- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, May 19, 1997
- Date: Mon, 19 May 1997
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, May 19, 1997
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-370 - Glacier Bay (Alaska) - Follow-up on Assault
On Monday, July 15, 1996, five park employees and ten Tlingit natives from
Hoonah visited several archeological sites located within Dundas Bay. While
in the area, an unidentified, armed male approached and threatened a member
of the group at gunpoint, then disappeared into the woods. Rangers and a
special emergency reaction team of four Alaska state troopers arrested
P.G.d, 34, in Dundas Bay without incident two weeks later. The
arrest team seized about 3,000 pounds of duffel bags and assorted gear,
including an M-14 rifle with a scope, a .22 rifle with a scope and three
mini-mag lights mounted around the scope, 24,000 rounds of live ammunition,
another 5,000 rounds of reload supplies, two dozen snares and a small amount
of marijuana. Investigation revealed that P.G.D. had been dropped off within
the park around July 11th. He subsequently dug a deep pit and was in the
process of constructing an underground log cabin to live in and store his
possessions. He'd cut about 55 spruce trees near his camp to build the
structure. P.G.D. was arraigned in state court on the assault charge; a
federal grand jury subsequently indicted him on two counts of felony
destruction of government property and seven misdemeanors. Plea agreements
were sought to force P.G.D. to forfeit his equipment, which would be sold to
pay his past child support payments to Michigan and for mental counseling
prior to release. Both failed when P.G.D. refused to cooperate with a court-
ordered psychological evaluation and demanded a jury trial. Trail was held
in federal district court over four days from May 5th to May 8th. The jury
returned one felony guilty verdict for cutting the trees, but reduced the
second felony of digging the hole to digging and leveling a campsite. The
jury also found P.G.D. guilty of six misdemeanors for possession of weapons,
traps and marijuana, but he was found not guilty of residing within a
national park. The court has ordered another psychological evaluation.
Sentencing will occur within the next 30 to 45 days. A Forest Service
methodology for assessing the resource damage associated with cutting trees
in a wilderness area which was upheld in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
was employed in this case. An NPS landscape architect used a national
publication, "A Guide for Plant Appraisal," to value the 55 spruce trees at
$36,000. This figure will be used during sentencing. [Mike Sharp, CI/Pilot,
GLBA, 5/13]
97-197 - Capitol Reef NP (Utah) - Follow-up on Rockslide
Utah Highway 24, which was closed by a rockslide on the afternoon of May
12th, reopened on the night of May 14th. State transportation department
crews blasted and removed the huge pile of debris over a two-day period, then
temporarily patched the road's surface. Permanent resurfacing, along with
the removal of tons of rock pushed to both sides of the highway, may occur in
June. Despite the inconvenience of three- to four-hour detours, very few
visitor complaints were received, largely due to effective distribution of
closure and route information by other NPS visitor centers throughout
southern Utah. [Tom Cox, CR, CARE, 5/15]
97-200 - Capitol Reef NP (Utah) - Human Remains Found
A contract university survey group discovered human remains in a remote
backcountry area of the park on the afternoon of May 14th. Radio contact
with the group was marginal, but items they saw at the scene suggest that the
person may have been a hunter and that the body had been there for a number
of years. Rangers were to hike in on Thursday, then return to the site with
a state medical examiner and the county sheriff on Friday. Ranger Bob
Kreiling is the lead investigator. [Tom Cox, CR, CARE, 5/15]
97-201 - Redwood S&NP (California) - Human Remains Found
Park maintenance employees discovered human remains just off the Coastal
Trail near Wilson Creek on may 14th. Rangers and sheriff's deputies
responded. The remains may be those of one of two persons missing from the
Crescent City area since February. The victim apparently died from a self-
inflicted gunshot wound. The investigation continues. [Bob Martin, CR,
REDW, 5/15]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Thu Sun % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 5/15 5/18 Con Con
UT State Cogswell - 3,000 4,307 80 5/20
CA San Diego RU * Hellhole - - 500 25 5/19
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; LPS = limited
protection status
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Wednesday, 5/14 0 7 3 1 31 7 49
Thursday, 5/15 0 7 9 0 13 21 50
Friday, 5/16 0 4 1 0 20 32 57
Saturday, 5/17 - - - - -- -- --
Sunday, 5/18 1 0 6 0 28 12 47
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Wednesday, 5/14 32 49 13 2 11
Thursday, 5/15 34 62 7 1 17
Friday, 5/16 43 76 8 5 51
Saturday, 5/17 -- -- - - --
Sunday, 5/18 49 13 15 6 271
CURRENT SITUATION
Both initial attack and large fire activity increased in California
yesterday. There was little resource mobilization through NICC.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
No fire weather warnings or watches posted.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Reports, 5/17 and 5/19]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Servicewide Law Enforcement Specialist - Major Ben Holmes has been assigned
to WASO Ranger Activities as the national law enforcement specialist,
effective May 12th. He replaces Dale Dickerhoof, who is now the commander of
the USPP Criminal Investigations Branch, the position Holmes held for five
years prior to his reassignment to Ranger Activities. He has been an officer
in the Park Police since 1970 and has served in a variety of positions in
operations. He was the regional law enforcement specialist in Pacific
Northwest Region from 1984 to 1986. Following that assignment, he commanded
the Audits and Evaluations Unit, Central District, and the Personal Services
Unit. He can be reached at 202-208-4209. [Rick Gale, RAD/WASO]
WASO cc:Mail System - Due to a WASO hub system crash, messages sent to
several WASO cc:Mail addresses between 8 p.m. May 13th and 3 p.m. May 14th
should be retransmitted. Affected offices are WASO Information and
Telecommunications, WASO Office of International Affairs, WASO Public Health,
WASO Risk Management, WASO Land Resources, WASO Youth Services, WASO
Interpretation, and NPS-Denver Service Center (formerly the Falls Church,
Virginia, branch). [Steve Grosz, WASO]
MEMORANDA
No submissions.
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.
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]
5/29-31 -- Annual Meeting, Society of Southwest Archivists, Hotel Galvez,
Galveston, TX. Contact: 409-763-8854, ask for the archives.
[Diane Vogt O'Connor, DCA/WASO]
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]
6/7 -- National Trails Day. Contact: National Trails Day Events, 301-
565-6714 (fax). [Tim Goddard, WASO]
6/9-15 -- Meeting, American Institute for Conservation of Historic and
Artistic Works, San Diego, CA. Contact: 202-452-9545. [Diane
Vogt O'Connor, DCA/WASO]
6/13-14 -- 25th Anniversary Celebration, Buffalo National River, Harrison,
AR. The park is trying to reach as many former employees as
possible. For information on events, send a cc:Mail message to
BUFF Administration with the words "Reply to Sender" (no quotes)
on the title line; no message text is needed. A reply will
automatically be sent. [John Linahan, Superintendent, BUFF]
6/25-27 -- "Interpreting Edison," conference, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
and Edison NHS, West Orange, NJ. The interpretation of Thomas A.
Edison's life and work will be examined by academic scholars, at
museums and historic sites, and in the classroom. Contact:
Leonard DeGraaf, EDIS, 201-736-0550, ext 22. [Leonard DeGraaf]
8/1-8 -- 31st Meeting, Appalachian Trail Conference, Bethel, ME. Contact:
Appalachian Trail Conference, 304-535-6068. [Tim Goddard, 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. 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]
* * * * *
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.
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