NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, January 16, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

96-04 - Eastern Areas - Follow-up on Blizzard Impacts

Two more reports have been received on the effects of last week's blizzard on
eastern parks:

* Shenandoah - All active searches for people in the park have concluded. 
The park received a total of 28 reports of missing or stranded people or
groups.  These resulted in five rescues of 10 people; the remaining 23
cases were closed through investigations.  One search team snowshoed into
Loft Mountain campground to investigate tracks in the snow which had been
spotted from aircraft.  There they found evidence that someone had broken
into the office and fashioned make-shift snowshoes from crutches,
badminton rackets, wire, duct tape and cardboard.  Tracks indicated that
the person who used these "snowshoes" had been successful in reaching a
plowed road.  The snowshoes were abandoned at that point, but have been
recovered and retained for historical interest.  The incident management
team is now focusing on restoring the park's normal SAR/emergency service
capability by clearing SAR/fire facilities and returning and
rehabilitating SAR equipment.  Residential areas are also being cleared
so that required occupants can return.  Many park employees attended the
funeral of motor vehicle operator Bobby Smith yesterday.  The incident
management team plans on transitioning back to normal park operations
late today.

* Blue Ridge - The park received over 40 inches of snow and had drifts of
from 10 to 12 feet in some areas of Virginia.  Maintenance crews have had
some success in removing snow at park employees' residences and district
offices, but more snow (up to 10 inches) was forecast for Friday.  The
entire park is closed due to severe road conditions.

[Greg Stiles, SHEN; CRO, BLRI]

96-10 - Glacier (Montana) - Falling Fatality; Former Seasonal Employee

T. "T." S., 26, was killed in a fall while descending the
northeastern face of Mount Jackson late on the afternoon of January 12th. 
T.S., a student at the University of Montana, had worked his first season
in the NPS as a ranger naturalist at Glacier in the summer of 1995.  He had
completed an ascent of the mountain with fellow students K.B. and S.O.
earlier that day.  During the ascent, the three were roped together and
used anchors for protection, but they had unroped and were making an unbelayed
descent when the accident occurred.  T.S. was above the other two climbers
when he apparently slipped on ice and hard-packed snow.  He tried
unsuccessfully to arrest his slide down the slope with his ice axe and fell
over at least two cliff bands and an additional 500 feet when he came to rest. 
T.S.'s companions climbed down to his location, taking about 20 minutes to
reach him.  He was sitting up and conscious when they arrived, but was
seriously injured and in great pain from a broken leg, lacerations and internal
injuries.  He was given extra clothing and placed in two sleeping bags in a
snow trench which his companions quickly dug to protect him from wind and cold. 
K.B. stayed with him, while S.O. snowshoed 12 miles out in the dark,
descending about 5,000 feet in seven hours, then drove to Apgar Village and
summoned help shortly after midnight.  High winds and unsafe conditions
prevented flights until the morning.  When rangers arrived on scene at 8:30
a.m., T.S. was dead and K.B. was hypothermic.  K.B. was airlifted
to West Glacier, then taken to an area hospital, where he was treated for
frostbite and released.  An autopsy revealed that T.S. died from multiple
internal injuries.  T.S.'s parents have asked that donations be made to the
"Glacier National Park Backcountry Preservation Fund" on behalf of their son. 
[Steve Frye, CR, GLAC]

96-11 - Lake Mead (Nevada/Arizona) - MVA with Fatality

A.S., 25, was driving on Northshore Road around 9 p.m. on January
14th when he lost control of his 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier, which slid 300 feet,
went off the road, overturned in a wash, and slid another 120 feet.  A.S.
was killed; his passenger was able to extricate himself from the car and summon
rangers and state police.  He was flown to a trauma center in Las Vegas,
treated and released.  A joint investigation into the accident is underway. 
[Malcolm DeMunbrun, CI, LAME]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No field reports today.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No notes.

MEMORANDA

No memoranda.

OBSERVATIONS

The following quote by President Johnson pertains to the conservation of
wilderness lands; although undated, it was made during his tenure in the White
House:

"In a thousand unseen ways we have drawn shape and strength from the
land....The house of America is founded upon our land and if we keep that
whole, then the storm can rage, but the house will stand forever."

                                     President Lyndon Baines Johnson

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

                               --- ### ---