NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Monday, July 7, 1997

INCIDENTS

97-194 - Canyonlands NP (UT) - Follow-up on High Water Incident

This year's high water incident operations, which went into effect when the
flow of the Colorado River in Cataract Canyon exceeded 55,000 cubic feet per
second (cfs), as per park plan, concluded on June 27th.  Search and rescue
teams and equipment were pre-positioned in the canyon on May 16th and
operations were underway for 42 days.  The Colorado's peak flow during this
time reached 71,100 cfs, creating a continuous four-mile stretch of white
water with waves exceeding 25 feet in height.  A total of 326 boats with
2,336 passengers attempted to run the canyon during the 42 day period. 
Thirty of them flipped, forcing 134 people to swim up to a mile in 50 degree
water to reach safety.  Park personnel rescued 43 of them and saved four
lives during the incident.  A total of 23 members of the park's staff were
involved with incident management and operations.  The IC was river district
ranger Steve Swanke.  [Paul Henderson, PIO, CANY, 7/2]

97-290 - Glacier NP (MT) - Follow-up on Search 

Just as plans were about to be implemented for an expanded search for D.
"E." E., 25, whose car had been at the Lincoln Lake trailhead since June
18th, park dispatch received a phone call from D.E. in response to a message
from searchers that he had found attached to the winshield of his car.  D.E.
told searchers that he'd lost the Lincoln Lake trail that afternoon and that
he'd spent six days and nights in a clearing in the dense lodgepole pine
forest.  D.E. had not made plans to spend the night in the wilderness.  He
had no food, foul weather protection, clothing or shelter, but did have a
bottle of water.  He was able to make several fires at night with his
cigarette lighter.  D.E. had not obtained any park literature, visitor
information or trail condition reports prior to starting out, and was wearing
only a T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers.  When contacted, he was very tired and
hungry and was suffering from severe mosquito bites and swollen feet, but had
no visible injuries.  IC for the search was district ranger Charlie Logan. 
[Amy Vanderbilt, PIO, GLAC, 6/26]

97-300 - Grand Teton NP (WY) - Search and Rescue
 
On the night of June 23th, the Teton County sheriff's department received a
report of a missing backpacker, 60 year-old J.C. of Driggs, Idaho. 
J.C. became separated from his partner on the afternoon of the 22nd while
hiking on the Death Canyon Shelf and failed to arrive at a pre-determined
location later that evening.  Because J.C.'s route included areas within
both the park and the Jed Smith wilderness in the Targhee NF, a joint search
operation was initiated by the park and Teton County.  On the morning of the
24th, J.C. was located by the park contract helicopter in the Fox Creek
Pass area, uninjured but tired and hungry. Heavy snowpack in the area
contributed to J.C.'s disorientation, as he was unable to locate the
trail and trail signs.  [Colin Campbell, CR, GRTE, 6/30]

97-301 - Grand Teton NP (WY) - Climbing Fatality

Slovenian national A.B., 38, was killed on the morning of June 23rd
while attempting a solo climb on the Grand Teton.  According to witness
reports, A.B. was nearing Upper Saddle at the mountain's 13,300 foot
elevation when he presumably fell on snow and ice and slid between 1,000 and
1,500 feet down a snow couloir known as the Idaho Express.  A.B. was
wearing crampons and carrying an ice axe at the time of the accident.  The
cause of death was severe head injury and total body trauma.  Following a
cellular phone report of the accident, rangers flew to the Lower Saddle in
the park contract helicopter, climbed to the scene, and confirmed the death. 
At the time of this report and response, four other backcountry SAR incidents
were in progress in the park.  [Colin Cambell, CR, GRTE, 6/30]  

97-302 - Grand Teton NP (WY) - Rescue
     
On the morning of June 25th, 38 year-old S.N. of Summerville, New
Jersey fell approximately 500 feet down the Lower Saddle headwall of upper
Garnet Canyon.  S.N. and his climbing partner had aborted a planned ascent
of the Grand Teton due to illness.  While descending, S.N. removed his
crampons on top of the headwall to glissade down the steep snow.  He lost
control during glissade and, unable to self-arrest, tumbled and slid to the
toe of the slope.  S.N.'s partner assisted him to the Garnet Canyon
meadows, where he collapsed, unable to continue due to severe back and hip
pain and a grating sensation upon movement.  Exum mountain guide Jim Kanzler
notified park dispatch of the accident via cell phone, and rangers responded
to the scene from the summit of Disappointment Peak and the Lower Saddle
patrol hut.  S.N. was stabilized on scene and evacuated via the park
contract helicopter to a Jackson hospital, where he was treated for a
possible pelvic fracture and severe deep contusions.  [Colin Campbell, CR,
GRTE, 6/30]

