NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Wednesday, November 5, 1997

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

97-687 - Mojave NPr (CA) - HazMat Spill Cleanup

Between July and August of 1996, an estimated 230,000 gallons of pipe scale
and waste effluents were released at nine separate locations along the 14-
mile-long waste pipeline that runs through BLM's Needles Resource Area and
Mojave National Preserve.  The releases were associated with the pigging
(cleaning) of the pipeline.  The pipeline runs from a lanthanide rare earth
mining/processing plant in Mountain Pass, California, to Ivanpah Dry Lake Bed
near the California/Nevada line adjacent to I-15.  The product released from
the pipeline, which is owned and maintained by Molycorp, a subsidiary of
UNOCAL, contains radioactive radium, thorium and uranium, as well as lead and
arsenic.  The releases occurred in critical habitat for the threatened desert
tortoise.  The incident is currently being managed under a unified command by
an interagency Type II incident management team whose members are from the
NPS in Alaska and BLM's Needles office.  Among the agency representatives to
the team are personnel from the California Department of Fish and Game, which
has jurisdiction over the coordination of hazmat incidents in California. 
Other cooperating agencies include the California Department of Health
Service's Radiological Health Branch and Department of Toxic Substances
Control, the regional water quality board, and the county fire and hazmat
department.  Costs to date are estimated to be $3 million, and will likely
reach $7 million by the time the cleanup is completed.  A total of 69 people
are committed to the incident.  To date, 56 tortoises have been relocated
from the incident site and over 20,000 feet of tortoise exclusion fencing has
been installed.  Removal of the release materials prior to the anticipated El
Nino period is critical to maintaining the quality of the aquifer and to
preventing further dispersal via wind. [JD Swed, IC, Betty Knight, IO, MOJA,
11/4]

97-688 - Gulf Islands NS (MS/FL) - Commercial Fishing Violations
     
Ranger Ben Moore and two state wildlife officers arrested four members of a
family for commercial fishing in the waters of the seashore near Horn Island
shortly before midnight on October 31st.  The fishermen - E.R., 39,
D.R., 20, and two juvenile family members - had crossed the
Mississippi Sound in two mullet skiffs from their home on the Mississippi
mainland.  The two boats were run with their lights out, but, unknown to
them, state officers were tracking them via radar in a state patrol boat. 
The fishermen slipped one boat into a lagoon on Horn Island and set their
net, catching a small school of mullet.  The mullet are full of roe (eggs) at
this time of year; these are exported to the orient as caviar, making the
fish quite valuable.  Ranger Moore cited the two adults for commercial
fishing and the state officers charged them with a number of technical
violations regarding their nets, boat operation, and contributing to the
delinquency of minors.  During the trip back to the mainland on the state
patrol boat, E.R. claimed he was having a heart attack and was
transported to a hospital.  He was released from the hospital after an
examination and was placed in the county jail.  Both adults have extensive
histories of wildlife violations.  [Mark Lewis, DR, GUIS, 11/3]

97-689 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (PA/NJ) - Illegal Hunting Investigation

On October 4th, the opening day of New Jersey's deer archery season, a hunter
reported seeing a black bear which had been shot by an arrow run by his deer
stand.  Since there is no open season for black bears in the state, district
ranger Barry Sullivan and ranger Mike Fernalld investigated.  Physical
evidence was gathered; the reporting party provided a description of the
suspect's vehicle, its plate number and the probable location where the bear
had been shot.  A joint investigation was begun the following day with New
Jersey Fish, Game and Wildlife wardens.  An arrow was found with suspected
black bear hair and blood on it.  Samples were collected for forensic
examination.  On October 6th, Fernalld and a state warden interviewed
Dominick Campaignio at his residence in Edgewater, New Jersey.  In plain view
were cigarettes which matched the brand found at the shooting site and arrows
which almost exactly matched the arrow found.  Campaignio initially denied
having shot the bear, but ultimately signed a full confession after being
confronted with the evidence which had been collected.  Campaignio will
appear in state court on November 19th.  [CRO, DEWA, 10/17]

