NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Thursday, August 28, 1997

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

97-507 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - MVA with Fatality, Multiple Injuries

A two-vehicle accident which occurred at approximately 3:45 p.m. on August
26th at Shoshone Point on the Grand Loop Road between Old Faithful and West
Thumb killed one visitor and injured six others.  G.J. (age
unavailable at time of report) of France was driving westbound in an
Oldsmobile sedan with two passengers, his wife Simone G.J., 77, and
another man, 82, also from France.  G.J. apparently fell asleep at the
wheel, crossed the centerline and collided head-on with an eastbound pickup
truck containing a family of four from Oregon.  All seven occupants of both
vehicles were injured and transported to medical facilities.  More than 15
park staff, three park ambulances, a Lake Hospital ambulance, a fire engine
and an extrication unit responded to the accident.  S.J. was
transported from the scene by a life flight to Eastern Idaho Medical Center
in Idaho Falls, where she died from her injuries.  The other six patients
were taken by ambulance to Lake Hospital, where two were treated and
released, one was admitted for observation, and three were transferred by
life flight or ambulance to larger hospitals outside the park.  [Mike Murray,
ACR, YELL, 8/27]

97-508 - Buffalo NR (Arkansas) - Ginseng Poaching

On August 21st, rangers apprehended M.F., 33, and J.S., 29, of
Harriett, Arkansas, in the McCutcheon Gap area of the park as they returned
to their vehicle after digging ginseng roots.  Rangers were investigating a
suspicious vehicle when a passerby indicated the occupants were probably
collecting golden seal - like ginseng, a plant collected commercially for its
medicinal purposes.  They staked out the vehicle for several hours until the
couple emerged from park property, carrying picks and pillow cases containing
a total of 106 ginseng roots.  The ginseng and picks were seized and
mandatory court appearance citations were issued.  Another individual was
cited on August 23rd for collecting five ginseng roots in the park.  Ginseng
collecting is legal under state law; intense pressure on private and Forest
Service land has seriously depleted ginseng at those locations, however, and
resulted in increased illegal collecting on park land.  Buyers are currently
paying approximately $300 per pound for the roots.  [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF,
8/27]

                  [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Tue      Wed    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT     8/26     8/27  Con  Con

WA   State                 * Olympia Command  --        -    5,000   70  8/27

OR   Prineville District   * Horse Mountain   --        -      285  100  CND

UT   Cedar City District     Pine Park        --      233      233  100  CND
     State                 * North Promontory --        -      780  100  CND

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

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
Wednesday, 8/27      0      4         3       1       29     27        64

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

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
Wednesday, 8/27     32         62          17             0           101

CURRENT SITUATION

Fire activity increased in the Northwest yesterday.  Containment objectives
were achieved on the large fire in the eastern Great Basin.  There was little
activity elsewhere.  Very high and extreme fire indices are being reported in
California, Nevada, Idaho, Washington and Oregon.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/28]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Report pending.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Report pending.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

WEB DIRECTORY

Each month, the Morning Report runs a listing of web sites of use to NPS
employees in the course of their work.  Please send along entries - and
corrections, in case of address errors - to the editor.  Thanks to Bill
Blake, Bob Appling, Sonya Capek and Steve Hastings for providing this week's
additions.  All new entries are marked with asterisks.

NPS SITES

Congressional Affairs office              www.nps.gov/legal
Training and Development office           www.nps.gov/training
NPS Web page development info             www.nps.gov/helpdesk (user name: NPS,
                                                password: Mather)
Current VIP opportunities                 www.nps.gov/volunteer
Press releases, park news, more           www.nps.gov/pub_aff/pressrm.htm
Q&A with volunteer NPS historians         www.nps.gov/crweb1/history/askhist.htm
Geologists-in-Parks program               www.aqd.nps.gov/natnet/grd/geojob/geojob.htm
Harpers Ferry wayside exhibits            www.nps.gov/waysite 

DOI SITES

DOI jobs listings                         www.usgs.gov/doi/avads/index.html
DOI IG reports                            www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/ig.html
DOI payroll, Denver                       www.dasc.doi.gov

OTHER AGENCY SITES

Comptroller General decisions             www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/gaocd.html
GAO reports                               www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/gao.html
OPM jobs listings                         www.usajobs.opm.gov
USDA graduate school                      www.grad.usda.gov
Thrift Savings Plan                       www.tsp.gov
New legislation (NECTEA) re: 
 funding for park roads                   www.fhwa.dot.gov
GSA per diem rates                        www.policyworks.gov/org/main/mt/homepage/mtt/perdiem/travel.sht 
OPM locality pay rates                    www.opm.gov/pay/index.htm
CFR and Federal Register info             www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr
FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection         www.ftc.gov
IG networks                               www.sbaonline.sba.gov/ignet

CONGRESSIONAL SITES

All Senate offices, committees*           www.senate.gov
All House offices, committees*            www.house.gov
Bills, reports, related info*             http://thomas.loc.gov

ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION SITES

Environmental contract fraud info         www.echotech.com
                                          www.afce.org
                                          www.fraud.org
FLETC legal updates                       wwww.sbaonline.sba.gov/ignet/library/legalupd/legalupd.html
Investigation hotline                     www.netrail.net/~hotline /investigations
Info on legal issues                      www.Lawcheck.com/main.html
Info on militia groups, etc.*             www.splcenter.org
Laws, court rulings, related info*        www.findlaw.com

OTHER RELEVANT SITES

Student Conservation Association          www.sca-inc.org
Links to NPs worldwide                    http://149.170.210.2/~keith/links.htm
National Center for Accessibility*        www.indiana.edu/~nca
Recycled content procurement*             www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/procure.html
                                          www.metrokc.gov/oppis/recyclea.html
                                          www.pnl.gov/esp/greenguide
                                          fcn.state.fl.us/bpsr/drc_notice.html

                                *  *  *  *  *

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
pertaining to receipt of 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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