Garland County Sheriff's Department deputies with the weapon investigation. [Dennis Stock, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Apostle Islands NL - Two multi-agency training sessions were held at park headquarters on ice rescue and ice awareness last month. The objectives of the sessions were to improve overall ice awareness and develop ice rescue resources throughout the region.

Indiana Dunes NL - Working in partnership with the Illinois Math and Science Academy, educators at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore presented two distance learning broadcasts on invasive species on January 26th. Photo.

Servicewide Training and Conference Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation through the end of 2011, plus online training. Added to this week's calendar are the following - three new FLETC offerings (two on wildland fire investigations) and a law enforcement refresher at Canaveral.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and 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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