97-690 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (PA/NJ) - Illegal Hunting Investigation

On October 6th, a group of hunters in New Jersey reported that they'd shot
and tracked an eight-point deer, but that a man driving a red Jeep had stolen
the deer before they could catch up with it.  District ranger Barry Sullivan
and ranger Mike Fernalld made contact with the jeep's owner, O.L.,
the following day.  O.L. said that he had been hunting alone and had not
taken a deer.  Examination of the deer carrying rack on the Jeep revealed the
presence of fresh deer blood.  O.L. subsequently admitted to failing to tag
a deer, failing to register it at a deer checking station, and having it
butchered and taken to a taxidermist overnight.  The deer's entrails were
found and hair, tissue and meat samples were taken for forensic examination. 
An arrow was also found at the kill site which exactly matched the arrows in
O.L.'s quiver.  He was issued violations for the offenses by state game
officers.  The Tru Life Taxidermist shop, owned by Domingo Bardales of North
Bergen, New Jersey, was visited by game officers the next day, and the animal
was confiscated.  The taxidermist was cited for accepting an unregistered
deer.  On October 15th, O.L. was found guilty of the charges filed against
him in state court.  [CRO, DEWA, 10/17]

97-691 - Petrified Forest NP (AZ) - Poaching

Rangers Peter Pappas and Karl Sommerhauser responded to a report of hunters
in the park on September 21st.  They subsequently contacted J.P. of
Lakeside, Arizona, and several companions just outside the park's boundary. 
The group had a freshly killed buck antelope in their possession.  A joint
investigation was conducted with U.S. Fish and Wildlife service agents. 
J.P. will be charged with violations of the Lacey Act.  [Peter Pappas,
PR, PEFO, 10/22]

97-692 - Kaloko-Honokohau NHP (HI) - Nude Sunbathing 

On July 24th, R.C. and L.B. were cited for violating a
temporary regulation which closed Honokohau beach to nude sunbathing.  Both
men entered guilty pleas in court in October and were fined.  Congress
established the park in 1978 as a center for the preservation, interpretation
and perpetuation of traditional native Hawaiian activities and culture.  It's
been determined that nude sunbathing is in derogation of traditional values
of native Hawaiians and therefore in conflict with the park's enabling
legislation.  A proposed regulation prohibiting nude sunbathing is currently
being reviewed in the solicitor's office.  [Jerry Case, CR, KAHO, 10/28]

97-693 - Curecanti (CO) - EMS Assist; Life Saved

On October 22nd, rangers received a report that J.S., 63, who was
hunting on BLM land adjacent to the park, was having chest pains and could
not walk.  Rangers Kinsey Shilling and Ian Clark responded and were first on
scene.  Once oxygen was administered, J.S.'s pain subsided, but his pulse
remained rapid.  A multi-agency team carried J.S. a mile and a half to a
waiting ambulance.  His pulse remained high, and doctors eventually
determined that the cause was a pulmonary embolism.  J.S. subsequently
underwent surgery.  Doctors said that J.S. might not have survived if it
hadn't been for his rescuers' quick actions.  [Linda Alick, CR, CURE/BLCA,
10/24]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Helicopter Contract - A new contract for helicopter services in Grand Canyon
NP was awarded to Papillon Airways of Seattle, Washington, on October 10th. 
The contract is the largest ever negotiated by the NPS and is the first of
its kind to incorporate "quiet technology" standards for aircraft.  A Boeing/
McDonnell Douglas MD-900 Explorer helicopter will replace the Bell 206 Long
Ranger presently in use in the park.  This change, the most significant in
the history of the park's helicopter program, is in keeping with the 1994 NPS
report to Congress on aircraft overflights of the park.  The MD-900 will meet
the new FAA regulations which go into effect this coming January.  One
regulation requires the 30-plus air tour companies operating in the park's
special flight rules area to gradually replace their fleetw with quieter
aircraft.  All companies are scheduled to complete this conversion by the
year 2008.  [Maureen Oltrogge, PIO, GRCA]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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