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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, January 31, 2014 INCIDENTS Cumberland Gap NHP Six Ginseng Poachers Successfully Prosecuted The fall ginseng season was busy at Cumberland Gap and rangers employed special shifts and focused patrols to combat poaching within the park. The government shutdown caused reduced staffing levels during the peak of the season, but rangers were able to apprehend six people and recover a total of 414 roots and one rattlesnake prior to the shutdown: August 19 - Rangers contacted two men on the Chadwell Gap Trail as they were about to be picked up at the trailhead. They were found with 18 and 78 ginseng roots respectively. Ranger Brad Cope was case agent. September 15 - A man was observed capturing a rattlesnake on the Highway 58 road shoulder and being picked up by a vehicle. Rangers stopped the vehicle, contacted the man, and discovered 11 ginseng roots in his pocket and the rattlesnake in the trunk. The vehicle's occupants said that they had dropped him off at the Kentucky visitor center earlier in the day and that he had called them to pick him up in the Virginia section of the park. Ranger Mike Ausmus was case agent. September 23 - Rangers received information regarding possible digging in the Muddy Gut area of the park. They contacted two men who were found in possession of 39 and 37 ginseng roots respectively. Several of these roots in their possession were found to be marked with a dye and micro tags identifying them as coming from within the park. This was the first case since the park began its marking program in which marked ginseng was found on a suspect, positively identifying roots as taken from the park. Ranger Ben Byrnes was case agent. September 26 - Rangers received information regarding possible digging in the Old Baileytown Road area of the park. They contacted two men who were found in possession of 115 and 116 ginseng roots respectively. Ranger Greg Johnston was case agent. All six suspects pleaded guilty in federal court and were ordered to pay criminal fines totaling $1,295 and civil restitution to the park totaling $6,045. All recovered ginseng roots were inventoried and replanted in the park by resource management personnel and will be monitored. [Greg A. Johnston, Park Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's InsideNPS. To see the full text, 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 Morning Report web page ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/): Great Smoky Mountains NP - The United States Mint launched the new Great Smoky Mountains National Park quarter, the most recent in its series of quarters honoring national parks and other national sites, at a ceremony held on Wednesday, January 29th. Martin Luther King, Jr. NHS - Funeral arrangements have been completed for Catherine F. Light, deputy superintendent at Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, who passed away on Friday, January 24th. Park Facility Management Division - The National Park Foundation and Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Technical Assistance Center recently hosted a reception for participants in the National Park Foundation Transportation Scholars Program. Intermountain Region - Brent Range, an 18-year federal government employee, has been selected as superintendent of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Upcoming Training Calendar - Added to today's calendar are the following - an introductory course on wildlife diseases, three WebEx training webinars, and the fall session of the National Search and Rescue Academy. * * * * The Morning Report is 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@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |