NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Tuesday, August 18, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-507 - Canyonlands NP (UT) - Rescue

A 29-year-old woman from Wyoming who was on an extended flatwater canoe trip
on the Green River suffered a miscarriage on August 15th.  She began
experiencing labor pains at 1 a.m. that morning and miscarried around 4:30
a.m.  Members of her group floated across the river and hiked ten miles to
Mineral Bottom and reported her condition to a BLM volunteer.  The volunteer
in turn contacted the park, and efforts were immediately begun to evacuate
her.  A private medevac helicopter and a motorized rescue vessel from the
park were dispatched to her location at Hardscrabble Bottom.  She was flown
to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, where she is expected to fully
recover.  Ranger Colin Smith was IC.  [Steve Swanke, DR, CANY, 8/17]

98-508 - Ozark NSR (MO) - Rescue

M.M., 34, his five-year-old son, Matt, and another couple were
canoeing on the Jacks Fork River near Shawnee Creek on August 14th when the
canoe capsized and all four went into the river.  Michael M.M., who was not
wearing a life jacket, grabbed his son, who was wearing one, and pushed him
toward shallow water.  He then went underwater for two to three minutes,
resurfacing about 150 feet downstream.  He was pulled to shore unconscious
and CPR was begun.  Rangers were summoned via a 911 call from a camper at the
Shawnee Creek campground and responded from the Alley Springs ranger station
along with a local community ambulance and a helicopter.  The rangers
employed a boat to bring M.M. to the ambulance.  M.M. was sedated and
transported to the helicopter, then flown to a hospital in Springfield,
Missouri.  He is reported to be in stable condition.  [Tim Blank, CR, OZAR,
via Bruce Cunningham, RLES, MWRO, 8/17]

98-509 - Minute Man NHP (MA) - Homicide

On the afternoon of August 16th, two people walking on the Battle Road trail
between Hanscom Drive and the Smith house found a man lying face down in the
woods about 50 feet off the trail.  The couple flagged down a ranger who was
passing by in a marked cruiser on nearby Route 2A.  The ranger determined the
man was dead and that he might have been murdered.  A joint investigation was
begun which also involved local and state police, the FBI and the state DA's
office.  The victim's identity is not yet known, and it's not yet clear when
or where the murder occurred.  It appears that he was stabbed to death and
that the body was moved.  Evidence was still being gathered at the time of
the report, and that segment of the trail remains closed.  [Flo Smith, PR,
MIMA, 8/17]

98-510 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Search; Drowning

On Sunday, August 9th, rangers and SAR team members launched an effort to
find a man who had fallen into Yosemite Creek in the inner gorge between
upper and lower Yosemite Falls.  R.B. was hiking off trail when he
slipped and slid about 50 feet on a wet granite slab into the cascading
water.  Rescuers were flown to the scene in the park's contract helicopter. 
A major swiftwater rescue effort was begun, which culminated when his body
was found underwater about four hours later.  [Billie Patrick, IC, YOSE,
8/17]

98-511 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Two Thermal Burn Incidents

A young boy and an adult woman received thermal burns in two separate
incidents in the park in early August.  On the afternoon of August 3rd,
S.B., 12, of Conifer, Colorado, was visiting the thermal features
in the Upper Geyser Basin with his family.  As the boy and his father
approached an unnamed thermal pool that is partially surrounded by a fence,
the boy left the trail, went around it, and stuck his right hand into the
cooler part of the pool.  He was therefore not burned.  He then kicked a rock
into the hotter section of the pool, though, and was splashed on the lower
left leg.  He was taken to Old Faithful clinic, where he was treated for
minor first degree burns.  On August 11th, M.D., 23, of Wichita, Kansas,
was swimming in a section of the Little Firehole River in which swimming is
permitted.  The group decided to try another swimming area; as they climbed
on nearby rocks, M.D. slipped and fell into a hotter area of the river,
receiving first and second degree burns to her left ear, cheek, hand and shin
and lacerations to her left calf.  She was also treated and released.  They
were the third and fourth visitors to be burned this summer.  [Public
Affairs, YELL, 8/17]

98-512 - Cumberland Gap NHP (KY/TN/VA) - Resource Theft

On July 29th, ranger K.K. Stuart apprehended four men - D.G.,
J.S., C.I., and J.W. - who were digging ginseng on
park land.  Ginseng routes were recovered from all four; D.G. and C.I.
also had marijuana in their possession.  Rangers learned that the foursome
had stayed in the park campground the previous night and had dug ginseng in
the same area of the park on the 28th.  Written consent searches of their
vehicles and tents produced 278 more roots and an ounce and a half of
marijuana.  Ten violation notices were issued.  [Charlie Chadwell, SPR, CUGA,
8/17]

