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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, February 14, 2014 INCIDENTS Biscayne NP Poachers Apprehended With Illegal Fish Products On January 26th, Biscayne National Park Ranger Robert MacKarvich and Big Cypress National Preserve Ranger Luke Conrad, who was in the park on a detail, conducted a vessel stop on a 36-foot-long sport fishing vessel. Following interviews and an inspection of the vessel, rangers discovered that the occupants were in possession of illegal fish product, including 119 wrung lobster tails, 57 of which were undersized. They also had HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_conch" queen conch shells, HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahoo" wahoo fillets (wahoo is considered a protected pelagic species), and a HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Triggerfish" queen triggerfish (a protected marine species). The occupants of the vessel were transporting the product illegally from the Bahamas back into the United States through Biscayne Bay. The captain was issued mandatory citations and is currently awaiting federal prosecution. [Willie Lopez, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Rocky Mountain NP - The park has begun a three year joint project with the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests that will make it possible for school children and the public to follow the migration paths of osprey from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds. East Coast Areas - Many parks and offices in the East, including the Washington Office and Southeast Regional Office, are reopening today following the passage of the massive winter storm that moved through the East over the past few days. Everglades NP - On Friday, February 7th, thirty educators participated in a ranger-led teachers' workshop called “Everglades: Climate Change Education.” This was the first workshop of its kind in the park. Midwest Region - Craig Kenkel, currently the superintendent of San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, will assume his new duties this spring. He succeeds Stan Austin, now regional director for Southeast Region. Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Division - Steve Elkinton retired as program leader for the National Trails System on February 11th after 36 years with the National Park Service. Servicewide Training Calendar - Today's updated weekly training calendar includes the following new offerings - six more WebEx training webinars, a dozen Section 106 and/or NEPA/NHPA workshops around the country, and four new offerings of Fundamentals V. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ 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). --- ### --- |