NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Monday, December 2, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

96-666 - Redwood NP&SP (California) - Search

On the afternoon of December 1st, winds and high waves caused a 40-foot crab
boat to capsize a mile and a half west of the mouth of the Klamath River. 
Two out of three crew members were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. 
National and state park rangers searched park lands south of the point where
the boat capsized; they found the boat and an emergency raft, but were unable
to locate the third crew member.  Search efforts were discontinued for the
night, but will continue this morning.  The vessel's 200-gallon fuel tank
also washed ashore.  Fuel from the tank will be removed today.  [Carol
Leggat, REDW]

96-667 - Point Reyes NS (California) - Structural Fire

A structural fire was reported at the historic E Ranch within the park's
boundaries at 8 a.m. on Friday, November 29th.  By the time park, county and
local fire crews arrived on scene twenty minutes later, the fire had spread
throughout the 7,000-square-foot wood hay barn, but firefighters were able to
keep the fire from spreading to nearby structures.  Although slightly altered
in the 1950s, the lost 1880s hay barn had retained its original shape and
historic features.  It's suspected that the fire started spontaneously from
wet hay bales.  [Don Neubacher, Superintendent, PORE]

96-668 - New River Gorge NR (West Virginia) - Assist; Triple Homicide

Late on the afternoon of November 26th, rangers Frank Sellers and Jennifer
Cottrell responded to a call for immediate assistance from a county deputy in
the community of Dillon, located adjacent to the park's boundary.  The
deputy, who was responding to a 911 call regarding a threatening domestic
situation, had heard multiple shotgun and high-powered rifle shots upon
arrival at the scene.  The rangers, along with deputies and state troopers,
secured the area and interviewed neighbors.  It was at first feared that an
assailant was in the surrounding woods, but investigation finally led to the
discovery of three bodies.  One had been shot in the head while dressing a
deer in the back of his truck; his assailant and another relative then
continued the domestic disagreement with shotguns and hunting rifles and
killed each other.  All three victims were related members of the same
family.  [Dennis Weiland, Operations Supervisor, Sandstone District, NERI]

96-669 - Great Smokies NP (North Carolina/Tennessee) - Apparent Suicide

Three backpackers found the body of a female hiker at the Le Conte shelter
near the Appalachian Trail around 6:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving day.  District
ranger Kenny Slay and ranger Helen McNutt arrived at the scene before sunrise
the following day and determined that the woman had died from a single
gunshot wound to the chest.  She was subsequently identified as C.W.,
40, of Carrollton, Texas.  The body was removed by helicopter and
taken to the county medical examiner's office for further examination. 
[Jason Houck, CR, GRSM]

96-670 - Redwood NP&SP (California) - MVA with Fatality

T.E., 52, was travelling northbound through the park on Highway 101 on
the afternoon of November 28th when he lost control of his vehicle during a
heavy downpour.  The car crossed the center divider and was struck on the
driver's side by a car heading southbound.  T.E. died at the scene; member
of the family in the second car sustained critical injuries.  Rangers
performed rescue breathing on a four-year-old girl for an hour until a Coast
Guard helicopter was able to fly her to a local hospital.  She was later
flown to a hospital in San Francisco.  Her parents remain in the hospital in
critical condition.  Rangers also helped close the highway, investigate the
accident, and remove T.E.'s body.  Speed, weather and bald tires are
believed to have been contributing factors.  [Dana Sullivan, REDW]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Congaree Swamp NM (South Carolina) - Champion Trees

A recently completed study conducted in cooperation with the School of
Forestry, Auburn University, has determined that park contains one of the
tallest broad-leaved forests in the world.  In a final report, entitled
"Location and Ecology of Champion Trees in Congaree Swamp National Monument",
principle investigator Dr. Robert H. Jones makes the statement that "no area
in eastern North America has a greater concentration of super-tall trees
(well over 10,000 acres with mean heights of dominants varying from 130 to
over 160 feet)."  Virtually all other old-growth forests measured in eastern
North America are smaller in extent and have much shorter trees (Lindsay and
Escobar 1976, Davis 1993, Hedman and Van Lear 1995).  Congaree Swamp old-
growth stands are impressive on a world-wide basis as well.  They are taller
than old-growth forests in Japan (Toda 1977, Suzuki 1980, Nakashizuka and
Numata 1982, Ohno 1982, Lehara et al. 1983, Isogai and Okutomi 1991),
virtually all of the temperate deciduous forests in Europe (Jahn 1991), and
the Himalaya Mountains (Singh and Singh 1987), and are similar to or taller
than old-growth temperate forests of southern South America (Schmaltz 1991).  
The report also found that most tropical seasonal and dry forests are shorter
than the Congaree Swamp old-growth (Mabberley 1992), and that even rich
tropical rain forests are not much taller (i.e., many have main canopy
heights about the same as at Congaree Swamp, but have 'emergent' species up
to 200 feet or more in height; Singh and Singh 1987, Mabberley 1992, O'Brien
et al. 1995).  As a result of the study, 26 trees, representing 23 species,
became new state champions, and four individuals from three species,
including a possumhaw (Ilex decidua), two persimmons (Diospyros virginiana)
and a water hickory (Carya ovata), became national champions.  [Rick Clark,
RMS, COSW]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No notes.

