NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, March 26, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-103 - Harpers Ferry Center (WV) - Serious Employee Illness

Michael Alvarez, the center's deputy associate manager for support services,
collapsed at his home on the night of March 24th and was taken to the
emergency room at a local hospital, then placed in intensive care.  Tests are
currently being conducted to determine what happened to him.  [Gary Cummins,
Manager, HFC, 3/25]

99-104 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Car Clouts

On the evening of March 17th, six motor vehicles parked along Skyline Drive
in the South District were broken into.  Various items were stolen, including
several credit cards.  A joint investigation by the park (ranger Ken Mehne
and criminal investigator Tim Alley) and the Greene County Sheriff's Office
led to the identification and interviews of two men and a juvenile female
regarding their activities in the park on the 17th and their subsequent
activities regarding the stolen property.  Some of that property was
recovered during consent searches.  Federal and county charges are pending;
other jurisdictions may also bring charges against the trio.  The names of
the suspects are being withheld at this time due to the on-going
investigation.  [Rick Childs, DR, South District, SHEN, 3/25]

99-105 - Big Bend NP (TX) - Drug Smuggling, Seizure
     
A ranger and a Border Patrol agent intercepted a pickup carrying 218 pounds
of marijuana on March 21st.  The 20-year-old male driver had previously met
with Mexican cowboys at the San Vicente crossing on the Rio Grande River. 
The latter had loaded sugar sacks containing the marijuana into the bed of
the truck.  The case was referred to a local drug task force for prosecution. 
The value of the marijuana was estimated at just under $175,000.  [CRO, BIBE,
3/24]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

Yellowstone NP (WY) - Winter Elk Count

Park biologists, in cooperation with the state of Montana, the Forest
Service, and USGS's Biological Resources Division, have completed the annual
late winter elk count for the northern range.  Aircraft were used in the
survey, which resulted in a count of 11,742 elk in the northern range herd. 
A classification survey was recently completed and found a ratio of 34 calves
to 100 female elk.  For purposes of these surveys, the northern range
includes an area stretching from the Lamar Valley west and north to the Dome
Mountain wildlife management area, which is 20 miles north of the park near
Emigrant, Montana.  Elk numbers wintering on the northern range have remained
constant over the last two winters, but are down from the 17,000 to 19,000
counted in the mid-1990s.  Estimates of calf ratios have varied from 17 to 48
calves per 100 females since the mid-1970s, and since 1995 have varied from
23 to 34 calves per 100 female elk.  Independent research is being conducted
concurrently under the direction of noted wolf biologist Dr. Rolf Peterson of
Michigan Tech University.  He is investigating new methods and techniques for
describing elk population parameters on the northern range.  Results from
that study are expected during the year 2000.  [PIO, YELL, 3/19]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Yosemite NP (CA) - Karen Warren, currently assistant to the park
superintendent, retires today after 37 years of government service.  Her
first position in the NPS was as a clerk at Homestead NM in 1962.  She
subsequently worked in various positions in the regional office and at
Yosemite, Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP, then again at Yosemite.  Jobs at the
latter included stints in the offices for the Valley District, concessions,
administration, property, and special uses, and a tour as acting housing
officer.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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