97-303 - Organ Pipe Cactus NM (AZ) - Burglary; Attempted Auto Theft

The park's maintenance compound was broken into on the morning of June 25th
and about $4,000 worth of equipment was stolen or vandalized.  The burglars
entered an office and nine vehicles, attempting unsuccessfully to hot wire
one of the latter.  A Border Patrol agent spooked two suspects along South
Puerto Blanco drive, and they fled into Mexico, leaving a cache of stolen
items, including a stolen mountain bike with they used to transport them
cross country.  Many of the items were recovered.  A joint investigation by
park rangers and Pima County and Mexican officers is underway.  [CRO, ORPI,
6/27]

97-204 - Gateway NRA (NY) - Aircraft Accident
     
A single-engine aircraft piloted by S.O., 34, began experiencing
engine problems while flying along the beach toward Crookes Point at an
altitude of 75 feet on the afternoon of June 29th.  S.O attempted an emergency
landing on the beach, but the plane came down nose first in water about 20
feet from shore and flipped over.  Both S.O and passengere Dale Wyeth were
able to extricate themselves without injury.  USPP officer Sal Norman and
several NPS lifeguards and visitors turned the plane rightside up and pulled
it to shore.  The FAA is investigating.  [Lt. Michael Fellner, USPP, GATE,
6/29/97]

97-305 - Badlands NP (SD) - MVA with Three Fatalities

On June 30th, rangers investigated a report of a single vehicle accident with
two possible fatalities in the Sheep Mountain area of the park.  A 1993 Ford
pickup had gone off the edge of the flat-topped mountain and had plunged
about 120 feet, landing on the steep slope of a gully.  Vehicle tracks
indicate that there had been no braking until the truck was eight to ten feet
from the edge.  Two bodies were found at the bottom of the ravine, and a
third was discovered uner the vehicle.  The accident was jointly investigated
by the park and the county sheriff.  [Scott Lopez, CR, BADL, 7/1]

97-306 - Big Thicket NP (TX) - Marijuana Eradication

On June 18th and 19th, rangers and Texas DPS narcotics officers, employing
Army and DEA helicopters, discovered and destroyed six marijuana plantations
with a total of 204 cultivated plants.  All of the plots were within a mile
and a half of the park; the two largest plots were found within 800 feet of
the park's boundary.  The street value of the plants was placed at just under
$330,000.  [Regina Klein, BITH, 6/24]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

CURRENT SITUATION

Significant fire activity continued yesterday in Alaska and southern
California, and new large fires were reported in the Northwest and South. 
Two Type II incident management teams have been assigned to new fires in
Alaska.  

Fires include the following:

San Bernadino NF, CA            Hemlock             2,400 acres
Angeles NF, CA                  Canyon 2            3,525 acres     
State land, AK                  Inowak             97,280 acres
                                Gold Creek            800 acres
                                Butte Creek         2,300 acres
                                Camp Lake           3,500 acres
                                McCoy Creek           100 acres
Prineville District, OR         Windy Flat          1,200 acres

Fire indices throughout the west range from high to extreme.  NICC has issued
a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for strong winds, low relative humidity and low fuel
moisture for northern Arizona.

A Type III helicopter crashed yesterday while doing bucket work on the
Hemllock fire in the San Bernadino NF.  The pilot did not survive.  No other
injuries were reported.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/7]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

San Antonio Missoins NHP (TX) - Africanized Honey Bees

Resarchers at Texas A&M have confirmed that a beehive which was recently
destroyed at Mission San Jose contained a colony of Africanized honey bees. 
The hive was located underground at the base of a tree stump which was being
removed by park maintenance employees.  One employee was stung about 20
times.  This is the third confirmed cas of Africanized honey bees in the park
since 1992.  [Dan Steed, CR, SAAN]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Ranger Activities Council Update - Several national ranger activities program
updates were recently submitted to the Ranger Activities Council.  Some of
these may be of interest to others, so they have been posted on cc:Mail for
ready access.  In order to obtain this rather large document (115,000 bytes),
address a cc:Mail message to Dennis Burnett and enter on the subject line the
phrase RADWASO.  No message needs to be sent.  The computer will
automatically retrieve the document and send it to you.  [Rick Gale,
RAD/WASO]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

Beggar Deer - Guadalupe Mountains has a problem with mule deer which have
become habituated to humans in popular wilderness areas in the park.  The
deer have damaged personal property and have shown the potential for
inflicting injuries on visitors.  Despite attempts to educate backpackers to
shoo these animals away from campsites, the problem persists.  Resource
management staff have heard that some parks are using capsicum-based spray to
break animals of food begging habits, but would like to hear of other
treatments before breaking out the pepper mace.  If you have had success in
dealing with beggar deer, or know of a referral, please contact resource
management specialist Fred Armstrong at 915-828-3251 x 132, or by name on
cc:Mail.

                                *  *  *  *  *

The Morning Report will be posted intermittently through late July.  Today's
edition is the second since Thursday, June 26th (the other issuance was on
July 1st).  It is being sent courtesy of Carey and Walt Dabney of Canyonlands
NP (Walt is the park's superintendent), who have provided temporary editorial
offices in their residence in Moab, Utah.  

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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