NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Monday, March 10, 1997

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

96-365 - Mammoth Cave (Kentucky) - Follow-up on Marijuana Cultivation Arrests

W.H. and R.H. pled guilty to growing marijuana in the park in federal
court on February 20th and were sentenced to two year's probation and fined
$1,000 each.  The H.s were arrested last July after rangers observed and
videotaped W.H. tending a marijuana plot.  His father was an
accomplice.  This was the first drug-related conviction for each man.  [Phil
Veluzat, CR, MACA, 3/5]

97-80 - Yellowstone NP (Wyoming) - Follow-up on Search, Avalanche Fatalities

The search of the avalanche area near Heart Lake for scientist Diane Dustman,
37, continued on Friday, March 7th.  At about 12:50 p.m. a probe line team
located her body under seven feet of snow approximately 50 feet upslope of 
the point where the body of park research geologist Rick Hutchinson was found
on Thursday.  Hutchinson and Dustman had begun a backcountry trip on to
monitor geothermal features in the Heart Lake area on Saturday, March 1st,
and planned to ski out on the following Tuesday.  A search was begun that
evening when rangers skiing into Heart Lake failed to encounter them along
the trail and found some of their belongings in the patrol cabin.  Dustman
worked for Boston Dynamics, a computer software company in Cambridge,
Massachusetts.  She had worked with Hutchinson on several computer projects
involving geothermal monitoring.  A memorial service for Rick is planned at
Old Faithful on Friday, March 14th.  The park has established the Rick
Hutchinson Geothermal Research Fund at the request of J.W.,
Rick's wife and a park employee.  Contributions to the fund may be sent to
the Public Affairs Office, Yellowstone NP, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone, Wyoming 
82190.  Letters of condolence may be sent to J.W. or to Rick's family in care
of the same address.  [Mike Murray, ACR, YELL, 3/9]

97-86 - Guadalupe Mountains NP (Texas) - Search in Progress

The search for 20-year-old S.Z. of Erie, Pennsylvania, ended on a
happy note on the afternoon of Friday, March 7th, when she was spotted by a
motorist on a ridge a quarter mile from U.S. 62/180 and about four miles west
of the park's visitor center.  S.Z. had been missing since Wednesday, when
she failed to return from a solo hike.  She told searchers that she'd hiked
west on the El Capitan trail, although she'd indicated on the trail register
that she was going north on the Tejas trail.  S.Z. apparently reached the
Salt Basin overlook, then left the trail and travelled down the steep slopes
toward the highway, which would have been in her sight most of the time.  She
spent the first night in a small cave and the second under a large rock.  On
Wednesday night, the low was in the upper 20s; on Thursday night, it was in
the 50s.  She was in good condition, but weak, dehydrated and bruised from
several falls, one of which may have knocked her unconscious.  She was taken
to a hospital in El Paso.  A total of 122 people participated in the search. 
Searchers on the ground were aided by helicopters from the Texas Department
of Public Service and Holliman AFB and planes from the Texas Civil Air
Patrol.  [Richard McCamant, GUMO, 3/8]

97-88 - Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Special Event; Bison Prayer Ceremony 
     
On Thursday, March 6th, the Inter-Tribal Bison Cooperative (ITBC), a group
based in Rapid City, South Dakota, coordinated ceremonies in five locations -
the park, Helena, Montana, Washington, DC, Rapid City, South Dakota, and St.
Paul, Minnesota - to pray for the bison that have been killed this winter in
and around Yellowstone.  The Yellowstone service, attended by almost 100
people, was held at the Stephens Creek capture facility as a public assembly
under a special use permit.  A bald eagle soared overhead as Lakota Sioux
spiritual leader Arvol Looking Horse, assisted by Joe Chasing Horse,
conducted the two-hour-long prayer ritual.  During and after the service, the
Montana Department of Livestock continued to conduct shooting operations
nearby, killing a total of 14 animals on the Royal Teton Ranch, property 
of the Church Universal and Triumphant located just north of the park.  After
the ceremony, Rosalie Little Thunder, a Rosebud Sioux who had been the
permittee for the park event, was arrested by a Park County, Montana, deputy
for trespassing on church property when she, along with others, went to the
site of the shooting to pray over the dead animals.  To date, 1,049 bison
have been shot or shipped to slaughter this winter.  The park continues to
hold 147 seronegative bison at the Stephens Creek capture facility.  [Mike
Murray, ACR, YELL, 3/9]

                   [Additional reports pending...]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Wilderness Steering Committee - The third meeting of the national wilderness
steering committee (NWSC) was held at Death Valley National Park on February
25th and 26th.  The mission of the committee is to improve management and
protection of the Service's wilderness resources through specific
recommendations to the Directorate.  Agenda items addressed by the committee
at the Death Valley meeting included actions intended to improve the
accountability, consistency, and continuity of the Service's wilderness
program.  These actions included:

o a recommendation that the director send a memo to regional directors
outlining a strategy for improving wilderness accountability;
o the review of draft guidelines (director's orders) addressing
wilderness planning, the application of "minimum requirement" tools,
rock climbing and canyoneering, research, fire management, and related
issues;
o the development of a national wilderness training strategy;
o the reorganization of the annual wilderness awards program;
o the development of strategies to deal with mining in wilderness areas;
o the establishment of a wilderness intern program; and
o a strategy for revision of the Service's wilderness preservation and
management policies statement.
     
The draft guidelines will be circulated for field review and comment before
finalization.  All employees are invited to review the activities of the NWSC
via the wilderness bulletin board or by contacting committee members (the
names and addresses are posted regularly on the bulletin board).  [Jim
Walters]

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.

