NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, May 6, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-156 - Glacier Bay NP&P (AK) - Follow-up: Search for Plane, Park Employee

The search continues for NPS seasonal employee Scott Croll, 34, and pilot
David McKenzie, 51, reported overdue from a flight from Haines to Juneau in a
small plane on May 2nd.  The Coast Guard and Alaska state troopers are
managing the search under a unified command.  Six aircraft and two Coast
Guard rescue boats participated in the search on Sunday afternoon and
evening; on Monday and Tuesday, the search was continued by numerous
helicopters and airplanes, including the park's C-206.  A Coast Guard rescue
boat may have picked up a very weak ELT signal on Monday in the general
vicinity of the aircraft's last reported location.  Ground teams with ELT
receivers were deployed in this area on Monday and Tuesday to search forested
and mountainous terrain.  NPS teams have been requested and were to assist in
ground search efforts yesterday.  A number of people have asked how they can
reach S.C. and E.C., Scott's parents.  [Randy King, CR, GLBA, 5/5]

99-162 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Resource Theft Convictions

Three Montana men were recently found guilty of illegal theft of natural
features in the park - specifically, elk antlers.  On April 30th, R.P.,
29, of Hamilton, Montana, pled guilty in magistrate's court to
illegal possession of 75 pounds of elk antlers.  He was fined $1,400 and
banned from the park for three years.  On May 3rd, G.B., 30, and S.L.,
28, both of Butte, Montana, were found guilty of the same charge. 
Rangers caught them with 108 pounds of elk antlers and discovered that they
had previously collected and cached another 150 pounds of antlers.  G.B.
was fined $1,750 and banned from Yellowstone for five years.  S.L. was
fined $800 and banned for three years.  Regular elk antlers are being
purchased locally for about $7 per pound; "furniture grade" antlers go for
about $12 per pound.  In both these cases, most of the antlers were furniture
grade.  [Dick Divine, SA, YELL, 5/5]

99-163 - Gateway NRA (NY/NJ) - Child Endangerment Arrest

On the afternoon of May 1st, rangers Peter Tortorell and John Cahill
investigated a visitor's report of a man taking pictures of three nude boys
in the "clothing optional" section of Gunnison Beach in the park's Sandy Hook
Unit.  A.C., 53, of Emerson, New Jersey, was brought in for
questioning and subsequently charged on three state counts for endangering
the welfare of a child.  A.C., a registered sex offender under "Megan's
Law," had brought three 14-year-old boys from Paterson, New Jersey, to the
park, and had been taking pictures of the boys while they posed in the nude.
A.C. was placed in the county jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.  [Thomas
Lobkowicz, LES, GATE, 5/5]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                      Mon      Tue   %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT      5/3      5/4  Con  Con

VA   Shenandoah NP           Shop Run         T1    1,650    2,700   50  5/6

FL   State                   Gilchrist        --      300      500  100  CND
                           * Bardin           --        -      450   50  5/4
     Florida NF's          * Long Bay         --        -      177  100  CND

GA   Okefenokee NWR          Hickory Island   --   14,128   14,128   30  -- 

MI   Huron-Manistee NF       ATV              --      620      840  100  CND
     State                   Tower Lake       --      700    7,000   20  -- 

MN   State                 * Andover          --        -    1,200   90  5/4

NM   Cibola NF               Roberts          --      300      115    2  5/6

                                  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; LSS =
            limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
            strategy
IMT         T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained
Est Con     Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report; LPS = limited
            protection status

FIRE NARRATIVES

Shenandoah NP - Hand crews and saw teams made considerable progress on line
construction on the Shop Run Fire on Tuesday.  Winds have subsided, but
numerous snags continue to pose a safety hazard.  Rocky, steep terrain is
also hampering control efforts.  As of late Tuesday, a total of 546 people
(including 23 crews) were assigned to the fire.

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Saturday, 5/1        2      0         0       0       33     16        51
Sunday, 5/2          1      2         0       0       59      9        71
Monday, 5/3          2     87         1       0      155     12       257
Tuesday, 5/4         3     18         0       0      174     16       211

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Saturday, 5/1        7         33           3             1           137
Sunday, 5/2         15         30          11             3           165
Monday, 5/3         27         66          14             0           212
Tuesday, 5/4        51         67          19             0           317

CURRENT SITUATION

Initial attack increased in the East and South and in Ontario, Canada, on
Tuesday.  Some initial attack was also reported in the Southwest.  

Very high and extreme fire indices were reported in California, Arizona, New
Mexico, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, and
Wisconsin.  [NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/5]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Lawsuit Against NPS Dismissed - In a ruling issued on April 26th, the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the NPS accommodations of
American Indian religious practices at Devils Tower NM.  Devils Tower is a
sacred religious site for American Indians from over 20 Great Plains tribes.
It is also a popular location for technical rock climbing.  Since 1995, the
NPS has asked rock climbers to voluntarily not scale the tower during June, a
month when Indians travel there to perform sacred religious ceremonies. The
court of appeals upheld dismissal of a lawsuit filed by several rock climbers
who argued that the Park Service's actions violate the establishment clause
of the First Amendment to the Constitution (the clause prohibits the
government from sponsoring, supporting, or otherwise becoming involved in
religious affairs). The Cheyenne River Sioux and four prominent spiritual
leaders intervened in the case as defendants and were represented by the
Indian Law Resource Center, an indigenous rights law firm representing tribes
in North, Central and South America, and by attorneys in the tribe's legal
department.  Amicus briefs were filed in support of the Park Service and its 
accommodation of Indian religious practices by three American Indian tribes,
three national Indian rights organizations, and 12 prominent religious
organizations.  The court ruled that the rock climbers did not have standing
to challenge the regulations since they had not shown how they were injured
by the regulations.   The court of appeals affirmed the April 2nd ruling of
the U.S. District Court in Wyoming, which also upheld the Park Service's
regulations.  The district court had ruled that the regulations are
constitutional since "the purposes underlying [them] are really to remove
barriers to religious worship occasioned by public ownership of the Tower... 
The government is merely enabling Native Americans to worship in a more
peaceful setting.  In doing so, the government has no involvement in the
manner of worship that takes place, but only provides an atmosphere more
conducive to worship."  The Service implemented its climbing management 
regulations in 1995 after nearly two years of consultation with American 
Indians, rock climbers, environmentalists, and others.  It did so to balance
the competing interests of Indians and rock climbers, and to encourage
tolerance and respect for Indian religious practices.  Most rock climbers
have shown respect for the Indian religious practitioners and have supported
the Park Service's program.  The Access Fund, a national climbing
organization, has officially endorsed the program; since 1995, rock climbing
at Devils Tower during June has fallen by over 80%.  [Jim Schlinkmann, DETO]

Narrowbanding Update - Frank Weed, Servicewide radio program manager, has
posted a message on the background and technology of narrowband radios on the
Administrative Issues BB.  The update covers such issues as the Servicewide
funding requirement, policy decisions by DOI, the DOI narrowband radio
contract for radios, and compatibility issues regarding current radio
equipment.  If you have questions on any of these matters, please check that
bulletin board.

Fire Program Update - The Service's policy on fire is contained in Director's
Order 18 on wildland fire management, which replaces the wildland fire
program section of NPS Management Policies (1988). Reference Manual 18 is a
technical expression of wildland fire management requirements and procedures;
it provides detailed definitions and expanded guidance of all information
presented in DO-18. This reference manual will not be published and
distributed in the traditional way.  Rather, it is being published
electronically and is available via the Internet. The site also contains many
links to other information sources valuable to wildland fire and resource
managers.  Revisions and updates will be made as necessary to assure that
this manual remains a living document.  As revisions are made, they will be
noted in the Morning Report and in electronic mail to all fire management
officer and all program assistant mailing lists.  The format of this Internet
presentation allows the user to print individual chapters and individual
exhibits as needed.  Several policy documents are posted at the site, which
can be found at http://fire.nifc.nps.gov/.  When you log on, select the fire
management button, then standards and policy, then one of the three documents
located there - DO-18, RM-18, and the wildland and prescribed fire management
policy.  [Sue Vap, NPS Fire Program Management Center]

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Joshua Tree NP - Ranger Jeff Ohlfs received the International Footprinters
Association officer of the year award in March in recognition of his
continued work in prevention and detection of reptile poaching and illegal
dumping activities.  Ohlfs was instrumental in the prosecution and conviction
of several reptile poachers and serves on a multi-agency task group in the
Coachella Valley. [Judy Bartzatt, JOTR]

St. Croix NSR - Ranger Rodney Turner recently received a medal of merit from
the Polk County Sheriff's Office for actions taken at a two-car accident
which occurred outside the park last November 25th.  Turner and another
officer responded to the accident.  The driver had been ejected from one
vehicle, which caught fire; the other driver was trapped inside the second
vehicle.  Turner and the officer saved both their lives by removing one
victim, then quickly suppressing the spreading fire and saving the other. 
[Bob Whaley, SACN]

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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