NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Wednesday, February 21, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

96-61 - Harpers Ferry (West Virginia) - Death of Eight Job Corp Corpsmen

The eight passengers killed in the February 16th accident between the Maryland
commuter train and the Amtrak passenger train in Silver Spring, Maryland, were
all corpsmen at the Harpers Ferry Job Corps Center.  All were in their late
teens and early 20's and were from metropolitan areas on the East Coast.  They
were on leave and heading home for the three-day weekend at the time of the
crash.  Counselors from the field area's employee assistance program provided
counseling to other corpsmen and the center's staff.  A memorial service will
be held at the center this Friday morning.  Labor Secretary Robert Reich will
speak; representatives from the NPS will include NCFA Director Robert Stanton
and a delegation of about a dozen interpretive and protection rangers.  The
latter will serve as greeters and as members of the color guard.  [Bill Lynch,
Einar Olsen, NCFO]

96-62 - Everglades (Florida) - Special Event

Vice President Gore visited the park on February 19th to announce the
Administration's FY 97 budget request of $100 million to restore the natural
flow of fresh water across the Everglades.  Gore was joined by Secretary
Babbitt, Assistant Secretary Frampton, Florida Lieutenant Governor Buddy McKay,
EPA Administrator Carol Browner and others.  Upon leaving, the vice president
shook hands with about 100 park employees and their families.  The park
employed incident management to facilitate the visit, which was organized by
White House staff.  [Roberta D'Amico, IO, EVER]

96-63 - Jefferson National Expansion (Missouri) - Homicide

A 74-year-old man was found unconscious and bleeding from head injuries on park
grounds on the afternoon of February 14th.  He had no identification with him,
but was subsequently identified through fingerprinting as D.N., a
resident of St. Louis.  He was placed on life support in an area hospital, but
the extent of his injuries led doctors to remove the support and he
subsequently expired.  D.N. appears to have been a robbery victim.  Ranger
Jim Jackson is leading an intensive investigation into Nevel's death.  [Deryl
Stone, CR, JEFF]

96-64 - National Capital Area (D.C./Maryland) - Employee Injury

Officer G. William Davis of the Park Police was seriously injured when his
motorcycle was struck by a vehicle on Route 270 in Bethesda on Monday, February
19th.  The collision sent Davis and his Park Police motorcycle into the Jersey
barricade on the highway.  Davis was able to radio his position to dispatch; a
passing motorist stopped to help and also used the radio to summon additional
assistance.  Davis was medivaced by Park Police helicopter and taken to a local
hospital's intensive care unit.  He is currently in serious condition with
broken ribs, a broken pelvis and injuries to lumbar vertebrae.  Davis has been
with the Park Police for 12 years.  [Bill Lynch, LES, NCFO]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Curecanti (Colorado) - Bighorn Sheep Reintroduction

On January 23rd, several years of efforts to enlarge an existing herd of
bighorn sheep culminated with the successful release of 21 sheep at three
locations in the park.  The intent of the project, which was conducted jointly
by the park, Colorado Division of Wildlife, BLM and Forest Service, is to
extend the existing herd's range.  The sheep were taken from a herd near
Colorado Springs.  Eleven of the animals were collared to insure that they can
be tracked, thereby making it possible for park personnel to determine their
range, assess their health, evaluate their success in lambing, and determine
their ability to mix with the existing herd.  Nine lambs were released at the
three sites.  All collared animals and at least five lambs have been located to
date.  The sheep will at times be on BLM and the Forest Service land; personnel
from those agencies will continue to assist in monitoring and planning efforts. 
[Leslie Spicer, Biological Science Technician, CURE]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

1) Two Calendar Corrections - Two errors appeared in yesterday's calendar, both
significant and needing rectification.  The "fire and Ecosystem Management"
conference is on May 7-10, NOT March 7-10.  And the Management Grid course
scheduled for Tucson in April has NOT been canceled.  The February offering of
Management Grid, scheduled for Luray, Virginia, was canceled, but the course in
Tucson is still being given.  We regret the errors.  [Bill Halainen, DEWA]

2) National Register Bulletin - A note appeared in the February 15th Morning
Report regarding the new, updated version of National Register Bulletin #23 on
photographs for National Register nominations.  Several people have asked for
copies to review.  These will be sent out as soon as the internal review is
completed.  [Mary McCutchan, NRHE/WASO]

MEMORANDA

No memoranda.

OBSERVATIONS

Today we begin a series of observations pertaining to particular parks.  If you
have a park-specific quote, please send it along.  Today's submission includes
two opposing views of Grand Canyon, both sent in by several people:

"Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to
visit this profitless locality."

                                        Lt. Joseph Ives, first European to
                                        view the Grand Canyon

"I want to ask you to do one thing, in your own interest and in the interest
and in the interest of your country - to keep this one great wonder of nature
as it is now.  I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer
cottage, a hotel, or anything else to mar the wonderful grandeur, the
sublimity, the great loveliness, and the beauty of the Canyon.  Leave it as it
is.  You cannot improve upon it.  The ages have been at work and man can only
mar it.  Keep it for your children, and your children's children, and for all
who come after us as the one great sight that every American should see."

                                        Teddy Roosevelt, speaking at the
                                        South Rim of Grand Canyon, 1906

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
office and/or field area cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please address requests for
the Morning Report to your servicing hub coordinator.

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

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