NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Tuesday, December 8, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-745 - Bandelier NM (NM) - Assist; ARPA Conviction

On the afternoon of March 1st, rangers Dale Coker, Rick Welch, and Phil Akers
responded to an electronic sensor alarm that was installed at an
archeological site on neighboring Department of Energy lands.  The pueblo
site, which is patrolled and protected by the NPS through an interagency
agreement, had been intermittently looted and closely monitored since July,
1997.  Coker found B.C., 35, of Santa Fe, actively digging a new hole
at the site.  The subsequent investigation, conducted by Coker, Intermountain
Support Office special agent Phil Young, and Pecos NHP archeologist Judy
Reed, resulted in the case being submitted to the U.S. attorney's office in
April.  On December 4th, following negotiations, B.C. pled guilty in
federal district court to one felony count under ARPA and agreed to pay
$5,234 in restitution for rehabilitation costs.  Sentencing is scheduled for
February.  [Phil Young, Intermountain SO, 12/7]

98-746 - Great Sand Dunes NM (CO) - Assist; Rescue

On November 27th, rangers assisted county deputies and volunteer SAR
personnel in a carryout of a hiker who had slipped and fallen on ice in the
vicinity of Zapata Falls, a 40-foot-high waterfall in a narrow, icy canyon. 
Ranger Kevin Moses was the first EMT on scene and stabilized the patient, who
sustained a fractured tibia.  The victim was wheeled out on a stokes litter
to a four-wheel-drive vehicle, then taken to a medical facility.  Rangers
patrol this area under an interagency agreement with BLM and respond to
county SAR callouts under a memorandum of understanding.  [CRO, GRSA, 12/1]

98-747 - C&O Canal NHP (MD/DC) - Assist; Search, Probable Drowning

Park Police officers and C&O Canal rangers searched the Potomac River near
Great Falls for a missing kayaker on November 28th.  A 26-year-old man from
Marietta, Georgia, had been kayaking with four friends when his kayak flipped
over and he fell into the river.  Local fire and rescue units joined in the
effort, but no trace of the kayaker has yet been found.  [Henry Berberich,
RLES, NCSO, 12/1]

98-748 - Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD) - MVA with Fatality

On November 28th, a two-car accident occurred on the parkway north of Route
32.  A northbound Toyota Corolla with two occupants and a northbound Mercury
Sable with three occupants collided, became tangled, and skidded off the
right shoulder, striking several trees.  The operator of the Toyota, S.A.,
26, of Lanham, Maryland, was taken to North Arundel Hospital, where
he was pronounced dead.  His passenger, a 22-year-old woman, suffered serious
injuries and was flown by state police helicopter to a shock trauma unit. 
The driver of the Mercury was not injured; the passengers received only minor
injuries.  The cause of the accident is under investigation.  [Henry
Berberich, RLES, NCSO, 12/1]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

Point Reyes NS (CA) - Tule Elk Capture and Translocation
     
During the week of November 30th, 45 tule elk were captured and translocated
to the park's 30,000-acre wilderness area.  The new herd is now located in a
fenced 23-acre enclosure and will be monitored for approximately three to six
months before release.  Once released, the new herd will be free-ranging. 
The elk were moved from the park's Tomales Point Elk Reserve, which has a
population of approximately 550 animals.  The population within the 2,600-
acre reserve has grown dramatically over the past three years and the park
has accordingly begun efforts to reduce its numbers.  The park received
critical assistance from a contract helicopter capture crew and personnel
from the University of California at Davis, USGS's Biological Resources
Division, and Humboldt State University.  The park is also in the second year
of a three-year study on the effectiveness of an immuno-contraceptive vaccine
on limiting elk reproduction.  Tule elk once numbered over 500,000 in central
California; today, the total remaining population numbers approximately 3,000
elk in 22 herds.  The Point Reyes NS herd is the second largest in
California.  [Don Neubacher, PORE] 

Padre Island NS (TX) - Stranded Whales

While patrolling for stranded sea turtles on November 5th, biological
technician Peter Bohls came upon a small, live, stranded, melon-headed whale
approximately 50 miles down-island.  Acting chief ranger Mark Foust,
biological technician Josh Mackey, and Biological Resources Division employee
Cynthia Rubio traveled to the site to recover the stranded whale.  The whale
was transported by a hum-vee vehicle to the ranger station, then transferred
to the Texas State Aquarium for rehabilitation with the assistance of
representatives from the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network.  Later on the
same day, Bohls discovered another, larger whale five miles south of the
point where the first whale was discovered.  Foust arranged to have the Coast
Guard fly a helicopter to the stranding site in order to transport the whale
to the Texas State Aquarium.  The whale died, however, before a rescue could
take place.  The larger whale, believed to be the juvenile's mother, was
transported to Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi for a necropsy.
Analysis of the carcass indicated the whale died from infections brought on
by parasites.  This particular species of marine mammal is rarely sighted
along the coast of Texas.  Prior to 1990, this species had not been reported
in the Gulf of Mexico; since then, only three individuals have ever stranded
in Texas.  The stranding of a melon-headed whale is the first of its kind for
the park.  The juvenile melon-headed whale is recovering well.  Due to its
age, it probably will not be released back into the wild because it cannot
take care of itself.  Once recuperated, the whale will be placed in a larger
marine aquarium to educate the public on marine mammals.  [Darrell Echols,
Chief, Branch of Science and Resource Management, PAIS, 11/23]

PARK DISPATCHES

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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