NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Wednesday, April 24, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

95-685 - Yosemite (California) - Follow-up on Car Clout Arrest

On October 10, 1995, rangers arrested J.L.D. for driving a
vehicle which had been stolen in the park six days previously.  The arrest
culminated an auto burglary investigation which had been going on for several
months and led to the closure of 61 thefts and burglaries at Yosemite and
another 43 at the Grand Canyon.  The combined value of items stolen in those
cases was over $112,000.  At the time of his arrest, J.L.D. had none of these
items in his possession, and none of it was subsequently recovered.  J.L.D.
was indicted on one felony count for stealing the vehicle (18 USC 661).  He
pled guilty to the charge, and on March 25th was sentenced in district court
to six months in jail and another three years of supervised release.  He was
also ordered to immediately pay $1,800 in restitution to the owner of the
stolen vehicle.  [Dan Horner, LEO, YOSE]

96-137 - Colorado NM (Colorado) - Follow-up on Stolen Vehicle

On the morning of April 16th, the stolen 1982 Cadillac which was pushed into
Red Canyon earlier in the month was removed.  The operation involved two
private companies and park staff and was observed by news media.  Chief
ranger Ron Young was IC, and maintenance mechanic leader Larry Overbye was
safety and hazmat officer.  Ranger Lisa Lawrence and a battalion chief from
the Grand Junction fire department rappelled 240 feet to rig safety lines for
the crane crew, contain any further hazardous material leaks, and cleanup
debris.  Crane company crews used a 70-ton crane to remove the car from the
canyon, and an environmental company analyzed soil samples to determine the
success of the cleanup effort.  Ranger Bill Rodgers and a county deputy
processed the car for evidence.  A suspect has been identified.  [Ron Young,
CR, COLM]

96-161 - Fort Smith (Arkansas) - Tornado Impacts

A tornado ripped through Fort Smith and adjacent areas around 11 p.m. on the
evening of April 21st.  Four people were killed, and over 600 homes, 30
apartment complexes, and 200 business buildings were demolished.  The
governor has declared the surrounding seven counties as disaster areas.  The
park sustained major damage to the historic courthouse/jail and to commissary
buildings.  All of the trees on Belle Point are reportedly "gone," and all of
the stately trees on the grounds are down.  Power and phones are out.  All
park employees have been accounted for.  Several nearby parks - Buffalo
River, Pea Ridge, Hot Springs, and Jefferson National Expansion - have sent
maintenance and protection employees and considerable amounts of equipment to
help in site protection, damage assessment and cleanup.  A preservation crew
is in the park, and DSC has sent a structural engineer and an historical
architect to help out.  [Flo Six, PIO, MWFDO]

96-162 - Pinnacles (California) - Rescue

Eight visitors from Hollister, California, most of them juveniles, headed out
for a five-mile, round-trip night hike to Balconies Caves around 8 p.m. on
the evening of April 13th.  The members of the group, who had only one
flashlight among them, lost the main route through the caves and became
stranded on a ledge above the center section of the caves.  Three of them
attempted to climb down into the caves to reach the trail; all three slid and
fell about 30 feet.  One of them, a 15-year-old female, suffered a compound
fracture to her left lower leg and became soaked in the creek that ran
alongside the trail.  The other two suffered only minor injuries.  Parkmedic
Reynolds and EMTs Cuevas and Artz splinted and backboarded the victim, then
extricated her from the caves with the assistance of rangers and bystanders. 
Rangers Artz and Paiva employed ropes to help the other members of the group
regain the trail, after which all parties hiked out to the trailhead.  [Gerry
Reynolds, Acting CR, PINN]

96-163 - Boston (Massachusetts) - Special Event

Vice president Al Gore was the keynote speaker at Earth Day ceremonies in the
Charlestown Navy Yard in the park on April 20th.  The audience was comprised
of mayors from several neighboring cities, state legislators, 100 invited
guests, and about 200 members of the public.  The vice president spoke about
the cleanup of Boston Harbor and the need to continue the project to a
successful conclusion; he also addressed the need to protect natural and
cultural resources with strong environmental laws.  The park received less
than 48 hours' notice of the vice president's visit.  Chief protection ranger
Marc Vagos and ranger Todd Papesh planned and coordinated security
arrangements with the Secret Service.  [Marc Vagos, CPR, BOST]

