NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, April 28, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-163 - Baltimore-Washington Parkway (DC/MD) - Assault on Officer

A Park Police officer stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation on April
24th.  As he approached the vehicle, the driver sped off, attempting to hit
the officer as he did so.  A chase ensured which involved state police and
officers from two other agencies.  It ended when the driver rammed a Park
Police cruiser.  He fled on foot, but was subsequently arrested.  Seized from
the operator and the vehicle were 106 grams of crack cocaine and over $2,000
in cash.  The driver was charged with assaulting a federal officer,
possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, and numerous traffic
charges.  [Henry Berberich, RLES, NCRO, 4/27]

98-164 - Chattahoochee River NRA (GA) - Search; Probable Drowning 

Atlanta area residents S.O. and C.H. launched S.O.'s
two-person kayak at the Powers Island unit of the park around dusk on April
23rd.  The kayak overturned in rapids a short distance downriver.  S.O.
was able to swim safely to shore, but C.H. disappeared.  A multi-agency
search involving divers and dog teams was begun and continued through April
26th, but without success.  Search efforts were hampered by the river's cold,
swift water.  Neither S.O. nor C.H. was an experienced kayaker. 
Although there was a life jacket in the kayak, neither of them was wearing
it.  [Gil Goodrich, CR, CHAT, 4/27]

98-165 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - Search; Probable Drowning

W.K., 46, a Forest Service employee from Flagstaff, Arizona, fell
overboard from a 14-foot aluminum fishing boat on the evening of April 23rd
while returning from a day trip on the San Juan River to his fishing camp at
Paiute Farms in a remote section of the park.  Dive operations were begun the
following morning and continued through the weekend, but without result. 
Murky water reduced visibility and made dives difficult.  The search has been
scaled back to overflights and periodic shoreline patrols.  W.K. was well-
known to NPS fire crews in Arizona and southeast Utah.  [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA,
4/27]

98-166 - Curecanti NRA (CO) - Search; Probable Drowning

The park received a call from the county sheriff's office at 10 p.m. on April
22nd reporting that D.H., 38, of Montrose, Colorado, was overdue
from a fishing expedition to Blue Mesa Reservoir within the park.  Rangers
found D.H.'s boat adrift in the reservoir just before midnight.  The
boat's outboard engine cover was off and not found in the boat, indicating
that he may have experienced engine trouble.  D.H.'s hat and fishing pole
were also missing; all other personal effects were in the boat.  An extensive
search as conducted of the west end of reservoir, but no sign of him was
found.  The search will be suspended today unless new information develops. 
A park boat will patrol the area daily over the next two weeks.  The search
effort involved park searchers, two SAR dogs, a local SAR team, members of
the Curecanti and Glen Canyon NRA dive teams, and Glen Canyon's ROV (remote
operated vehicle), used for deep water searches.  [Linda Alick, CR, CURE,
4/27]

                    [Additional reports pending...]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Natural Resource Forms - The WASO Natural Systems Management Office has been
asked to determine whether or not the following natural resource related NPS
standard forms should be discontinued:

     10-205, Summary of Livestock Grazing
     10-206, Summary of Pack and Saddle Stock Grazing
     10-401, Resources Management Program Summary
     10-785, Observation Records (for individual plant and animal species)

If you still use or need any of these forms, please contact John Dennis via
cc:Mail at NP-WASO-MIB some time today.  Otherwise, they will be discontinued
and removed from the inventory.  [John Dennis]

MEMORANDA

No entries.

EXCHANGE

No entries.

UPCOMING IN CONGRESS

The following activities will be taking place in Congress during coming weeks
on matters pertaining to the National Park Service or kindred agencies.  For
inquiries regarding legislation pertaining to the NPS, please  visit the
Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs Website at http://www.
nps.gov/legal, or contact the main office at 202-208-5883/5656 and ask to be
forwarded to the appropriate legislative specialist.

HEARINGS/MARK-UPS

Tuesday, April 28

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands and
Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans: Joint hearing on
H.R. 2800, "to provide for a study of the establishment of Midway Atoll as a
national memorial to the Battle of Midway, and for other purposes;" followed
by a Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands hearing on H.R. 3220, to
authorize the use of certain land in Merced County, California, for an
elementary school.

Wednesday, April 29

House Resources Committee: Mark-up of a number of bills, including one
pertaining to the NPS - H.R. 588, to amend the National Trails System Act to
create a new category of long-distance trails to be known as national
discovery trails, to authorize the American Discovery Trail as the first
trail in that category, and for other purposes. 

Thursday, April 30

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation: Hearing on S. 1693, the Vision 2020 National
Parks Restoration Act, Title IV (concessions); and S. 624, the National Park
Service Concession Policy Reform Act of 1997.  

Tuesday, May 5

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands: Mark-up of
H.R. 2538, to establish a Presidential commission to determine the validity
of certain land claims arising out of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848
involving the descendants of persons who were Mexican citizens at the time of
the treaty; H.R. 3055, to deem the activities of the Miccousukee Tribe on the
Tamiami Indian Reservation to be consistent with the purposes of Everglades
National Park, and for other purposes; and H.R. 3625, a bill to establish the
San Rafael Swell National Heritage Area and the San Rafael Swell National
Conservation Area in the state of Utah, and for other purposes.  

Thursday, May 7

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation: Hearing on S. 1693, the Vision 2020 National
Parks Restoration Act, Title VI (national parks resource inventory and
management), Title VII (designation of tax refunds and contributions for the
benefit of national parks), Title VIII (National Park Foundation) and Title
XI (miscellaneous).  

Tuesday, May 12

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands: Hearing on
H.R. 3109, to establish the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in the state
of New York, and for other purposes; and H.R. 1390, to authorize the
government of Indiana to establish a memorial to honor Mahatma Gandhi in the
District of Columbia.

Thursday, May 14

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation: Hearing on S. 1693, the Vision 2020 National
Parks Restoration Act, Title IX (commercial filming in national parks) and
Title X (capital improvement project bond demonstration program); and S.
1614, "a bill to require a permit for the making of motion picture,
television program, or other form of commercial visual depiction in a unit of
the National Park System or National Wildlife Refuge System."  

Tuesday, May 19

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands: Mark-up of
H.R. 1811, to ensure the long-term protection of the resources of the portion
of the Columbia River known as the Hanford Reach; H.R. 1894, to reauthorize
the Delaware Water Gap NRA Citizen Advisory Commission for ten additional
years; H.R. 2223, to amend the act popularly known as the Recreation and
Public Purposes Act to authorize transfers of certain public lands or
national forest lands to local education agencies for use for elementary or
secondary schools, including public charter schools, and for other purposes;
H.R. 2776, to amend the Morristown NHP enabling legislation to authorize the
acquisition of the Warren property; and H.R. 3047, to authorize the expansion
of Fort Davis NHS by 16 acres.

FLOOR ACTION

No action scheduled on NPS legislation.

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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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