NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Wednesday, January 15, 1997

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

94-658 - Glacier Bay (Alaska) - Follow-up on Poaching Convictions

In May, 1993, ranger Rick Mossman and criminal investigator Mike Sharp
investigated the poaching of a brown bear on a remote section of the park's
outer coast.  Clues found at the scene led them to suspects in Fairbanks,
where rangers and Fish and Wildlife Service special agent Mark Webb
subsequently served search warrants on two residences and an airplane. 
Evidence found in one of the residences tied the suspects to the crime. 
Lengthy interviews and further investigation resulted in charges being filed
against L.Z. and his son-in-law T.D.  L.Z., a constitutionalist
who believes that all state and federal laws and regulations are illegal
except for those spelled out in the constitution, had given T.D. the bear-
hunting trip as a wedding present.  Both men were charged with misdemeanor
Lacey Act violations for illegal transport of the bear and 36 CFR violations
for illegal taking within the park.  During a search of L.Z.'s house, loaded
firearms and ammunition were found in almost every room; an illegally
possessed, mounted walrus head was also found and confiscated.  L.Z.
subsequently entered into a plea agreement and paid a $7,500 fine, but T.D.
fled to the lower 48 and entered college.  Last August, U.S. marshals
arrested T.D. during an anti-government rally and incarcerated him based on
the arrest warrant from Alaska.  T.D. then paid his outstanding $2,500
fine.  The bear hide and skull were returned to the park for tanning and will
be placed in the Yakutat visitor center for interpretive purposes.  [Mike
Sharp, CI/Pilot, GLBA]

96-719 - Yosemite NP (California) - Follow-up on Search for Missing Person

On the night of December 28th, rangers were dispatched to investigate a
report of a stabbing at an inholder residence within the trailer village
housing area in El Portal.  B.B., the female occupant of the
house, told them that a male friend, D.A., had stabbed himself in
the chest with a pair of scissors, then fled, wearing only a pair of
undershorts even though the weather was cold and rainy.  Scissors and blood
were found in the house.  There was also evidence indicating that he might be
intoxicated.  A hasty search of the area was begun by rangers and county
deputies, but no sign of the man was found.  After two more days of fruitless
searching, D.A. was listed in NCIC as a missing and endangered person.  On
January 5th, following several days of flooding on the Merced River, his body
was found entangled in driftwood about four miles down river from the trailer
village.  Preliminary information indicates that D.A. died of drowning and
not from the apparently superficial chest wound.  [Mark Harvey, YOSE]

96-722 - Padre Island NS (Texas) - Marine Debris

On Monday, December 30th, large bales of processed cotton and 20-pound bags
of unknown white pellets began washing up onto the seashore.  A total of 95
bales of the former and 34 bags of the latter came ashore along the northern
40 miles of the park over the next three days.  An investigation was begun to
determine the source.  The park investigator contacted a shipping company
associated with the lost cotton on January 7th, and they assumed
responsibility for the cleanup.  The company later identified the bags of
pellets as polyester resin granules which came out of the same shipment as
the cotton bales.  Both were apparently lost from a shipping barge in the
Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans.  The company proved quite cooperative and
immediately contracted with a local environmental waste removal service to
conduct the cleanup.  Dry bales weigh about 500 pounds each; the almost
completely saturated bales weigh about a half ton each.  The cleanup effort
will be very time consuming because of the deterioration of the bales and the
poor driving conditions on the beach.  The incident quickly gained local
media attention and gave park staff an opportunity to publicly communicate
the objectives of the park's marine debris program.  [Mark Foust, PAIS]

97-12 - Grand Canyon NP (Arizona) - Attempted Suicide; Assault on Ranger

On the afternoon of December 27th, South Rim rangers received an EMS call
regarding a person living in a trailer in Tusayan who had attempted suicide
by taking an overdose of medication.  When ranger Keith McAuliffe entered the
trailer, he found 48-year-old J.H. conscious, alert and lying on a
bed.  J.H. immediately rose to a sitting position, produced an eight-
inch-long knife, and threatened McAuliffe.  McAuliffe safely removed a third
person from the trailer, and, after several minutes, convinced J.H. to
drop the knife.  He was then taken into custody by rangers and a deputy
sheriff and eventually transported to a psychiatric facility for evaluation. 
The case is being reviewed for possible charges of assault on a federal
officer.  This is the fourth time in the past several weeks that rangers
responding to EMS calls have had to secure violent patients or suspects
before being able to safely provide medical assistance.  [Dave Brennan, SDR,
South Rim, GRCA]

