NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Wednesday, August 27, 1997

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

97-454 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - Follow-up on Flash Flood with Fatalities

No signs have yet been found of the two victims who are still missing, one
believed to be French, the other Swedish.  Search efforts have been scaled
back to daily checks of the navigable portions of Antelope Canyon.  Navajo
officials have not yet reopened the lower Antelope Canyon tour route, which
is where the flash flood and fatalities occurred.  Current plans are to leave
it closed until all the victims have been found.  [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA, 8/25]

97-503 - Petersburg NB (VA) - ARPA Convictions

In late March, rangers received a "Parkwatch" tip from a concerned citizen
regarding possible ARPA violations occurring within the park.  On the evening
of April 1st, two men were observed within the battlefield, but could not be
safely apprehended.  A check of the area revealed numerous freshly dug and
refilled holes.  Following a daylight survey of the crime scene, a strategy
for capturing the suspects on a return trip was developed.  The two
camouflage-clad, 33-year-old males - subsequently identified as J.N.W.
and J.S.B. - were caught well within the park's boundary
around midnight on April 5th; they had in their possession metal detectors,
entrenching tools and freshly dug artifacts.  Over 2,000 Civil War artifacts
with a market value in excess of $4,500 were recovered through search
warrants and interviews of the suspects.  An assessment of the nine-acre
crime scene coordinated by archeologist John Wright of Delaware Water Gap NRA
placed the archaeological loss at over $50,000, making this the largest Civil
War ARPA violation on record.  On July 8th, J.N.W. and J.S.B. plead guilty
in federal district court to one felony count each of conspiracy to violate
ARPA.  Sentencing is scheduled for October 9th.  Interviews of the suspects
revealed that they had been operating freely within the battlefield since
December, 1995.  They admitted wrong-doing and stated that their activity was
prompted by the second government shutdown.  Said one of the men: "I figured
they were getting ready to sell the place off for a subdivision, so I might
as well get my share of the artifacts while they were there.  After all, it's
not like this stuff is going to grow back."  Ranger Mike Bremer served as
lead investigator on this case, which was successfully concluded and
prosecuted at the park level.  [Ike Kelley, CR, PETE, 8/26]

97-504 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Bear Mauling

J.B., 22, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was injured during an encounter
with a grizzly bear at a remote backcountry location on August 21st.  J.B.
had established camp at Broad Creek that day, then taken an off-trail day
hike in the Tern Lake area.  He was hiking along quietly in mid-afternoon
when he startled two grizzly bears - possibly a sow with a yearling - that
were about 25 yards away.  The larger bear charged to within five yards of
J.B., went around behind him, cuffed him, and bit him once on the shoulder
and once on the thigh.  J.B. remained passive throughout the attack, which
he recalled as the recommended action from the backcountry permit orientation
film he'd seen, and the bears left the area.  He returned to his camp for the
night, then hiked out of the backcountry on the 22nd and 23rd.  He reported
the encounter to rangers at Canyon, and was taken to Lake Hospital for
treatment of his injuries.  [Mike Murray, ACR, YELL, 8/26]

97-505 - Fort Matanzas NM (FL) - Rescue

On August 20th, rangers Andy Rich and Dick Vara responded to a report of a
capsized vessel in the Matanzas River inlet.  They found a 15-foot vessel
overturned and sinking, with one person clinging to the hull.  A rope rescue
bag was employed and the person was pulled from the strong current into the
park vessel.  The boat soon sank.  The victim required no medical attention. 
The incident is being investigated by the Florida Marine Patrol.  [C.L. Dale,
CR, CASA, 8/26]

