RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Friday, January 25, 1991
INCIDENTS
90-117 - Death Valley (California) - Followup on Drug Lab Arrests
The trial of the eight defendants who were arrested after the discovery
of a working methamphetamine laboratory at the south end of the park on
May 27, 1991 concluded in December. Following a two-week trial and a
day and a half of deliberation, the jury found six of the men R.B.,
D.S., C.R., F.P., M.H. and A.C. guilty on all charges contained in the
five-part indictment, including conspiracy to manufacture and possession
with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The United States is asking
for minimum sentences of from 40 years to life without parole.
Sentencing will occur sometime in February. The remaining two
defendants, who served as key government witnesses, will be charged
later in state court for lesser crimes stemming from this case.
Assistant United States Attorney Melinda Haag of Los Angeles prosecuted
the case. [Dale Antonich, CR, DEVA, via CompuServe message from Herb
Gercke, RAD/WRO, 1/23]
91-25 - Zion (Utah) - Poaching Conviction
On January 22nd, Robert Wright, a hunter from Hurricane, Utah,
pled guilty in magistrate's court to charges of taking wildlife,
using a weapon and travelling off established roads in the park
during the black powder deer hunt last November. Magistrate
Patrick Fenton sentenced Wright to six months in jail and $500
in fines for each of the three offenses, directed him to pay
$500 in restitution charges for the animal taken, and ordered
that his rifle be forfeited to the park. Fenton also barred
Wright from hunting for the next 18 months and prohibited him
from any national park until April 16th. Wright's jail time was
stayed until that date, when Fenton will rule on how long Wright
will be imprisoned. [Larry Van Slyke, CR, ZION, via telefax
from Jim Reilly, RAD/RMRO, 1/23]
MIDEAST-RELATED INCIDENT UPDATES
91-17 - Independence (Pennsylvania) - Followup on SET/ARM Team
Deployment
Mid-Atlantic Region deployed an all-risk management (ARM) team and
two special events (SET) teams to the park on the 18th to handle
demonstrations and possible threats to buildings. They were
also charged with coordinating responses to possible threats in
other MAR parks. Two 12hour shifts were established with 17
members per shift. Although one SET and all members of the ARM
team except the planning section chief were demobilized on
Wednesday, the other SET remains in place and will work through
the weekend. It will be replaced by law enforcement personnel
from other parks at that time. Close ties have been established
and are being maintained with the Philadelphia police department.
Intelligence is being shared, and joint responses to different
scenarios have been planned. Intelligence collected by a park
undercover operation was relayed to the police, who advised that
the information that rangers had gathered was completely new to
them. As of yesterday, only minor incidents had occurred in the
park. The ARM and SET teams are on standby and will be
reactivated if necessary. [CompuServe message from Ginny Paci,
RAD/MARO, 1/24]
Reminder: Please advise us through your regional offices of all
threats received, permits issued for demonstrations, and
demonstrations or incidents that occur which are related to the
war in the Gulf. Reports should be submitted as soon as
possible; there is a very high degree of interest in such
activities in the Department and among other governmental
agencies. Call Major Schamp at FTS 268-4209 (202-208-4209).
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Golden Gate (California) - Endangered Species Protection
The park has temporarily closed three trails in Marin Headlands
due to documented damage to the silver lupine, a critical food
plant for the mission blue butterfly, which is fully-protected
under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. SCA Trail and the new
and old Coastal Trails will be closed for several weeks to
several months, pending consultation with the Fish and Wildlife
Service. During this time, the extent of damage to silver
lupine plants located near the trails will be examined and a
determination will be made of the conditions under which the
trails can be reopened. The trails cross one of the four areas
in the world all in the Bay area where food plants for the
mission blue butterfly exist. [CompuServe message from Herb
Gercke, RAD/WRO, 1/24]
OFFICE NOTES
1) Ranger Dick McLaren passed away Wednesday morning after a
long illness. Dick, his brothers Doug and Bert and their father
Fred, who together represented 150 years of NPS professionalism
and tradition, all retired after careers as rangers. Dick was
born in Niwot, Colorado, on October 11, 1921, and spent many of
his early years in Rocky Mountain NP, where his father served as
one of the park's early rangers. He joined the Army in 1942 and
served with distinction in the celebrated Tenth Mountain
Division in both the Aleutian Islands and on Italy's bloody Riva
Ridge. Dick then spent his next 37 years as a ranger. His
first permanent position was in Olympic; he then worked in
Yosemite and Sequoia and retired as Grand Canyon's assistant
chief ranger in December, 1980. Dick served on the first
national interagency fire overhead team for ten years. During
his career, he fought 8,800 fires, and was the fire boss on
Glacier's famous Flathead Fire in 1967. He is survived by his
wife Dee and his two daughters. Services will be in Fresno,
California, at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, January 28th. Rangers from
Yosemite and Sequoia will serve as uniformed pallbearers. Dick
was a ranger's ranger, and will truly be missed. [Butch Farabee,
RAD/WASO]
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief: No travel or leave scheduled.
Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: No travel or leave
scheduled.
Branch of Fire: Erskine and Gale at MAC group coordinators'
training session, NARTC, Marana, Arizona (1/22-1/25); Broyles at
NPS/NIOSH meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio (1/22-1/24); Clark at NWS
advisory council meeting, Portland, Oregon (1/23-1/25).
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
Telefax: FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER (Branch of R&VP); WASO-FIRE-WO (Branch of Fire)
SEAdog: 1/650