NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT
     
To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices
     
From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
     
Day/Date:   Friday, October 1, 1999
     
INCIDENTS
     
99-591 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Poaching Conviction
     
On the evening of September 25th, an off-duty ranger came upon D.J., 
23, of Ketchum, Idaho, with a bow and quiver of arrows in the woods near 
Norris Junction.  When they returned to D.J.'s vehicle, he jumped into it and 
fled from the area.  Dispatch was notified and D.J. was apprehended and 
arrested by other rangers.  His bow, arrows and other hunting equipment were 
confiscated.  Investigation revealed that D.J. had killed a bull elk near 
the spot where he'd initially been contacted.  The elk appeared to have been 
shot by four arrows.  D.J. pled guilty in magistrate's court the next day to 
charges of illegal hunting and killing of a wild animal, possession of an 
illegal weapon, and interference with a law enforcement officer.  D.J. was 
sentenced to 90 days in jail with 60 suspended, ordered to pay $3,260 
restitution, and placed on three years' supervised probation, during which 
time he's banned from entering the park.  [Public Affairs, YELL, 9/28]
     
99-592 - Gates of the Arctic NP&P (AK) - Wildlife Violation; Rescue
     
On September 22nd, the park was notified that J.S., a local hunter 
from Bettles, was stranded in the park.  J.S. was spotted from the air 
about 100 miles from Bettles up the North Fork of the Koyukuk River.  His 
riverboat was submerged in the main channel of the river and he was stranded 
on an island.  It appeared that he didn't have any overnight survival gear 
with him.  J.S. had departed from Bettles five days previously to go 
moose hunting.  Ranger Bob Maurer was dropped off on a gravel bar three miles 
above J.S. and floated down to him.  J.S. was suffering from 
hypothermia and had reached the point where he was no longer able to care for 
himself.  Once J.S. was treated, Maurer salvaged as much meat as 
possible from a moose J.S. had shot on September 18th.  Maurer and 
J.S. then floated down the river until they were picked up by park 
staff in a jet boat on the 25th.  J.S. will be charged in state court 
for failure to salvage and will have to forfeit all the meat not retrieved. 
[Jeff Mow, CR, GAAR, 9/29]
     
99-593 - Zion NP (UT) - Poaching Incidents
     
Over a period of from two to three weeks, three local men made numerous trips 
up the Kolob Terrace Road, which passes through the park and private 
inholdings, and shot and killed at least 18 deer and one adult bull elk.  The 
head and antlers were removed from the elk, but all the deer and elk were 
left to rot.  A joint investigation was conducted by rangers John Bueg and 
Pat Zurcher and officers from the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources. 
Evidence located at several points made it possible for them to identify the 
suspects.  A search warrant was secured for one of the suspect's garages; the 
elk antlers were found there and seized.  All three men then made full 
confessions.  Under Utah law, wanton destruction of wildlife is punishable as 
a third-degree felony if the aggregate value of the protected wildlife is 
more than $500.  State law also makes it a third degree felony to take a bull 
elk with an antler size equal to or larger than the one the men had taken. 
The punishment is up to five years in prison, plus restitution of $8,000. 
The case is still under investigation.  The state has taken the lead, as the 
poaching incidents were found to all be on private inholdings.  [Aniceto 
Olais, CR, ZION, 9/29]
     
99-594 - Baltimore-Washington Parkway (MD) - Homicide
     
On September 6th, USPP officers responded to the FDA building in Beltsville, 
Maryland, to investigate a shooting (USPP is responsible for enforcement 
there under the terms of an MOU with FDA).  Investigation revealed that 
security guard T.M. had shot an unarmed supervisor in the head.  The 
shooting was evidently precipitated by an argument between the two men over 
career development.  The victim, J.C., was transported to the county 
hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.  A Park Police officer arrested 
T.M., who has since been charged with first degree murder.  [Sgt. R. 
MacLean, USPP, NCR, 9/23]
     
99-595 - Blue Ridge Parkway (NC/VA) - Breaking and Entering
     
The night watchman at Peaks of Otter Lodge interrupted a break-in in progress 
at the concession-operated service station at 4:35 a.m. on September 22nd. The 
suspects ran out a back entrance and fled the area in a car.  Ranger Zeph 
Cunningham and local deputies examined the scene and recovered several .22 
shell casings and a hammer. There was extensive damage to the station's 
inventory and to a drink machine, which had been shot several times.  A joint 
investigation is underway.  [John Garrison, Protection Specialist, BLRI, 9/28]
     
FIRE ACTIVITY
     
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III
     
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 
     
                                                      Wed      Thu   %  Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT      9/29     9/30 Con Con
     
CA    Shasta-Trinity NF      Big Bar Cx      AC/2T1 82,873   86,731  50 UNK 
      Shasta-Trinity NF      Little          T2        190      190  45 10/2 
      Tehama-Glenn RU        Gun 2           ST     23,000   31,342  10 UNK 
      Lake Napa RU           Rumsey          --      1,200    3,015  95 UNK 
      Los Padres NF          Kirk Cx         2T1    62,635   66,375  38 UNK 
      Cleveland NF         * La Jolla        --          -      650   0 UNK 
      San Diego RU         * Proctor         --          -    1,000  25 UNK 
      Riverside RU         * Chase           --          -      225   0 UNK
     
OR    Siskiyou NF            Repeater        T2        640      554   0 UNK
      State                  Austa           --        650      767  30 10/2 
      Warm Springs Agency    He He           T2      5,000    5,000  85 10/1
     