97-506 - Hawaii Volcanoes NP (HI) - Drug and Weapons Arrests

On Friday, August 24th, ranger Neil Akana noted that the ignition switch was
"punched" out in an occupied but unregistered vehicle parked on Chain of
Craters Road.  Akana contacted the occupant, who appeared to be under the
influence of narcotics, and attempted to question him about the vehicle. 
Akana recognized the occupant as D.A. (no relation) from an earlier
park investigation of a stolen vehicle.  D.A. was unable to give
coherent answers to any questions and was arrested for being under the
influence.  At the time of the arrest, he was out on bail from the state on
attempted murder charges stemming from a narcotics-related drive-by shooting
which had occurred three miles from the park two weeks earlier.  Information
developed by ranger James Mar indicated that a second person was with D.A.
prior to his arrest.  A contract helicopter was diverted from a nearby
project and located the woman a few minutes later about a mile from the
vehicle.  Ranger Talmage Magno contacted the woman, who admitted that the
vehicle was hers and that she was armed with a handgun.  Magno arrested her
for carrying a concealed weapon and recovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun
from her waistband.  Narcotics, paraphernalia, narcotics packaging material
and over $700 in cash were recovered.  Federal charges are pending, and the
state has moved to revoke D.A.'s bail on the attempted murder
charges.  Police detectives determined that the weapon recovered by Magno had
not been used in the state's pending case.  [Greg Jablonski, Acting CR, HAVO,
8/24]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Mon      Tue    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT     8/25     8/26  Con  Con

UT   Cedar City District     Pine Park        --      233      233   80  8/27

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 
     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

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND) 

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Friday, 8/22         0      9        11       0       51     51       122
Saturday, 8/23       2      2        20       0       35     49       108
Sunday, 8/24         2      3        12       1       34     30        82
Monday, 8/25         3      7        12       0       34     34        90
Tuesday, 8/26        2      2         7       0       37     14        62

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead


Friday, 8/22        60        128          14             4           253
Saturday, 8/23      51        119          20            11           249
Sunday, 8/24        40         88          18             1           260
Monday, 8/25        35         72          17             0           188
Tuesday, 8/26       28         47          12             0           128

CURRENT SITUATION

Firefighters made significant progress on the Pine Park fire in utah.  Little
activity occurred elsewhere.  Fire indices continue to range from high to
extreme in California, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/27]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Devils Tower NM (WY) - Research Developments

The park has benefitted this year from projects conducted by four prominent
academic researchers.  The objective has been to improve the baseline of
knowledge about the park.  Special emphasis funds were found to hire the
researchers for specific, one-time projects, as the park's staff is too small
to conduct scientific research on top of regular duties:

o Dr. Evelyn Merrill, a biologist from the University of Wisconsin,
completed two weeks of vegetation measurements in a dozen experimental
plots in the park along with a crew of students.  The project, now in
its second year, measures the response of native trees and shrubs to
the presence or absence of heavy deer browsing and fire.  The objective
is to determine the best conditions for prescribed burns and to
determine if woodlands will be able to regenerate with the current
density of deer.
o Dr. Brian Molyneaux, an archeologist from the University of South
Dakota, led a team of specialists and assistants in surveying the park
for cultural sites.  Lab analysis of the finds will help determine the
prehistoric cultures which used the site over several thousand years;
the research itself will determine which sites may be eligible for the
National Register of Historic Places.
o Dr. James Foch, an engineer and physicist from northern California who
specializes in the measurement of sounds in the environment,
established a solar-powered sound monitoring station in the park
earlier this year, complete with computer for data processing and
storage and electric heaters to keep the equipment warm in the winter. 
Sound was measured in decibels every second for twelve months.  The
data will show park managers the natural background levels of sound in
the park during each season and how sound levels are being affected by
aircraft and other modern machines.  Overflights have become an
important issue at the park.  
o Dr. David Cooper of Colorado State University, will be assessing the
health of the park's cottonwood and willow forest along the Belle
Fourche River.  His recommendations will hep managers implement
effective reforestation measures in an environment that has been in
serious decline for many years as a result of flood control, herbicide
contamination, and heavy browsing by native deer.

The research has provided the park with a substantial increase in information
about its natural and cultural resources and an assessment of the challenges
resource managers will face in protecting them.  [George San Miguel, CRM,
DETO, 8/19]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Article on NPS - The Friday (weekend) edition of USA Today is scheduled to
carry a significant editorial piece on the national parks which will focus on
a wide variety of topics pertaining to the current state of the system and to
past trends.  [Public Affairs, WASO]

Correction - The August 25th Morning Report contained a report (97-497) which
stated that a 54-year-old woman had shot and killed herself at Great Basin
NP.  Although the victim did shoot herself in the chest, she survived and is
currently in the hospital in stable condition.  [Editor, Morning Report]

MEMORANDA

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EXCHANGE

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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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