NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, April 2, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

96-126 - Hawaii Volcanoes (Hawaii) - MVA with Employee Fatality

Russel A. Bickler, 47, an interpretive ranger who had worked at Hawaii
Volcanoes since 1993, was killed in a motor vehicle accident while on his way
to work at 8:30 a.m. on the morning of Friday, March 29th.  Bickler's
girlfriend, park VIP Kersten Johnson, 38, was a passenger in the truck and
was seriously injured.  T.T., 20, the driver of the other vehicle,
a Mazda 626LX, suffered minor injuries.  Just prior to the accident, T.T.
passed ranger Talmadge Magno, who was heading in the opposite direction;
Magno clocked T.T.'s speed at 73 mph.  T.T. continued down the road,
lost control of the Mazda on a curve, crossed the center line, and slammed
into the embankment on the opposite side of the road.  The Mazda then spun
backwards into an on-coming Pontiac Grand Am, bounced off, went airborne,
landed upside down on Bickler's on-coming Toyota pickup, then slid off and
came to rest near the truck.  Magno, who had turned to follow T.T., came
upon the accident scene minutes after it occurred and had to maneuver around
the scene to avoid colliding with the wreckage.  The drive of the Grand Am,
Lori Johnson of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, was uninjured; Kersten Johnson
suffered a laceration to her forehead, a broken jaw, a broken clavicle, and
three broken ribs.  A search of T.T.'s vehicle led to the discovery of a
plastic pipe containing seven sealed bags of cocaine weighing just over 195
grams and a small amount of crack cocaine.  T.T. has been charged with
second degree negligent homicide and possession with intent to distribute a
controlled substance.  A preliminary hearing will be held tomorrow.  T.T.
told rangers that he had seen Magno pass him, but apparently didn't realize
that the ranger had turned around to follow him.  The park has held two post-
traumatic event counseling sessions for park employees.  [Gail Minami,
Operations Supervisor, HAVO]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.
 
UPCOMING IN CONGRESS

The following activities will be taking place in Congress during coming weeks
on matters pertaining to the National Park Service.  If you would like
further information on any of these hearings or bills, please contact Stacey
Rickard in WASO Legislation at 202-208-3636. 

March 28

House Resources Committee (Young): Markup of H.R. 2107, Visitor Service
Improvement and Outdoor Legacy Act; H.R. 1129, Selma to Montgomery Trail;
HJRes. 70, Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial.

April 15

House Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands (Hansen):
Hearing on H.R. 3127, Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act.

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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