RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

Attention: Directorate
           Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
           CC: RAD Information Net

Day/date:  Tuesday, February 12, 1991

INCIDENTS

90-109 - Gulf Islands (Mississippi/Florida) - Followup on McGhee 
Shooting

On February 8th, A.D.B., one of the two 
suspects in the May 26, 1990 murder of park ranger Bob McGhee, 
entered a plea of guilty in Mississippi state court to charges 
of capital murder, kidnapping and rape.  As a condition of his 
guilty plea, the state agreed to a sentence of life imprisonment 
without parole in the state penitentiary.  The other suspect, 
J.F.W., is scheduled to appear in court on the 
25th.  A.D.B. said in court that he had worked for McGhee while 
with the YCC, and that McGhee had recognized him at the time of 
the traffic stop.  The plea in state court will not affect the 
prospect of possible capital murder prosecution in federal court.  
[CompuServe message from Gene Phillips, CR, GUIS, 2/11]

91-33 - Timpanogos Cave (Utah) - Followup on Structural Fire

The damage to the park's visitor center has been estimated at 
approximately $750,000.  The walls, slab and some utilities, 
valued at about $250,000, will be salvaged.  The building cost 
$135,000 when it was constructed in 1964, but would cost about 
$1,000,000 to replace.  Discussions are currently underway on 
what sort of visitor center should be constructed.  The fire was 
caused by an overloaded extension cord to the heat tapes on the 
roof.  Jim Farrel, structural fire specialist from the Branch of 
Fire, was at the scene for three days and facilitated the work 
of the review team, which included three people from Denver 
Service Center and four from Rocky Mountain Region.  The 
superintendent would like to publicly thank all the people from 
the park, Denver Service Center, the region, Boise and the state 
for providing "simply outstanding" assistance during the period 
since the fire, and adds that he "couldn't have asked for or 
received better support."  He also asks that employees remember 
that heat tapes should be plugged directly into hardwired 
outlets, and that extension cords should never be used between 
outlets and tapes.  [Telephone report from Mike Hill, 
Superintendent, TICA, 2/11]

MIDDLE EAST INCIDENT UPDATE

Fort McHenry (Maryland) - The park was the site of a public 
assembly sponsored by the American Freedom Coalition on February 
9th.  The demonstration was organized in support of the 
administration's Gulf policies.  Park staff implemented plans to 
deal with a significant number of demonstrators, but estimated 
that there were under 400 people in the crowd.  The Maryland 
state police and Baltimore police department provided traffic 
control and standby support for crowd control.  Park staff and a 
six-member regional SET team provided crowd control and security 
within park boundaries.  Visitation for the day totalled 2,200.  
There were no incidents.  The park reports that there was a good 
cooperative effort among all the law enforcement agencies 
involved in the incident.  [Telefax from  John Burns, CR, FOMC, 
2/11]

Wrangell-St. Elias (Alaska) - The park has been providing 
assistance to Alaska state troopers and Alyeska, the Alaska 
pipeline management company, in providing security along the 
entire length of the TransAlaska Pipeline.  The park has made 
aircraft tie-downs, hanger space and aircraft fueling facilities 
available on an emergency basis, and park staff have helped 
troopers locate explosive storage sites associated with mining 
operations within park/preserve boundaries.  [CompuServe message 
from Jay Wells, CR, WRST, 2/11]

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.  
Call Major Schamp at FTS 268-4209 (202-208-4209).

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No reports today.

OFFICE NOTES

1) Two corrections to Monday's calendar: The aviation management 
workshop scheduled for March 18-22 has been cancelled.  The 
dates for the fire management for managers class at Marana are 
April 14-18; the course is not open to park FMO's.  [Rick Gale, 
FIRE]

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: No travel or leave scheduled.

Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Coffey at inventory and 
monitoring task force meeting, WASO (2/12-2/13).

Branch of Fire: Farrel conducting study of impact of transition 
of Presidio to the NPS, San Francisco, CA (2/11-2/15); Broyles, 
Mattingly and Cook at training session, Western Region Fire Academy, 
Golden Gate, CA (2/11-2/15).

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