NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Wednesday, November 13, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

96-33 - National Capital Parks (D.C.) - Follow-up on HazMat Incident

A joint NPS and Coast Guard investigation of last January's hazmat release
into the Anacostia River has resulted in a $10,000 civil fine against the
Seafarers Yacht Club for violation of the Oil Pollution Act and the Resource
Conservation Recovery Act.  The club was cited in January for releasing
hazardous materials into the river and for improper storage of hazardous
materials on site.  The club operates in the park under a special use permit. 
[Bill Lynch, LES, NCSO]

96-657 - Biscayne NP (Florida) - Follow-up on Ship Grounding

The "Selma Kosan," a 363-foot liquefied gas tanker, was to arrive in Miami on
Monday evening.  After a thorough inspection, the ship was to begin removing
1,000 tons of butadiene from the "Igloo Moon" in order to lighten and refloat
the ship.  Off-loading should be completed today or tomorrow.  A detailed
hydrographic survey was to have been completed yesterday.  The results will
be used by park divers to mark a route for both ships to use during the
salvage operation.  Divers will also be photographically documenting the
area's current appearance.  The documentation will be important if anything
should go wrong as the ships leave the park.  [Editor's note: Two
clarifications of yesterday's report are in order.  The no-fly restriction
was lowered from 3,000 to 1,500 feet, not 500 feet, and the damage to the
reefs was not insignificant, only slight in comparison to the huge size of
the ship and the damage that might have been caused].  [Gary Bremen, IO,
BISC]

96-661 - Grand Canyon NP (Arizona) - Concession Employee Fatality

S.E.B., 30, was working in the attic of the Fred Harvey Company's
retail warehouse just after noon on November 11th when she apparently lost
her balance and fell through the ceiling onto the floor 15 feet below. 
Responding rangers found her unconscious and suffering from serious head
injuries.  They provided advanced life support, but she stopped breathing
within a few minutes and went into cardiac arrest.  She was transported to
the park medical clinic, where she was pronounced dead.  S.E.B. is the
daughter of park employees at Grand Canyon.  An investigation by the NPS and
the county sheriff's office is underway.  [Dave Brennan, SDR, South Rim,
GRCA]

96-662 - Lake Mead NRA (Nevada/Arizona) - Body Found

A canoeist on Lake Mohave found the body of a fully-clothed man floating face
down in the water at Fortune Cove a quarter mile above the Eldorado Canyon
overlook on the afternoon of November 11th.  The park was advised via a
cellular phone call.  Investigation revealed that he'd suffered a shotgun
blast to his chest.  The body has been turned over to the county coroner for
a determination of the cause of death.  A joint park-Las Vegas PD
investigation is underway.  [Karen Whitney, LAME]

96-663 - Lake Mead NRA (Nevada/Arizona) - Falling Fatality

While rangers were responding to the report of the body found in Lake Mohave
on the afternoon of November 11th (above), a call was received in dispatch
reporting an accident in White Rock Canyon on the east side of Lake Mohave
about three miles down from Hoover Dam.  Rangers found that L.W., 16,
of Las Vegas, had died from a 130-foot fall which occurred while returning
from a hike with his twin brother and his father.  Park SAR personnel carried
the victim down to the lake, where he was transported by boat to Willow
Beach.  [Karen Whitney, LAME]

96-664 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (Pennsylvania/New Jersey) - MVA with Fatality

L.A., 41, was killed when he apparently lost control of his vehicle
while heading northbound on River Road and struck a tree.  Ace was declared
dead at the scene.  An autopsy revealed that his blood alcohol level was .22
at the time of the accident - more than double the legal limit.  Preliminary
findings also indicate that the vehicle was traveling at a speed above the
posted limit.  [Ed Whitaker, DR, Pennsylvania District, DEWA]

96-665 - Yosemite NP (California) - Rescue

On October 30th, rangers received a report of two stranded climbers who were
2,800 feet up the Dihedral Wall route on El Capitan.  Investigation revealed
that the pair had been on the wall for eleven days, that they had suffered
through three separate snow and rain storms, and that they were stranded on a
ledge without food or sufficient means to complete the remaining 800 feet of
the climb.  A nine-person rescue team led by ranger Keith Lober was flown to
the top of El Capitan by a helicopter from Lemoore Naval Air Station.  The
rescuers were lowered 650 vertical feet down the wall to their location. 
Falling snow coated the ropes with ice, slowing the rescue and making the use
of mechanical ascenders very dangerous.  It also hampered use of aircraft and
forced the victims and their rescuers to spend the night on El Capitan.  The
weather broke on the morning of the 31st and all parties were extracted by a
Lemoore aircraft.  [Brian Smith, YOSE]

96-666 - Biscayne NP (Florida) - Search; Possible Suicide

During the night of November 8th, rangers recovered an unmanned vessel at sea
and found that its owner, J.B., was missing.  A search was conducted,
but called off late in the evening due to poor visibility and nine-foot seas. 
Investigation revealed that J.B. had been having troubles at home and that
he'd gone boating at or near the park the previous morning to think things
over by himself.  The vessel was found to be in good working condition with
the ignition turned off and the throttle in neutral.  Ten empty beer cans and
one full can were found on board along with a freshly written note with the
telephone numbers of his wife and two friends.  A pistol is missing from his
home; the case was found in J.B.'s truck during an inventory conducted while
impounding the truck, trailer and boat.  J.B. has been entered into NCIC as
a missing person.  Further searches by air and sea have been without result. 
The investigation is being lead by Florida Marine Patrol; rangers are
assisting.  [David Pharo, PR, BISC]

                   [Additional reports pending...]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Seasonal Firearms Transition Training - This spring, the NPS will implement
the transition to semi-automatic weapons for seasonal rangers.  Any seasonal
rangers who have completed training at a seasonal academy this school year
(96-97) will have been trained with the semi-auto pistol and should require
only a minimum of transition training.  All other seasonals will require the
same three-day transition training set up previously by the NPS at FLETC for
all permanent personnel.  Sigarm's model P-228's will be supplied by
NPS/FLETC for seasonal rangers, but parks must purchase holsters, magazine
pouches, and training ammunition.  Holsters and magazine pouches can be
purchased from several vendors, including A. E. Nelson, Bianchi, and Ted
Blocker.  All holsters must accommodate a Sig P-228, and magazine pouches
must accommodate double stacked magazines of 9mm caliber ammunition.  All
parks requiring seasonal semi-auto pistols must contact Joe Johnson at
NPS/FLETC as soon as possible with the number of seasonal pistols required. 
You must limit your request to the actual number of commissioned seasonal
rangers.  This initial issuance will be on a first-come, first-served basis. 
All current non-issued Sig P-228's held by parks must now be returned to the
following address: Joseph A. Johnson, National Park Service, FLETC, Building
64, Room 220, Glynco, GA 31524.  [Joe Johnson, NPS/FLETC]
 
MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

OBSERVATIONS

This section, which will now appear intermittently in the Morning Report,
contains observations regarding the National Park Service, the System and the
several professions of park employees.  Today's quote was passed along by
Todd Croteau in WASO:

"In any area in which the preservation of the beauty of Nature is a primary
purpose, every modification of the natural landscape, whether it be by the
construction of a road or erection of a shelter, is an intrusion.  A basic
objective of those who are entrusted with the development of such areas for
human uses for which they are established, is, it seems to me, to hold these
intrusions to a minimum and so design them that, besides being attractive to
look upon, they appear to and be part of their settings."

                                         Director Arno Cammerer, from
                                         the preface to "Park
                                         Structures and Facilities,"
                                         1935

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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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