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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, October 5, 2012 INCIDENTS Pacific West Region Three Sentenced On Charges Related To Game Smuggling A federal judge sentenced two Hawaii hunters to community service on Monday following an investigation into the inter-island smuggling of axis deer by helicopter. Neither man was charged with the smuggling itself, but prosecutors said their actions introduced axis deer to the Big Island for the first time and harmed the environment as a result. D.R. of Mountain View was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for illegal transport, a Lacey Act misdemeanor. J.G. was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service for operating an illegal guiding service, a Lacey Act misdemeanor, for taking an unlicensed hunter (an undercover Fish and Wildlife Service special agent) to shoot game animals on his ranch in upcountry Maui. J.G. must also pay a $15,000 fine and will be on probation for one year. The deer were introduced to the Big Island as part of a trade for mouflon sheep in December 2009. The animals were taken between the islands by Maui helicopter pilot T.H. A federal judge last month sentenced T.H. for illegal transport, a Lacy Act misdemeanor. He will be required to help the Big Island organization that is trying to eradicate deer by providing the group with 500 hours of flight time. The Big Island Invasive Species Committee has so far killed three deer within a two-mile radius of where D.R. released the deer. Conservationists, state officials and ranchers worry that the deer could harm Big Island forests, farms and ranches if they become established there. The assistant U.S. attorney said that D.R. released the deer because he believed it was his right to hunt and provide for his family. But he said D.R. failed to understand there are rules and laws to protect the environment and community and that he didn't have the resources to contain the deer. He said prosecutors brought the case before the court to deter others from similarly transporting and selling wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service led the investigation, assisted by the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Hawaii. [Investigative Services Branch] Lake Mead NRA Man Dies While Scuba Diving In Lake A 48-year-old Utah man died of unknown causes last Saturday while scuba diving in the Black Canyon area of Lake Mead. Early that afternoon, park dispatch received a marine band radio call reporting a diver floating face down in the water. Rangers and Nevada Department of Wildlife wardens responded and began CPR, but they were unable to revive him. According to witnesses, the man was a mixed gas dive instructor who was diving with a group to depths of around 350 feet when he ran out of air. His dive partner shared a spare tank as the two began their ascent. At some point, the man separated from his safety line and made a free ascent without gas. The other divers ascended using normal decompression without incident. [Christie Vanover, Public Affairs Officer] 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/): Lake Meredith - A perfect blue sky, wispy white clouds, balmy temperatures, and the chance to catch fish brought 60 kids to Lake Meredith's Stilling Basin on Saturday, September 22nd, for the annual Small-Fry Fishing Tournament. Hawai‘i Volcanoes NP - The park has received federal recognition for its efforts to protect visitors and staff from weather-related and natural hazards from shoreline to summit. Denver Service Center - More than 30 subject matter experts from various federal and state agencies, NPS managers, and river partners recently gathered at a workshop in Pennsylvania to define the outstandingly remarkable values of four wild and scenic river units along the Delaware River. Northeast Region - Richard “Rick” Harris, associate regional director for natural resources, science, conservation and recreation assistance in Northeast Region, retired on October 3rd. Risk Management - Saguaro District Ranger Paul Austin and Grand Canyon Ranger AJ Lapre recently received Star Awards for their outstanding contributions to the Operational Leadership program. Both are collateral duty OL facilitators. Upcoming Training and Conference Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation, plus online training. Added to this week's listing are the following - a certification class on assistance agreements at NCTC and a dozen new FLETC offerings. * * * * The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |