NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT
     
     
     To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices
     
     From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
     
     Day/Date:   Friday, December 3, 1999
     
     INCIDENTS
     
     99-353 - Indiana Dunes NL (IN) - Follow-up: Car Clout Arrest
     
     On November 17th, C.M. of Beverly Shores, Indiana, pled 
     guilty in magistrate's court to state misdemeanor charges of fleeing 
     from park rangers and damage to property.  He was also required to 
     make a restitution payment to the victim of the auto break-in for 
     which he was arrested on May 19th.  C.M. was arrested by rangers 
     after he was seen breaking a car's window to gain access to the inside 
     trunk release. He then removed a bag from the trunk, but quickly 
     discarded it when he found nothing of value inside. When confronted by 
     rangers, C.M. fled the area and had to be pursued and stopped. He 
     will be sentenced on February 11th.  [R. Littlefield, CR, INDU, 11/30]
     
     99-713 - Washington Office (DC) - Serious Employee Illness
     
     Bill Waldman, a personnel classification specialist in WASO Human 
     Resources, underwent surgery on November 30th to have malignant tumors 
     removed from the right and left sides of his neck. His larynx, voice 
     box, vocal cords, and a large part of the esophagus had to be removed 
     as well.  While taking tissue from his right arm to place in the 
     esophagus area, the doctor accidentally severed a nerve, which may 
     reduce Bill's use of that arm.  Doctors believe, however, that the arm 
     can be restored with therapy.  Bill will be in the hospital for at 
     least two weeks, then will undergo radiation treatment as an 
     outpatient.  He is not receiving visitors at present, but is really
     cheered by and appreciates the notes and cards he is receiving. 
     Cards can be sent to him. Bill has also been entered into the leave
     share program. Anyone wishing to donate leave should contact Kerry
     Skinner via cc:Mail. [Elaine Sevy, Public Affairs, WASO, 12/1]
     
     99-714 - Fredericksburg NMP (VA) - Arson Fires
     
     Ranger Craig Johnson was notified of a structure fire on the Milstead 
     Tract in the Fredericksburg Battlefield unit of the park late on the 
     evening of November 20th.  Johnson responded and found an abandoned 
     barn fully engulfed in flames.  The adjacent woods were also on fire.  
     Four units from the Spotsylvania fire department and the park's sole 
     structural fire unit fought the blaze.  The half-acre woods fire was 
     quickly brought under control, but the barn was a total loss.  While 
     investigating the fire, a smaller neighboring barn was found to have 
     been rigged to burn, but the fuse that was to set off the gas-driven 
     fire had failed to ignite.  There have been other suspicious fires in 
     the county over recent weeks. Evidence revealed that the fire in the 
     park barn was arson-caused.  It is being investigated with the 
     assistance and cooperation of the FBI and local fire marshals.  This 
     was the second structural fire in the park over the past three weeks.  
     On November 2nd, a portable toilet was burned down in the 
     Fredericksburg Battlefield unit. This fire is also being investigated 
     as a probable arson, as the building contained no combustible 
     materials and had no electrical service. It was a total loss.  [Mike 
     Johnson, CR, FRSP, 12/2]
     
     99-715 - Redwood N&SP (CA) - Resource Violation
     
     Mountain lion researchers working on an interagency study of lion 
     habitat discovered that a lion nicknamed "Otis" had been illegally 
     killed just outside the park's boundary on private lands sometime 
     during the week of November 7th. Hunting of mountain lions is illegal 
     in California. The lion was collared inside the park earlier this year 
     and was providing considerable data on its utilization of the park and 
     environs. California fish and game wardens and NPS rangers 
     investigated the site of the killing. A reward of $1,000 for 
     information on the killing has been offered. [Bob Martin, CR, REDW, 
     11/30]
     
     99-716 - Prince William Forest Park (VA) - ARPA Conviction
     
     On November 26th, ranger George Liffert checked out a suspicious 
     vehicle parked on a state road adjacent to the park and saw L.H. 
     of Manassas actively operating a metal detector within the park. L.H. 
     had a mini-ball which he'd excavated in his possession and showed 
     Liffert several areas where he'd dug for relics. NPS archeologist Bob 
     Sonderman led a regional archeological "rapid response team" in 
     evaluating the scope and nature of the damage. On November 30th, L.H. 
     was sentenced under a plea agreement for the ARPA offense. He 
     forfeited his metal detector (which he'd owned for only three weeks), 
     paid restitution of $639, and paid a $500 fine. The magistrate waived 
     probation because of L.H.'s cooperation in the investigation. [George 
     Liffert, PR, PRWI, 12/1]
     