TX    State                  Bullock         --        150      150  90 9/30
     
LA    Kisatchie NF         * Yaupon          --          -      120 100 CND
     
ID    Upper Snake District * City of Rocks 3 --          -      800  80 9/30
     
CO    Craig District       * Wagon Road      --          -      175   0 UNK
     
                                  Heading Notes
     
Unit        Agency or Area Office = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA
            state resource or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; FO = 
            BLM field office; District = BLM district; NWR = USFWS wildlife 
            refuge
Fire        * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex 
IMT         AC = Area Command; T1 = Type I Team; T2 = Type II Team; T3 = Type
            III Team; ST = State Team; FUM = Fire Use Management Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained: UNK = unknown; NR = no report 
Est Con     Estimated containment date: NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; UNK = unknown; NR = no 
            report; RBF = resource benefit fire, no containment action being 
            taken; LR = last report unless significant activity occurs
     
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)
     
                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total
     
Monday, 9/27         0      2         0       1      482     23       508 
Tuesday, 9/28        3      1         5       0      325     30       364 
Wednesday, 9/29      0      6         9       0       80     21       116 
Thursday, 9/30       2      2         6       0      443     17       478
     
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 
     
                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead
     
Monday, 9/27       234        380          66             3         1,757 
Tuesday, 9/28      268        476          71            16         1.170 
Wednesday, 9/29    269        529          93            13         1,799 
Thursday, 9/30     297        473         101            16         2,003
     
CURRENT SITUATION
     
Initial attack increased yesterday in the South and southern California. 
There was little activity elsewhere.
     
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in California, Oregon, 
Washington, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado.
     
NICC has posted a RED FLAG WARNING for today for moderate north to northeast 
winds and low relative humidity for the Oregon coast.
     
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 10/1]
     
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROTECTION AND EDUCATION 
     
Point Reyes NS (CA) - Western Snowy Plover Protection
     
The federally threatened western snowy plover monitoring and protection 
program at the park had another eventful year.  This intensive program was 
begun because of the past steep decline of productive nests on Point Reyes 
beaches.  This past breeding season, 21 nests (50% more than in 1998) were 
found through intensive pair monitoring and nest searching by Point Reyes 
Bird Observatory (PRBO) and NPS biologists.  Unfortunately, the magnitude of 
that increase was not reflected in the number of birds that fledged, which 
totaled 24, compared to 23 in 1998 and 25 in 1997.  Weather events, incidents 
of predation and weekend disturbances all appear to have contributed to lower 
fledgling numbers.  Periods of high offshore winds early in the summer likely 
stressed recently hatched birds, and animal tracks were found near 
unsuccessful exclosures.  Curiously high incidences of chick loss during 
weekends prompted the park to begin a weekend docent program, positioning 
volunteers near the stretches of habitat favored by the birds.  The increased 
presence and education appeared to reduce potential disturbances by visitors, 
as well as providing the park with information on weekend use patterns and 
deficiencies in signage during the seasonal restrictions.  The continued use 
of symbolic fencing around breeding habitat restricts visitors to lower 
sections of the beach and appears to be a necessary component of habitat 
protection.  This season, the park tested a new exclosure design which 
reduces the amount of personnel and time needed to erect an exclosure around 
a nest.  [Dawn Adams, RM, PORE, 9/23]
     
OPERATIONAL NOTES
     
Uniform Program Update - Closeout for the uniform program for FY99 went well, 
considering that two hurricanes interrupted services for a dozen or so parks 
during the closeout period.  R&R will begin processing new MAILED orders for 
FY00 on Tuesday, October 5th, and FAXED orders on Tuesday, October 12th.  The 
new price sheets may not be out for a few more weeks, but prices are 
virtually unchanged from FY99 except for a few leather goods whose prices 
went down.  [Ken Mabery, RAD/WASO]
     
Court Decision - On June 17th, the Supreme Court decided that an Office of 
Inspector General (OIG) investigator is a "representative of the agency" for 
the purposes of the federal service labor-management relations statute 
(FSLMRS).  That statute permits union participation at an employee 
examination conducted by a "representative of the agency" where the employee 
believes that the examination could result in disciplinary action and the 
employee requests the assistance of the union.  The NASA IG interviewed an 
employee suspected of misconduct and allowed the union to have a union 
representative present, but limited the representative's participation during 
the interview.  The union filed a charge of unfair labor practice with the 
Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) in light of the FSLMRS.  The 
administrative law judge agreed with the union and found that the NASA IG was 
a "representative of the agency" for the purposes of the FSLMRS.  The FLRA 
and 11th Circuit agreed.  The Supreme Court also agreed, finding that the 
OIG, while enjoying a great deal of autonomy, performs its functions with 
regard to and on behalf of the parent agency it is assigned to.  As a result 
of this decision, federal employees in a bargaining unit who are being 
interviewed by either agency investigators or the OIG are entitled to union 
representation during those  interviews. NASA v. FLRA, __ U.S. __, 119 S.Ct. 
1979 (1999).  [Don Usher, FLETC]
     
MEMORANDA
     
No entries.
     
INTERCHANGE
     
Night Vision Scopes - Saguaro NP is parting with two military surplus night 
vision scopes (model MX 7794B/TVS-2) in padded steel cases.  Neither has a 
tripod or batteries, but both still work.  Contact Robin Stoddard at 520-733- 
5105 or Bob Lineback at 520-733-5111.
     
PARKS AND PEOPLE
     
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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