NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, December 9, 2011

INCIDENTS

Lake Mead NRA

Investigation Underway Into Fatal Helicopter Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board released additional details yesterday about the Las Vegas tour helicopter crash in the park that killed five. The agency described the wreckage as having been consumed by fire. The few remaining intact parts included the main and tail rotors. NPS rangers, wildland firefighters and special agents were involved in yesterday's operations, providing support to NTSB, FAA and Clark County Coroner investigators. The terrain required the use of NPS four-wheel drive utility vehicles to get investigators within a few hundred yards of the crash site; from there they were required to hike in. The remains of the five crash victims were recovered by the coroner's office and transported by park utility vehicle and park ambulance out of the area. The Clark County coroner said that positive identification will most likely have to be made through DNA testing. To protect the site, Superintendent Bill Dickinson issued a temporary closure order for a two-mile radius surrounding the crash site. Today, the park will continue its incident command operations in support of the NTSB investigation with helicopter and additional law enforcement support from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs]

Petersburg NB

Man Pleads Guilty In Major ARPA Case

In November, 2010, park employees discovered an area where unlawful excavation had occurred within the park. Ranger Josh Petersen began an investigation and placed trail cameras in the area. This led to the identification of a suspect, J.S., and assistance was sought from the Investigative Services Branch. On December 21, 2010, Petersen caught J.S. in the act of relic hunting within the park. NPS agents and rangers, with the assistance of Fish and Wildlife Service personnel, obtained a search warrant for J.S.'s residence and vehicle. The found and recovered 9,936 artifacts, as well as detailed journals that J.S. kept showing that he had been relic hunting almost daily for more than four years, frequently within the park. This evidence helped officials to link J.S. with specific prior looting activity known to have occurred in the park, and revealed hundreds of incidents that had gone undetected. A federal grand jury indicted J.S. this past July on three felony ARPA counts (16 USC 470ee (a)), one count of theft of government property (18 USC 641), one count of depredation of government property (18 USC 1361), and one count of an unrelated offense which was later dropped by the government. At arraignment, J.S. pled not guilty and trial was set for October. Following one continuance, J.S. on December 6th changed his plea to guilty on two of the ARPA counts and the theft of government property count. He also agreed to forfeit all items seized during the search, as well as the items seized from his person in December, 2010.

The penalties for a felony ARPA offense are a maximum term of two years' imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000, full restitution, a special assessment fee, and a year of supervised release. The penalties for depredation of government property are a maximum term of ten years of imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000, full restitution, a special assessment fee and three years of supervised release. Sentencing is set for March 6th. [April Michener, Special Agent, ISB East]

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/):

Pipe Spring NM - National American Indian Heritage Month was celebrated in the park in November with a series of special interpretive hikes, talks and demonstrations that were given by NPS and BLM staff and Native Americans.

Mesa Verde NP - Linda Martin, a supervisory interpretive ranger, will retire on December 31st after nearly 40 years with the NPS, 36 of those spent in Mesa Verde National Park.

Natchez Trace Parkway - Eric (Rick) Chamberlain, who has interpreted his own ancestral home within Natchez Trace for the past two decades, is retiring.

Midwest Region - Gary Smith, facility manager at Fort Smith National Historic Site since 1998, will be retiring on December 31st.

Servicewide Training and Conference Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation, plus online training. The following are new additions to this week's calendar - the 15th Annual US/ICOMOS International Scientific Symposium (and a call for papers), four emergency medicine training and refresher courses in the Smokies, a photovoltaic system design and maintenance workshop at Glen Canyon, a new offering of Fundamentals II, and a class on wildland fire investigation case development in Missoula.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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