Current -- Call for papers and posters for Sixth World Wilderness Congress,
Bangalore, India, which will be held from October 18th to the
25th.  Among the topics being discussed are international
wilderness designation, management and research; wilderness
inventories; and use of wilderness for personal growth, therapy
and education.  Contact: Linda Hock at 303-969-2622 or via
cc:Mail at NP-RMRO.  [Linda Hock, RMRO]

3/17-21 -- "Making Protection Work: Parks and Reserves in a Crowded,
Changing World," Ninth Conference on Research and Resource
Management in Parks and on Public Lands, Albuquerque Marriott,
Albuquerque, NM.  Sponsored by the George Wright Society. The
conference has been approved as official training for NPS
employees.  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.  [Dave Harmon, George
Wright Society]

3/24-28 -- Recreation Fee Demonstration Program Conference, Denver, CO. 
Meeting of representatives from selected fee demonstration sites
in the Midwest, Intermountain, Pacific West and Alaska regions. 
The agenda is targeted towards those fee manages on the front
line who are responsible for program implementation. 
Administrative accounting and operational staff are encouraged to
attend to ensure program accountability and efficiency.  Contact:
Terry Penttila, Colorado Plateau Support Office, at 303-969-2662
or via cc:Mail at NP-DENVER.  [Terry Penttila, CPSO]

3/25-27 -- Meeting, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Review Committee, Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education,
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.  The agenda will include
discussion of the disposition of culturally unidentifiable
remains, compliance by federal agencies, and implementation of
the statute in the state of Oklahoma.  The meeting is open to the
public.  Contact: Frank McManamon, Archeology and Ethnography,
WASO, at NP-WASO-DCA.  [Federal Register, Vol. 61, No. 241, p.
65596]

4/1 -- Deadline for submission of abstracts for 14th International
Estuarine Research Federation Conference, to be held October 12-
16 in Providence, RI.  The theme of this conference is the state
of our estuaries.  Topics will include the consequence of human
development in the coastal zone, the recovery of bays and
estuaries, the effects of sea level rise on estuaries, and
phytoremediation.  [Susan Joffre, SEFO]

4/3-6 -- Coast Defense Study Group, Staten Island Hotel, New York, NY. 
The group, which is dedicated to the study of seacoast
fortifications, will be visiting coast defense sites during the
day (including Forts Hancock, Wadsworth, Totten and Schuyler) and
holding paper presentations in the evening.  Contact: Leo
Polaski, 516-754-6479.  [Leo Polaski, Greenbelt Park]

4/12-16 -- Fifth National Conference on National Historic and National
Scenic Long-Distance Trails, Orlando, FL.  Contact: Florida Trail
Association, 1-800-343-1882.  [Sheila Lee, NCRC]

4/16-17 -- Annual Federal Long-Distance Trails Administrators' Meeting,
Oviedo, FL.  Contact: Steve Elkinton, 202-565-1177.  [Sheila Lee,
NCRC]

4/18-20* -- "Restoration '97," Conference, Atlanta, GA.  The conference will
focus on historic buildings and monuments and will include
speakers from the National Trust and ICOMOS.  Contact: 508-664-
6455.  [Diane Vogt O'Connor, DCA/WASO]

4/26-30 -- Annual Meeting, American Association of Museums, Atlanta, GA. 
Contact: 202-289-1818 (phone); 202-289-6578 (fax).  [Diane Vogt
O'Connor, DCA/WASO]

4/27-30 -- "Future Natural Resource Management: Science vs. Politics," 53rd
Annual Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference, Sheraton Tara,
Framingham, MA.  Papers in fisheries, wildlife, law enforcement,
information and education, and conservation engineering are being
solicited.  Contact: Rob Deblinger, program chair, 508-792-7270
ext 128.  [Frank Panek, WRD/WASO]

5/7-10 -- "Gateway Communities and National Parks: Working Together to
Protect America's Cultural and Natural Landscape," no location
given.  Contact: National Parks and Conservation Association,
202-659-0650.  [Sheila Lee, NCRC]

5/28-30 -- "The Monument to Robert Gould Shaw and the Fifty-fourth
Massachusetts Regiment: History and Meaning," public symposium,
Boston, MA.  The symposium is part of the centennial celebration
of the monument, and will also include a public ceremony at the
site of the monument and an encampment and parade of African-
American Civil War reenactors.  No charge.  Contact: Erin Beatty
at NP-BOST or 617-242-5668.  [Erin Beatty, BOST]

6/1-6 -- 18th Annual Meeting, Society of Wetland Scientists, Bozeman, MT. 
Will include special symposia on peatlands of western North
America and semi-arid riparian ecosystems.  Field trips to
Yellowstone and surrounding areas.  Contact: Leslie Krueger via
cc:Mail at NP-WASO-AQ or via the homepage at http:// www.sws.org. 
[Leslie Krueger, AQD/WASO]

9/25-29 -- Second World Congress, International Ranger Federation, San Jose,
Costa Rica.  This notice is being posted earlier than usual
because early registration is important in order to provide
ascertain the number of delegates for purposes of congress
planning and reservation of hotel rooms.  The theme of the
congress will be the role of rangers and park managers in
sustainable development and ecotourism.  Participants are
expected from 40 to 50 countries, and a program is being planned
which will be of broad interest to rangers and park managers in
all countries.  Registration is $600 per person for double
occupancy and $850 for single occupancy in a four-star hotel; the
fee includes six nights' lodging, all meals and tips,
transportation to and from the airport, and transportation for
the field trips to several nearby Costa Rican national parks. 
Congress organizers are asking that those planning to attend
register in advance - even with a partial payment.  Payment can
be made by VISA or Master Card.  Contact: Lyn Rothgeb, Congress
registrar, 730 East main Street, Luray, VA 22835; 540-743-1775
(fax and phone).  [Bill Wade, SHEN]

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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