     99-717 - Death Valley NP (CA) - MVA with Multiple Injuries
     
     On November 28th, rangers responded to a single-vehicle rollover 
     accident in the Wildrose area.  Injured were two children, both of 
     their parents, and an adult friend of the family. The father had a 
     concussion and laceration to the forehead; the mother multiple pelvic 
     fractures, a fractured lumbar vertebra and sacrum; the five-year-old 
     boy a pneumothorax and pulmonary contusion; the six-year-old girl a 
     skull fracture with subdural hematoma, facial fractures and a 
     fractured clavicle; and the friend a rib fracture and pneumothorax.  
     Two Flight for Life helicopters were used to transport the five 
     victims to a trauma center in Las Vegas. All are in stable condition. 
     [John Anderson, EMS Coordinator, DEVA, 12/1]
     
     RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROTECTION AND EDUCATION
     
     Cape Cod NS (MA) - Sea Turtle Strandings
     
     Over the past several weeks, more than 100 sea turtles, including 
     loggerhead and Kemp's Ridley (a federally-listed endangered species) 
     turtles, became stranded along beaches in Cape Cod Bay, including 
     several locations within the park. Rangers surveyed the Great Island 
     area and were able to recover nine Kemp's Ridleys. The turtles were 
     taken to the Massachusetts Audubon Society sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay 
     to be treated by personnel from the New England Aquarium. All of the 
     turtles are being flown south to Florida to be released into the 
     warmer waters of the Atlantic. [Kevin FitzGerald, CR, CACO, 12/1]
     
     OPERATIONAL NOTES
     
     Bear Repellent Spray - EPA has ordered that sales of BearPause, a bear 
     repellent spray, be halted immediately, and has asked  distributors to 
     pull the product from their shelves and advise people who bought the 
     spray not to rely on it.  BearPause is made by ChemArmor of Missoula, 
     Montana; the EPA registration number is 71768-1.  At issue is the 
     chemical formula used  in the spray.  Capsaicin, the chemical that 
     makes hot peppers hot, is an EPA-approved active ingredient in pepper 
     sprays used to deter attacks by dogs and bears.  While EPA approved a 
     purified form of capsaicin in BearPause last March, the agency 
     subsequently learned that ChemArmor, without EPA approval, had 
     substituted a much cheaper and untested active ingredient called 
     vanillyl pelargonamide (VP for short) in the spray. While belonging to 
     the same chemical family (capsaicinoids) and incorrectly called  
     "synthetic capsaicin," VP is chemically distinct from capsaicin and  
     is not used as the active ingredient in any registered product in the 
     U.S.  EPA does not have reliable data on its chemistry, toxicity, 
     ecological effects or effectiveness.  Its usefulness in repelling 
     bears is not known.  A list of properly registered bear deterrents is 
     available on EPA's web site at www.epa.gov/region08/toxics/ 
     pests/repelbr.html or by calling 1-800-227-8917 (from CO, MT, ND, SD, 
     UT and WY) or 303-312-6312 from elsewhere.  
     
     MEMORANDA
     
     No submissions.
     
     INTERCHANGE
     
     No submissions.
     
     PARKS AND PEOPLE
     
     Intermountain Regional Office - The GS-025-13/14 regional chief ranger 
     position has been reannounced.  It as previously announced as a 
     non-covered 6c position, but is now covered.  Those who previously 
     applied need not resubmit their applications. The new announcement 
     opened on December 1st and closes on January 3rd.
     
     Timucuan E&HP - The park is currently recruiting for a GS-11 cultural 
     resource specialist. The incumbent will be responsible for a wide 
     variety of cultural resources in Fort Caroline, the earliest attempt 
     at a French settlement in the New World, and Timucuan, which contains 
     the oldest "structure" in the NPS (a shell ring), hundreds of other 
     archeological sites, and an 1800's cotton plantation. The announcement 
     number is SESO-00-29 and can be found on USAJOBS. For additional 
     information, contact Richard Bryant at 904-221-7567 x15.
     
     Gulf Islands NS - Skip Prange is retiring at the end of December after 
     30 years in the NPS. He began his career at Point Reyes NS in 1969, 
     then moved to Lake Mead NRA in 1973, Cape Lookout NS in 1977, and Gulf 
     Islands NS in 1986. The park is gathering material for a "memory book" 
     to be presented at his retirement party on January 8th. If you'd like 
     to share memories or photos, please forward them as soon as possible 
     to Gulf Islands NS, 1801 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561, 
     ATTN: Kaye Pittman. Documents or photos should be in document 
     protectors, if possible. Messages may also be sent to Kaye via 
     cc:Mail.
     
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     Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
     by park, office and/or regional cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please 
     address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your 
     servicing hub coordinator.  The Morning Report is also available on 
     the web at http://www.nps.gov/morningreport
     
     Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
     cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
     
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