MEMORANDA

No memoranda.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

MEETINGS, CONFERENCES AND EVENTS CALENDAR

Two calendars alternate in the Morning Report on Mondays - this one, which
contains meetings, conferences and events, and a second, which contains
workshops and training courses.  If you know of a conference, meeting,
workshop or training session with Servicewide interest and implications,
please send the information along.  Entries are listed no earlier than FOUR
months before the event, EXCEPT in instances in which registration dates
close much earlier.  Asterisks indicate new entries; brackets at end of entry
indicate source of information.  Brevity is appreciated.

1/3  -- Papers due for 1997 Rocky Mountain Symposium on Environmental
Issues in Oil and Gas Operations, to be held July 14-17 at the
Colorado School of Mines.  The Geological Resources Division will
again co-sponsor this conference, now in its fourth year. 
Session topics will include pollution prevention, ecosystem
management, air and water quality, visual impacts and pad siting
and reclamation.  Contact: Bruce Heise at NP-WASO-GRD (cc:Mail)
or 303-969-2017 (phone).  [Bruce Heise, GRD/WASO]

1/8-12 -- "Seaports, Ships, and Central Places," 30th Annual Conference on
Historical and Underwater Archeology, Omni Bayfront Hotel, Corpus
Christi, TX.  Pre-conference heritage resource management
training seminars will also be offered.  Contact: Dr. David L.
Carlson, Texas A&M, 409-847-9248 (phone) or dcarlson@tamu.edu
(Internet).  [Vergil E. Noble, MWAC]

1/13-17 -- Use of Force Conference, Lindenhurst, NY.  Conference on use of
force in law enforcement.  Topics include use of force theory,
legal and practical aspects of police use of force, courtroom
testimony, and field tactics and practices.  Also includes off-
site practical simulation training and firearms training and a
police expo.  Contact: Deborah Girard via cc:Mail or at 717-828-
2321.  [Deborah Girard, DEWA]

1/28-31* -- Seventh International Zebra Mussel and Aquatic Nuisance Species
Conference, New Orleans.  Contact: Elizabeth Muckle-Jeffs,
Conference Administrator, 1-800-868-8776.  [Sue Jennings, SACN]

2/5-8 -- "Monitoring Our Wildlife Heritage: What Do We Have, How Do We
Know?", Annual Meeting, Western Section, Wildlife Society, San
Diego, CA.  Contact: Dr. Reginald Barrett, 145 Mulford Hall,
Berkeley, CA 94720-3114; 510-642-7261 (phone); rbarrett@
nature.berkeley.edu (Internet).  [Kathy Jope, CCSSO]

2/17-20 -- "Integrating Spatial Information Technologies for Tomorrow," GIS
'97 Conference, Vancouver, BC.  Contact: Michael Rauscher, Forest
Service, Bent Creek Experimental Forest, 1577 Brevard Road,
Asheville, NC 28806; 704-667-5261 x 102 (phone); fswa/
s=m.rauscher/ou=s29a@mhs.attmail.com (Internet).  [Kathy Jope,
CCSSO]

3/17-21* -- "Making Protection Work: Parks and Reserves in a Crowded,
Changing World," 9th Conference on Research and Resource
Management in Parks and on Public Lands, Albuquerque Marriott,
Albuquerque, NM.  Sponsored by the George Wright Society. 
Registration fees vary; the return registration form may be found
at the GWS Web site at http://www.portup.com/~gws/ gws97.html. 
Contact: GWS, 906-487-9722.  [George Wright Society]

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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