RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Tuesday, August 6, 1991
INCIDENTS
91-160 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Followup on Pollution
Case
An acid mine runoff in April killed over 500 fish in Wolfe Creek,
which runs through the park, and put the town's water treatment
plant out of service. The source of the pollution was determined
to be an abandoned mine owned by L.L. and run by the Mine
Management Corporation. As the magnitude of the pollution
became evident, the United States Attorney asked the park and
FBI to conduct an investigation into the incident. As a result
of this investigation, L.L. was indicted on 18 felony counts for
violations of the Clean Water Act on July 24th. The NPS has
become the lead investigative agency in exploring other
violations of the act; rangers are currently involved in active
investigations of five major pollution sources affecting the
water quality of streams and rivers within the park's boundaries.
The results of one investigation are currently before the U.S.
Attorney, and indictments are expected. Indictments are also
likely in the remaining investigations. [Telefax from Bill
Blake, CR, NERI, 8/4]
91-308 - Olympic (Washington) - Followup on Oil Spill
The Canadian Coast Guard plans to send a remote-controlled
underwater robot down to the Tenyo Maru late this week to siphon
the remaining oil from the ship. The robot is expected to
arrive from Houston on Thursday and could be sent down to the
wreck as early as Friday. It will use its two pincer-like arms
to force a six-inch-diameter tube into a porthole on the sunken
tanker. No further information is available on the spill this
morning. [Associated Press, 8/6]
91-367 - Zion (Utah) - ARPA Arrest for Theft of Park Artifacts
Special agents and rangers from the NPS, BLM and OIG
participated in a sting operation which resulted in the arrest
on July 27th of G.W. of Cave Creek, Arizona, for ARPA
trafficking. The arrest took place in Las Vegas. G.W. had
been told on numerous occasions that the items he was attempting
to buy came from Zion. G.W.'s 1986 Nissan Stanza and $6,000 in
cash were seized. During booking, G.W. stated his occupation
as a "trader of Indian artifacts." He was arraigned on July
29th. Ranger Activities in SWRO has a fulltime special agent
assigned to ARPA investigations. For further information,
please contact either Jim Radney or Bill Tanner at FTS 4766371
or 505-988-6371. [Telefax from RAD/SWRO, 8/5]
91-368 - Glacier (Montana) - MVA with Fatality
E.F., 52, of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, was killed on
the afternoon of August 3rd when his 1991 Ford Explorer went off
the roadway of the Going-to-the-Sun Highway just east of Logan Pass.
E.F. was thrown through the vehicle's sun roof for a distance
of 140 feet. [Bob Andrew, CR, GLAC, via telefax from RAD/RMRO,
8/5]
91-369 - Golden Gate (California) - Arrest of Rape Suspect
Earlier this week, Park Police officers Steve Prickett and J.O.
Smith arrested R.T. for a rape which occurred in the
Lands End area of the park on July 31st. The officers were
driving through the city when they spotted R.T. and recognized
him from a composite drawing of the victim's assailant. The
officers subsequently learned that R.T. was a fugitive from
justice wanted on a parole violation and that he was a
registered sex offender with a lengthy criminal history. R.T.
is in a San Francisco jail, where he is being held without bond.
[Curtis Shane, USPP, via CompuServe message from Herb Gercke,
RAD/WRO, 8/5]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) ACTIVITY LEVEL Planning Level II
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 8/5 8/6 Status
NY State Lower Hudson Valley * Cherry Hill 700 CN
Notes:
Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this report).
T1 and T2 indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
Status - The following abbreviations are employed:
NR No report received MS Modified suppression strategy
CN Contained MN Being monitored
CL Controlled NEC No estimate of containment
CS Confinement strategy DM Demobed
3) 1990/1991 COMPARATIVE ACTIVITY SUMMARY
Fires Acres
1990 (Year-to-date) 41,752 2,980,418
1991 (Year-to-date) 53,747 1,896,393
1990-1991 (% difference) + 29% 36%
4) ANALYSIS - Initial attack operations continue throughout the
West, but moisture from storms is holding down the size and
number of fires and helping in rapid control.
5) PROGNOSIS - Initial attack activity is expected to continue.
[Fire Management Situation Report, NIFCC Intelligence Section,
8/6]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) The evaluation of 20year retirement claims continues. Here's
the status on them as of yesterday:
Total claims submitted 645
Reviewed by panel 554
Awaiting completion of recommendations by regional panels 172
Under review in WASO 380
Returned to regions for additional information 53
Forwarded to the Department 90
The next oversight committee meeting is scheduled for midAugust.
At that time, about 160 cases will be reviewed. The Department
intends to begin forwarding to OPM all cases they have on hand
by the end of August. [Mario Fraire, Personnel]
2) A task group will meet next week in Arlington, Virginia, to
review the semiautomatic weapon evaluation completed earlier
this year and make a recommendation on the type of weapon which
should be procured. Participating will be Maj. Jack Schamp
(WASO), Chris Andress (MARO), Dick Ring (DEWA), Pete Hart (THRO),
Jim Tucker (YOSE), Capt. Hugh Irwin (USPP), and Rusty Davis
(NCRO). [Jack Schamp, RAD/WASO]
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief: Martin on Pearl Harbor 50th anniversary
preplanning site visit, Honolulu, Hawaii (8/5-8/7).
Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Sisto on annual leave
(8/5); Coffey on annual leave (8/5-8/9); Marriott on annual leave
(8/9).
Branch of Fire & Aviation: Farrel and Gale instructing wildland
fire management course, Albright, Grand Canyon, AZ (8/4-8/6);
Broyles representing NPS at USFS technical fire management
steering committee meeting, Portland, OR (8/5-8/6); Erskine on AL
(8/5-8/16); Clark on AL (8/5-8/10).
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