98-513 - Ozark NSR (MO) - MVA with Two Fatalities

J.L., 31, and M.M., 24, left their campsite at the Deer
Run campground at 1:30 a.m. on August 15th to go to a nearby bar and drink
beer.  When the bar closed, they told others that they were going hunting.  A
camper driving on a nearby highway at 11 a.m. the next morning came upon a
pickup truck which was overturned and partially submerged in the murky water
of a backwater slough.  Rangers found the bodies of the two men in the truck,
along with vodka, beer and loaded weapons.  Rangers and state troopers are
investigating.  [Tim Blank, CR, OZAR, via Bruce Cunningham, RLES, MWRO, 8/17]

98-514 - Whiskeytown NRA (CA) - Apparent Suicide

The body of a 48-year-old southern California man was found in Oak Bottom
Channel in Whiskeytown Lake just after noon on August 15th.  Visitors walking
along the fitness trail near Oak Bottom campground spotted the body in the
lake.  The man's identity has been established, but his name is being
withheld pending notification of next of kin.  [Alan Foster, WHIS, 8/15]

                       [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Sun      Mon    %  Est
State      Unit             Fire/Incident     IMT    8/16     8/17  Con Con

WA   Wenatchee NF           North 25          --    7,600    7,600   80 NEC

OR   Winema NF              Gorge             T2      255      255   90 8/18

NV   Winnemucca District    Keystone          T2   14,000   19,629  100 CND 
     Carson City District   Empire            --      400      738   90 8/17

MT   State                  Sweet Grass Cx    --      400      400  100 CND 
     Bitterroot NF          Swift Creek       --      130      130  100 CND 

ID   Salmon-Challis NF      Main Salmon Cx    --    6,101    7,682    0 10/15
                            Jackass           --      760      780    0 10/15
                            North Fork Cx     T1      250      460    0 8/26
     Boise NF               Loopsem Creek     T1      400      103   10 8/20
                          * Toll Road         --        -    1,110  100 CND

TX   State                  Happy Cx          --      400      550  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 I; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained; UNK = unknown
Est Con     Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Friday, 8/14         5     24        48       4       87     58       226
Saturday, 8/15       6      9        35       0       80     64       194
Sunday, 8/16         3      6        24       0       74     63       170
Monday, 8/17         4      7        17       0      162     51       241

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Friday, 8/14        95        296          75             7           584
Saturday, 8/15     157        397         103            11           895
Sunday, 8/16        87        335          72            27           529
Monday, 8/17       101        354          67             8           671

CURRENT SITUATION

Fire activity was moderate nationwide yesterday.

Very high and extreme fire indices were reported yesterday in Texas, Wyoming,
Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and California.

No fire watches or warnings have been posted for today.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/18]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

PARK DISPATCHES

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

"Annual Fee Free Day," signed by the director on August 10th and transmitted
electronically to all regional directors and superintendents.  The text
follows:

"All park units that collect a recreational admission fee will honor Fee Free
Day this year on Founder's Day, August 25.  Whether a park is collecting the
admission fee under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act Authority or
collecting a new admission fee under the Recreational Fee Demonstration
Program, the National Park Service will take this opportunity to invite the
public to visit the parks at no charge."

INTERCHANGE

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 contact the
main office at 202-208-5883/5656 and ask to be forwarded to the appropriate
legislative specialist.

There will be little activity in the House or Senate until September.  The
House is in recess through Tuesday, September 8th; the Senate is in recess
through Sunday, August 30th.

HEARINGS/MARK-UPS

Monday, August 24

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee: Field hearing in Anchorage,
Alaska, to receive testimony on high altitude rescue activities on Mount
McKinley in Denali National Park and Preserve, as well as the potential for
cost recovery for expenses incurred by the United States for rescue
activities.

Wednesday, September 2

House Resources Committee: Field hearing in Pasco, Washington, on H.R. 4335,
to transfer to the Secretary of the Interior the functions of the Secretary
of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973.  Also on the National Marine Fisheries Service role in
implementing the Endangered Species Act.

Thursday, September 3

House Resources Committee: Same as above in Boise, Idaho.

FLOOR ACTION

No action reported 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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