NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Wednesday, January 21, 1998

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

98-25 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - Search and Rescue

Eleven-year-old L.B. became separated from his parents and uncle while
on a day hike and picnic near the Icewater Springs shelter on the Appalachian
Trail on the afternoon of Saturday, January 17th.  L.B. lagged behind his
adult companions, then became disoriented; in a panic, he attempted to catch
up with them, but ran in the wrong direction.  He ran until he met two
backpackers near the Peck's Corner shelter, which is nearly ten miles from
his starting point.  The backpackers convinced the boy to stay with them. 
They fed him and provided warm clothing to keep him from freezing in the
bitterly-cold, single-digit temperatures and high winds.  The parents
returned to the trailhead and informed the park that the boy was missing; the
uncle kept searching, and found L.B. at the trail shelter with the hikers. 
Rangers searched the trail system and finally located the boy and his uncle
just before 4 a.m. on Sunday morning.  Other than blistered feet, he was in
good condition.  Ranger Glenn Martin was IC.  [Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, 1/20]

98-26 - Big Bend NP (TX) - Search; Fatality

On the evening of January 17th, ranger Gary Carver received a report that a
14-year old boy had become separated from his school group and was missing in
the vicinity of Emory Peak in the Chisos Mountains.  The boy had been on a
hike to the highest point in the park with other students from the Talented
and Gifted Magnet School of Dallas.  He was found to be missing after the
group returned from the hike.  A hasty search was conducted to the top of the
peak.  Searchers found the boy's day pack, jacket and tee-shirt about 25 feet
from the summit, but no other clues or signs were found.  The search was
suspended at 11 p.m. due to darkness, then resumed the next morning.  A team
of 20 people searched all trails and a technical SAR team checked cliffs in
the vicinity.  A Border Patrol helicopter overflew the area.  All efforts to
find the boy proved unsuccessful.  Over 40 searchers were in the field in
various locations in the Chisos Mountains on Monday, including instructors
from an Outward Bound school.  Search dogs and helicopters from three
agencies were also brought in.  Personnel in a Customs helicopter spotted the
boy's body among trees and boulders at the base of a steep cliff near the top
of Emory Peak late on Monday morning.  Ranger Dave Horne led a technical
rescue team to the location; extrication from the rugged and hazardous site
was done with the assistance of a Marine Corps emergency response helicopter. 
The search and recovery was a joint effort by employees from all park
divisions, by volunteers from several volunteer groups, including Americorps,
the national Civilian Conservation Corps and Voyageurs Outward Bound, and by
personnel from Customs, the Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Public
Safety, and county sheriff departments.  The boy would have turned 15 on
January 18th.  [William J. Wright, CR, BIBE, 1/20]  

98-27 - Manassas NB (VA) - Search and Rescue

On the evening of January 18th, rangers were notified that a young man had
gone out for a ride on his horse in the park but had failed to return. 
Ranger Barbara Mauller and a park VIP joined county officers in a search of
the area.  The boy and his horse were located and returned safely to waiting
family members.  [Barbara Mauller, ACR, MANA, 1/20]

98-28 - Manassas NB (VA) - Sexual Assault

A woman who was jogging along the Pageland Lane/Groveton Road on the southern
edge of the park just after 7 a.m. on January 19th was grabbed from behind by
a man and dragged onto park property.  The woman struggled, but was
overpowered and raped.  After he released her, she ran to her home less than
a mile away and called county police.  Rangers were advised, and a joint
investigation is now underway.  [Barbara Mauller, ACR, MANA, 1/20]

98-29 - San Juan NHS (PR) - Demonstration

On Monday, January 12th, the New Pro Independence Movement protested the
park's new user fee program.  Approximately 30 members of the political party
attended the protest, which lasted just over an hour.  Earlier reports
suggested that the protesters might attempt to take the forts as patrimony. 
Puerto Rico police assisted the park's three law enforcement rangers in
preparation for the event.  Slogans were chanted against the $2 fee, the U.S.
Navy's presence in Vieques, the United States' invasion of Puerto Rico, and
the "imperialist" presence of the federal government at Forts El Morro and
San Cristobal.   The forts, however, remained under the management of the
National Park Service, and on Thursday, January 15th, the user fee program
went into effect.  The general perception and reaction from the public, both
local and foreign, was positive.  Over 2,000 visitors entered the forts on
the first day and fewer than ten percent had a negative reaction to the new
fees.  The general opinion of most visitors was that it is necessary to
charge some type of fee for the upkeep and protection of a World Heritage
site with over 500 years of history, and that the fees are reasonable.  [Glen
Dodson, CR, SAJU, 1/20]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

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 Russ
Wilson, WASO: 

"By destroying nature, you are removing the stimuli for a lot of your senses. 
We don't want to live in a black-and-white world of human constructs.  By
removing wildlife, you are removing the complexity of nature - the stuff that
moves, the colors, the sounds, the patterns, the interactions that are far
more complex than anything humanity can or will produce or imagine."

Dr. David Janson, professor of
biology, University of Pennsylvania

                           *  *  *  *  *

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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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