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