97-13 - Big Thicket NP (Texas) - Winter Storm Impacts

East Texas was hit by a severe ice storm on Monday, knocking out power to
over 90,000 homes in the area and forcing the closure of the park.  Power
companies are being called in from several states to assist with the clearing
of downed trees and the restoration of power.  It's expected that the park
will remain closed at least through today.  [Pete Petersen, Superintendent,
BITH]

97-14 - Acadia NP (Maine) - Search and Rescue; Falling Fatality

The park began a major search for M.D., 37, of Old Town, Maine, on
January 13th.  M.D., an employee of nearby Jackson Laboratory, had gone
jogging in the park on the afternoon of the 12th, but failed to return as
scheduled.  Search efforts focused on the Precipice Mountain area.  M.D.'s
body was found that afternoon on the East Face trail on the Precipice.  He
apparently slipped on the icy trail and fell to his death.  Rangers are
conducting an investigation.  The search involved rangers, Maine wardens,
members of Mount Desert SAR, local police, and pilots from the Maine Army
National Guard, who flew helicopters equipped with infrared detecting
devices.  [Rob Yates, IC, ACAD]

97-15 - Biscayne NP (Florida) - Search

On the morning of January 9th, Coast Guard authorities notified rangers that
two Cuban migrants had been reported as missing in the vicinity of Fowey
Light within the park.  The Coast Guard had received a call from a private
boater around 10 p.m. the previous evening reporting a person on Fowey Light
flashing a light.  They'd responded and rescued him.  The man said that he
and two other men had left Cuba on a raft on January 5th.  He said that the
raft sank and that a passing boater had transported them to Fowey Light.  His
two companions had attempted to swim to shore and had not been seen since.  A
Coast Guard helicopter and Coast Guard and park marine units are searching
the area.  [Bonnie Foist, BISC]

97-16 - Rock Creek Parkway (D.C.) - MVA with Fatality

M.R., 30, of Alexandria, Virginia, was killed in a motor vehicle
accident on the parkway during the early morning hours of January 9th. 
Investigators believe that M.R. jumped from the passenger seat of a
moving vehicle and was struck by a vehicle also traveling southbound on the
parkway.  M.R. was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced
dead.  The parkway was closed for several hours for accident reconstruction. 
The investigation continues.  [Bill Lynch, LES, NCFA]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Tour Vehicle Fee Increase - The Service announced yesterday that tour
companies have received twelve months' advance notice that commercial tour
vehicle fees will be raised for entrance into parks where fees are charged,
effective in January, 1998.  The fee increases are being implemented as part
of the Congressionally authorized three-year fee demonstration project. 
Unlike the previous flat rate system, which applied nationally, the new
system will graduate commercial tour entrance fees based on four park
categories or tiers:

o Tier I - Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Yosemite.
o Tier II - Big Bend, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Denali, Everglades,
Glacier, Hawaii Volcanoes, Kings Canyon, Mesa Verde, Mount Rainier,
Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Sequoia, and Shenandoah.
o Tier III - Acadia, Badlands, Bryce Canyon, Dinosaur, Joshua Tree,
Lassen Volcanic, Petrified Forest, Theodore Roosevelt and Zion,
Bandelier, Cape Cod, and Harpers Ferry.
o Tier IV - All other fee collecting areas.

Fees vary according to vehicle and tier.  Please contact your field area fee
program manager for particulars.  [Jen Getz, RAD/WASO]

Golden Passports - The national fee program office needs to reprint the
Golden Passports, and is accordingly asking that parks needing passports
contact their field area fee program managers to let them know how many of
each type will be needed.  The information must be in Washington by the end
of the month, so please get the numbers to your field area as soon as
possible.  Orders will be placed based on past requests from those areas that
do not respond.  [Jen Getz, RAD/WASO]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

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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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