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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, February 10, 2012 INCIDENTS Padre Island NS Man Pays Restitution For Car Fire That Burned Park Land On the night of October 15th, a four-door Cadillac with two male occupants drove into the park. The driver lost control of his vehicle and the car went off of the roadway. The vehicle's catalytic converter caught the surrounding grassland on fire, which subsequently burned 7.7 acres of the park's grassland and the vehicle down to the frame. Rangers soon arrived on scene along with the local fire department, which put out the fire. Rangers interviewed the men and deemed them safe to be driven home by family members. During the course of the investigation, rangers used the park's entrance station video cameras to pinpoint the Cadillac's entry into the park. Rangers were also able to obtain surveillance footage from the drinking establishment where the two men had spent their time prior to entering the park. After compiling all of the evidence, the rangers took the information to the AUSA, who filed criminal information, which carried five federal charges, against the driver of the vehicle. The rangers also filed a 19jj restitution charge against the driver. On January 23rd, the driver accepted a plea agreement and paid $5,141.82 restitution costs to the park. [Timothy Thompson, Supervisory Park Ranger] Grand Canyon NP Two Arrested For Felony Drug Distribution Last month, protection rangers received information regarding the distribution of marijuana and cocaine within the park and contacted special agents with the Investigative Services Branch. A cooperative investigation was begun that eventually included an undercover operation. That resulted in two arrests and the seizure of cocaine and cash. Charges filed included drug distribution, conspiracy, child endangerment, and possession of a controlled substance. [Christopher Smith, ASAC, Investigative Services Branch - Central] 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/): Martin Luther King, Jr. NHS - On January 14th, the park commemorated the 26th observance of the federal holiday that honors the birthday of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a special program entitled “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Remembering His Legacy” in the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church Horizon Sanctuary. Office of Policy - Several important Servicewide policy documents have been issued recently, or are available for review and comment. Big Cypress NP - On February 4th, dozens of residents from the Miami-area community contributed their valuable time to Big Cypress National Preserve for the purpose of tackling a variety of important projects for the benefit of the park. Delaware Water Gap NRA - Michael Coogan, 57, assistant volunteer coordinator at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, passed away on Tuesday, February 7th. Intermountain Region - Lane Baker, a 25-year veteran of the federal government, has been named superintendent of the National Park Service's Southeast Arizona units -- Coronado, Chiricahua, and Fort Bowie. 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 - a course on interdisciplinary resource protection and law, a Civil War monument conservation practicum at Gettysburg, courses on mothballing of historic structures and landscapes and on trail bridge maintenance in California, a session on creative and instructional techniques for instructors at Guilford Courthouse, and five new FLETC offerings. * * * * 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 ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |