NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, January 13, 1998

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

97-782 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Search; Fatality

On December 29th, the vehicle of a missing Harrisonburg man was found
blocking the gate to a cemetery about ten yards inside the park's boundary
off Route 628.  K.N., 38, had last been seen at his brother's house
on the 27th; when he left, as it was later determined, he took a 16 gauge
shotgun and shells with him.  A hasty search of the area was conducted by the
park and county sheriff's office.  Although snow had fallen in the area on
the 27th, any clues which might have been left were concealed by a subsequent
six inch snowfall.  An extensive search employing dog teams and ground
searchers was conducted on January 4th.  Several clues were found, but there
was no sign of K.N.  The park continued the search for two more days with
the help of SAR dog teams.  Although additional clues were found, extremely
heavy rains on January 8th resulted in extensive flooding and caused
postponement of the search until the 10th.  K.N.'s body was found about a
mile east of his vehicle late that morning.  Preliminary investigation
indicates that K.N. did not die from violent force.  The investigation
continues.  Alan Sager and Rick Childs were incident commanders.  [Rick
Childs, DR, South District, SHEN, 1/12]

97-783 - Indiana Dunes NL (IN) - Fuel Spill

The park was notified of a spill of about 30 gallons of diesel fuel at a
state highway department facility on December 22nd.  The fuel entered a
nearby ditch, then flowed into a stream which passes through the park and an
adjacent state park before entering Lake Michigan.  A multi-agency response
was initiated.  Booms, skimmers and sand dams were employed to contain and
clean up the fuel.  The cleanup effort continued for several days.  Further
investigation revealed a more extensive problem involving four points of
discharge from businesses, including a combination junk yard and recycling
plant and a truck repair facility.  The Indiana Department of Environmental
Management is the lead agency in the investigation and is working on
regulatory solutions.  [Bob Daum, CRM, INDU, 1/9]

97-784 - Death Valley NP (CA) - Assist; Theft and Trespass

On December 24th, rangers Mark Thompson and Beth Meyers arrested D.B.,
47, for theft of government property and trespassing on a government
installation.  D.B. had employed the park's four-wheel-drive roads to assess
Fort Irwin bombing ranges to retrieve scrap metal.  The park has worked with
the military on the chronic problem of "scrappers" like D.B., as they leave
litter and occasionally transport unexploded ordnance through the park.  They
can also cause cancellation of expensive practice bombing runs by the
military.  D.B. was turned over to the Department of Defense for
prosecution.  Thompson made a second case against scrappers Teven Taelour,
25, and Tina Adams, 27, on Christmas day.  [Scot McElveen, ACR, DEVA, 1/9]

98-12 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Search

The county sheriff's department reported an overdue skier to park rangers at
10 p.m. on Saturday, January 10th.  J.F., a Seattle resident, had
headed out on a ski touring trip in the Highway 140 corridor with the
intention of skiing to Crystal Lakes Basin, traversing Crystal Ridge, and
meeting his wife and friends at the Crystal Mountain ski area.  When he
failed to appear, a search was begun by rangers and representatives from the
Pierce and Yakima County sheriff's departments, Tacoma Mountain Rescue,
Crystal Mountain Ski Patrol, and Mount Rainier Nordic Patrol.  The
temperature hovered around zero, moderate snow fell, and winds were from 15
to 25 mph; avalanche danger in the area was moderate.  J.F. showed up with
members of another touring party at Bear Gap Pass the next day.  He had
gotten off his route due to valley fog and crossed the Cascade Crest into the
Morse Creek drainage on the Wenatchee National Forest.  He met the ski
touring group at a cabin in the Morse Creek area and overnighted with them. 
J.F. was reunited with his family at Bear Gap Pass.  [Uwe Nehring, MORA,
1/12]

98-13 - Rock Creek Park (DC) - Burglary Arrest

Park Police officers arrested M.J. for breaking into the auto shop
at the Brentwood maintenance facility on the evening of January 10th.  The
building was under surveillance by officers following several burglaries. 
Following his arrest, M.J. confessed to the previous burglaries at Brentwood
and to other break-ins in the neighborhood.  [Bill Lynch, RLES, NCRO, 1/12]

98-14 - National Capital Parks East (DC) - Probable Homicide

On the morning of January 10th, the body of a man believed to be in his early
20s was discovered in Fort Circle Park.  Murder is suspected.  The victim has
not been identified; the investigation is continuing.  [Bill Lynch, RLES,
NCRO, 1/12]

98-15 - Rock Creek Park (DC) - Probable Suicide

The body of P.C., 55, of Washington, DC, was found adjacent to Beach
Drive near the intersection with Rock Creek Parkway on the afternoon of
January 10th.  Investigators believe that he leaped to his death from the
Calvert Bridge.  [Bill Lynch, RLES, NCRO, 1/12]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Risk Management - The training session entitled "A New Perspective on Risk
Management," originally offered by satellite on December 1st, is now
available on videotape for loan.  The training session addresses issues from
a Servicewide perspective, and offers successful approaches to managing work
site safety and occupational health concerns.  These videos can be shared
with all employees and are available from either the Mather Training Center
of the Risk Management Office in Denver.  Contact M. Robinson at NP-WASO by
cc:Mail or call 304-535-6215.  [Joyce Howe, STMA]

MEMORANDA

No entries.

EXCHANGE

No entries.

OBSERVATIONS

This section, which appears intermittently in the Morning Report, contains
observations regarding the National Park Service, the System and the several
professions of park employees.  Today's submission was sent along by Julie
Meeks, Cumberland Island NS: 

"Everglades National Park, and places like it, exist because we dimly realize
that we are yet too close to real frontiers and all of our beginnings to
thrive indefinitely in a world of asphalt and concrete.  Places of refuge
from the hurly-burly still are needed, places where one may escape, if only
briefly, all sight and sound of fellow humans.  In ways not simple to
explain, American lives are richer because there is still room in the land
for crocodiles to build their sandpile nests on the lonely Florida Bay
beaches, and for deer to browse in their grace along the willow heads with
perhaps a panther to stalk them."

Biologist William B. Robertson

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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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