NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Thursday, May 9, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

96-161 - Fort Smith (Arkansas) - Follow-up on Tornado Impacts

Cleanup efforts are still underway two weeks after the park and downtown Fort
Smith were heavily damaged by a tornado.  The damages inflicted on the
commissary building and the courthouse/jail building have been stabilized
through the work of engineers and architects from Denver Service Center and
the SWSSO cultural preservation crew.  Administrative, law enforcement,
maintenance and safety personnel from Chickasaw, Buffalo, Hot Springs,
Jefferson National Expansion, and Pea Ridge teamed together to protect park
resources, remove over 250 dangerous trees, restrain curious visitors, and
cleanup the area.  The park staff extends its sincere thanks and appreciation
for all their help.  Present plans call for patching the roofs of the two
damaged buildings this fiscal year, and replacing the roof on the
courthouse/jail next fiscal year.  The park reopened to the public on May
4th.  [Interpretation, FOSM]

96-192 - Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee) - Armed Robbery

On April 26th, visitors Donald and M.L. of Appleton, Wisconsin, were
robbed at gunpoint while walking along a trail at the Choctaw Boundary
parking area.  The L. reported that the man ran up the trail towards
them, asked for the time, then produced a sawed-off shotgun and demanded
everything they had.  They surrendered a Panasonic camcorder and $30 in cash. 
The man then returned to the parking area and departed in a 1987-88 tan
Chevrolet four-door vehicle.  The L. reported that there were two other
men in the vehicle, but that the car left the area too quickly for them to
get a license plate number.  Rangers and other local law enforcement officers
swept the area in hopes of apprehending the trio, but were unsuccessful.  The
investigation is continuing.  [Tim Francis, ACR, NATR]

96-193 - Little River (Alabama) - Homicide

A fight which broke out at the Highway 35 bridge in the park around 1 a.m. on
May 8th resulted in the death of one of the principals.  T.O., 20,
and E.K., 18, got into an argument; E.K. got T.O. in a headlock
and evidently crushed his larynx.  E.K. is under arrest and will be charged
with manslaughter.  A joint investigation by the park, FBI and county
sheriff's office is underway.  [Bill Springer, LIRI]

96-194 - Valley Forge (Pennsylvania) - Probable Suicide

A check on a vehicle parked at the foot bridge on Valley Creek at 1 p.m. on
the afternoon of May 7th revealed that an advisory had been posted that the
owner, W.K., 39, was missing, armed, and possibly suicidal.  A hasty
search was begun immediately, but no sign of him was found.  Search dogs and
a local volunteer SAR outfit were brought in to assist.  Ranger Ed Clark and
dog handler Pat Hawn and her dog "Cody" found W.K.'s body just after 4 p.m. 
He was well off the established trail and had succumbed from a single gun
shot to his head.  The investigation continues; ranger Doug Germeraad is the
lead investigator.  [CRO, VAFO]

96-195 - Saguaro (Arizona) - Marijuana Cultivation

Two off-duty trail workers came upon what they believed to be a squatters
camp about five miles up a backcountry trail in a remote and high section of
the Rincon Mountain district last month.  Rangers conducted a preliminary
inspection and discovered that the camp was associated with a marijuana
cultivation site.  The camp apparently was abandoned after the July, 1994,
fire which burned through the area and over most of the gardens.  Evidence
found at the scene included a scanner, portable radio case, portable radio
antennas, VCR, generator, propane tank, marijuana cultivation books, chicken
wire, screening, potting soil, and a wheelbarrow.  They also found
indications that the operation was supported by horses or mules.  The
cultivation site is located over a one-square-mile area in two major
drainages south of the trail, and contained about 100 marijuana plants.  They
were being grown in five-gallon plastic buckets which had gravity-fed
irrigation systems with timers.  Evidence indicates that the plants were
worth at least $100,000.  The park is leading the investigation, with
assistance from DEA, the Forest Service and the local sheriff's department. 
There are no suspects yet.  [Paula Nasiatka, CR, SAGU]

96-196 - Boston (Massachusetts) - Public Event

A public ceremony was held in the park on April 27th to announce a
cooperative agreement with the New England Steamship Foundation to restore
the SS Nobska, the last surviving coastal steamship in the United States and
on the list of America's ten most endangered maritime resources.  The Nobska
will occupy historic Drydock #1 while undergoing extensive hull work.  While
in drydock, the Nobska will be open to the public and will provide park
visitors with an on-going demonstration of the work carried out historically
at the Charlestown Navy Yard.  Over 200 people attended the event.  [Ellen
Fusco, PIO, BOST]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE SUMMARY

