NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Thursday, February 1, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

95-400 - Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee) - Follow-up on Rape

On July 4, 1995, a 38-year-old woman from Tupelo was forcibly abducted, driven
to Old Town overlook, and raped.  Two men - D.B., 35, and R.O.,
21 - were subsequently indicted on charges of kidnapping and rape.  On
January 18th, R.O. pled guilty to aiding and abetting in the woman's
kidnapping; on January 23rd, D.B. was found guilty of kidnapping and rape. 
Sentencing will occur at a later date.  [Tim Francis, ACR, NATR] 

95-573 - Shenandoah (Virginia) - Follow-up on Illegal Hunting Arrests

On August 21, 1995, eleven men in Rockingham and Green counties were arrested
for violations of numerous federal and state wildlife laws and other criminal
offenses which occurred over a three-year period in and around the park.  A
total of 56 federal and 90 state charges were lodged against the men, including
hunting within a national park, possession and use of firearms within the park,
conspiracy to illegally hunt and take wildlife, Lacey Act violations, and
commercialization of deer, bear and reptile products.  On January 23rd, four of
the men were sentenced in magistrate's court in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  A.S.,
Senior, received a five-month jail sentence and was ordered to pay
$1,000 in restitution costs; A.S., Junior, received a two-month jail
sentence and was ordered to pay $500 in restitution; J.P. received a
two-month jail sentence and was ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution.  D.S.
was not sentenced to any jail time or financial penalty.  All four
were placed on supervised release for a year, put on probation for five years,
and lost their hunting and fishing rights for three years.  The magistrate also
set some special probation conditions.  The men are prohibited from entering
the park, possessing firearms or wearing camouflage clothing during the
probation period.  Five firearms and five seized deer mounts were forfeited to
the government.  The remaining seven men are scheduled to appear in state court
next week.  [Skip Wissinger, CI, SHEN]

96-17 - Monocacy (Maryland) - Follow-up on Flooding

Although the park's staff was able to save a great deal of property during the
recent flood, considerable damage was nonetheless sustained.  The most
significant damage was to the park's electric battle map, which will cost an
estimated $40,000 to repair.  More than 2,000 linear feet of split rail fencing
around the park's grazing area was destroyed; the replacement cost is estimated
at $20,000.  Two trail bridges were displaced, and debris deposited by the
flood has caused the indefinite closure of the Gambrill Mill trail.  The flood
also damaged the park's water system, contaminating the well and causing the
park to remain closed until the county health department can certify the water
as potable.  The total damage to all facilities has been placed at just over
$104,000.  [Thomas Kopczyk, MONO]

96-36 - Point Reyes (California) - Oil Spill

Thick oil in the form of tar balls has been showing up on the park's outer
coast beaches since January 29th.  The thick globes of oil, measuring up to 12
inches in diameter, have been found scattered along eight miles of beach.  The
spill, evidence of which has also been reported elsewhere along the northern
California coastline, is considered minor in nature.  A storm on Tuesday
dispersed most of it from park beaches; trained crews under joint state and NPS
direction will remove thicker patches this week.  Park staff and volunteers
from NOAA's marine sanctuary beached survey program will be walking beaches to
look for oiled birds.  About ten have been found in the park to date.  [Sarah
Allen, Don Neubacher, PORE]

96-37 - Little River Canyon (Alabama) - Search for Escaped Felon

On January 27th, ranger Larry Johnson contacted a hiker at the Eberhardt Point
trailhead.  The man was later identified as A.P., who had recently
escaped from the Fort Payne city jail.  A.P. was last seen hiking north,
deeper into the canyon.  Attempts to locate and capture him are continuing. 
[Dwight Dixon, CR, LIRI]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No field reports today.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

1) PEB Program - Due to funding constraints, shutdowns and temporary staff
shortages, the January 31st deadline for implementation of the mandatory PEB
(physical efficiency battery) program in NPS-57 has been extended indefinitely. 
Meetings which were scheduled with OPM and DOI officials on January 10th will
have to be rescheduled and probably will occur some time in March.  There will
be Servicewide field representation and input before final implementation of
the program.  It should be noted that other federal agencies are involved,
including bureau law enforcement chiefs from the NPS, FWS, BIA, BLM, USFS and
FLETC.  Also participating are representatives from ANPR and FOP and staff from
Labor Relations, Equal Opportunity, Policy and Personnel.  We apologize for the
inconveniences and delays.  Please bear with us while we work to resolve these
matters during difficult times.  RAD/WASO will keep managers and employees
informed of developments through the Morning Report and CLEAR TEXT.  Jim Lee,
who oversees health and fitness, has not yet full recovered from a serious
medical operation, but is doing as much as possible behind the scenes to keep
priority programs moving forward. [Chris Andress, RAD/WASO]

OBSERVATIONS

Today's quote was submitted by Steve Elkinton in WASO: 

"In the national parks, there is no harvesting of timber.  There is at present
no hunting of wild animals.  There is no mining of minerals.  There is, or
should be, no grazing of domestic animals.  There are no shows, or what are
commonly known as 'amusements.'  There is not attempt to make profits.  The
parks are operated on funds appropriated by Congress, and the receipts from
visitors go into the miscellaneous receipts of the Federal Treasury, so that
the balancing of income and outgo, common to business enterprise, does not
exist.  This scheme of land use, so far removed from the average person's
economic experience, may glancingly seem strange and remote.  And so it is.  It
is a new theory in the world, of management of the public land for a superior
kind of pleasure and profit; for the perpetuation of the country's natural and
historic heritage, untarnished by invasion and depletion other than that of
invincible time.  No wonder, then, that it is a difficult story to tell."

                                     Freeman Tilden, "The National Parks,"
                                     1951

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

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