96-164 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Victim Found

On the morning of April 20th, maintenance employees Bruce Aiken and Jerry
Chavez were conducting an inspection of the North Rim water pipeline when
they discovered human skeletal remains at the bottom of a 380-foot cliff in
the Coconino layer of the canyon.  Investigation revealed that they were the
remains of G.P., 20, who was the subject of a six-day search last
November.  The search for G.P. was begun after rangers noticed that
G.P.'s vehicle had been at the North Kaibab trailhead for over a week. 
[Kevin Cochary, DR, North Rim District, GRCA]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - LEVEL II

LARGE FIRE SUMMARY

                                                                     %   Est
State      Unit                Fire          IMT     4/23     4/24  Con  Con

NM    Mescalero Agency       Chino Wells      T1    7,100    7,100   40  4/26

NC    N.C. Nat. Forests    * Fish Pond        T1        -      550   10  NEC

CA    Sand Diego RU        * Sheep            --        -    1,325   60  4/24

Heading Notes

     Unit --    Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
                or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
                district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
     Fire --    * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
                limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
                strategy
     IMT --     T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
     % Con --   Percent of fire contained
     Est Con -- Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
                containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report

FIRE NARRATIVES

Fish Pond - The fires is burning in pocosin type fuels.  Fire behavior was
erratic yesterday, causing spotting a quarter mile ahead of the fire.

FIRES AND ACRES BURNED

                NPS     BIA      BLM     FWS    States     USFS      Total

Number            0       7        0       1        69       23        100
Acres Burned      0      10        0       0       470      675      1,155


COMMITTED RESOURCES 

               Crews     Engines     Helicopters     Airtankers     Overhead

Federal           41        27            9               3            223
Non-federal        0         5            0               0             25

CURRENT SITUATION 

Fire activity increased in the South yesterday.  A Type I team was sent to
North Carolina.  Initial attack continued in the Southwest.

NATIONAL OUTLOOK 

Mostly sunny and dry in North Carolina, sunny and hot with near record high
temperatures in New Mexico.

[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 4/24]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Great Smokies (Tennessee/North Carolina) - Follow-up on Air Quality

As previously noted in this section, the state of Tennessee recently and
unilaterally rescinded a memorandum of understanding with the Department on
air quality before it was ever applied to a single case.  The governor then
formed a panel to review the MOU and make recommendations.  That panel has
recommended that the state:

o enter into a new MOU with the Department, using the rescinded agreement
as the basis for the new document;

o follow the spirit of the old MOU in the interim;

o join the Department in working with other nearby states to develop
similar agreements; and

o convene a meeting of state governors at the park to cooperatively
address the park's air quality problems.

The governor has announced his strong support for the recommendations and has
directed the commissioner of the state's Department of Environment and
Conservation to implement them as soon as possible.  [Abby Miller, Natural
Resource Stewardship and Science, WASO]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Physical Fitness Coordinators - The Federal Law Enforcement Training
Center, through WASO Ranger Activities, has developed a transition package
for physical fitness coordinators who went through the SHARP fitness program. 
This package will assist coordinators in administering the physical
efficiency battery (PEB).  FLETC needs a CURRENT list of those coordinators. 
Please send your name, the park you are coordinator at, and the date you went
through the SHARP program to Darlene Koontz at FLETC (at NP-WASO on cc:Mail).

MEMORANDA

"Request for Visitor Services Project Studies in Fiscal Year 1997", signed by
the Associate Director, Park Operations and Education, and sent to all Field
Directors and the managers of Harpers Ferry Center and Denver Service Center. 
Reply due by May 31, 1996.  Text follows (with minor ellipses):

"The Visitor Services Project (VSP) has conducted over 80 visitor studies in
national park areas since 1982.  These studies are continuing to provide
valuable information for parks not only in daily operations, but in preparing
General Management Plans and other planning documents.  There are
opportunities to conduct 10 park studies during fiscal year 1997.

"It is time to submit nominations from your field area for fiscal year
1997....  Prioritize your top five nominations and send to the attention of
Chief, Division of Interpretation and Education at the above address by May
31, 1996.

"The VSP Advisory Committee will meet in Washington, D.C., on June 12, 1996,
to review each field areas's nominations.  Their recommendations will be sent
to me for final approval."

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

OBSERVATIONS

"Every great landscape carries in its beauty the seeds of its own
destruction.  Primitive wilderness characteristics give the national parks
their prestige and will increasingly add to their distinction as these
qualities disappear elsewhere.  But these qualities are readily destroyed;
they are fragile things.  How preserve them?  The answer may well depend upon
how clearly we define our aims."

                                 Newton B. Drury, Director, National
                                 Park Service, 1940-1951

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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