                                                                     %   Est
State      Unit                Fire          IMT      5/8      5/9  Con  Con

NM    Carson NF              Hondo            T1    7,218    7,525   30  NEC
      State                  Pastura          --    2,000    2,000   NR  NR 

AZ    Coronado NF            Clark Peak       T1    6,317    6,317  100  CND

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

FIRES AND ACRES BURNED

                NPS     BIA      BLM     FWS    States     USFS      Total

Number            0      14        3       0        61        5         83
Acres Burned      0      16      116       0       868      311      1,311

COMMITTED RESOURCES 

               Crews     Engines     Helicopters     Airtankers     Overhead

Federal           85       101           23               5            635
Non-federal        2        18            2               0             32

CURRENT SITUATION 

All areas in the Southwest are reporting high to extreme fire indices. 
Burning bans are in effect in Arizona and New Mexico, with some areas closed
due to fire danger.  Initial attack continued in the East, mainly in
Minnesota.  Resource mobilization through NICC was minimal.

NATIONAL OUTLOOK 

No relief from hot and dry conditions in the Southwest and southern
California is in sight.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/9]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Regulations Update - The following summarizes the status of the several
regulatory packages currently under some form of consideration or action in
the Washington Office.  The status of those not referred to here has not
changed substantially since the last regulations update, which appeared in
the April 10th Morning Report:

o 36 CFR 1.2, 1.4 and 13.2 - Comments received on the proposed rule,
which deals with applicability and scope of all regulations in Title
36, are still being analyzed.  Ranger Activities hopes to being the
review process for the final rule later this month.

o 36 CFR Part 14 (Rights-of-Way) - The proposed rule will revise existing
regulations concerning the issuance of right-of-way permits across NPS
lands.  The Service has been using interim regulations since 1980. 
This rulemaking is a complete revision of the interim regulations, and
will provide a process for the review, consideration, and approval or
denial of requests for rights-of-way across all areas of the National
Park System.  The proposed rule has cleared Ranger Activities and is
being reviewed by the Solicitor's Office.

o 36 CFR Part 3 (Boating and Water Use Activities) - Clearance has been
given to move forward with the rewrite and update of this section of 36
CFR.  A work group of six to eight people will be established from the
dozen names that were submitted by parks last year.  Bob McKeever of
Lake Mead will serve as chair.  Ranger Activities hopes to hold initial
meetings by mid-summer.

o Part 7 & 13 Regulations - Recently published rules include:

  * Appalachian Trail - The final rule for powerless flight is being
    reviewed by the Solicitor's Office.
  * Cape Lookout - The final rule closing the Portsmouth Village
    airstrip is being review by the Assistant Secretary's Office.
  * Voyageurs - The comment period for the proposed rule on
    aircraft operations has been extended an additional 120 days.
  * Badlands - The proposed rule dealing with commercial vehicle use
    in the park is being reviewed by the Assistant Secretary's
    Office.
  * Big Thicket - The proposed rule dealing with houseboats is being
    reviewed by the Assistant Secretary's Office.
  * Glacier Bay - The final rule for vessel management regulations
    has been approved by the assistant secretary and is now being
    reviewed by OMB.

Numerous other special park and Servicewide regulations are in the Department
at some level of the review process.  [Dennis Burnett, RAD/WASO]

MEMORANDA

"Servicewide Development Strategy and the future of the Line-Item
Construction Program," signed by acting director John Reynolds and sent
yesterday via electronic mail to the directorate, field directorate, WASO
division chiefs, team leaders and park superintendents.  Outlines a new
strategy and procedures for the line-item construction program.  A directive
from the National Leadership Council with a development strategy is attached.

EXCHANGE

Trail Markers - Wind Cave is in search of a new material for trail markers. 
The park's trails wind in and out of the prairie grasses, which necessitates
the use of markers to enable hikers to follow the routes.  But the park also
has a large bison herd, and bison like to rub on the markers, often
destroying them.  They're trying to find a plastic material similar to
Carsonite which will not break at the base.  If you can help, contact Denny
Ziemann at NP-WICA or call him at 605-745-1151.

OBSERVATIONS

"Visits to historic scenes and buildings have become one of the most
inspiring methods of modern education.  In this way, men and women obtain an
invaluable corrective to their mental and imaginative outlook, an
affectionate sympathy with the very different lives of their ancestors."

                                    G. M. Trevelayan, from "Quotable
                                    Quotes: Relating to Conservation in
                                    General and the National Parks in
                                    Particular," Department of
                                    Interior, 1950s

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.

                                  --- ### ---