NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT
   
   
   To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices
   
   From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
   
   Day/Date:   Friday, December 10, 1999
   
   INCIDENTS
   
   99-695 - San Juan NHS (PR) - Follow-up: Ship Grounding
   
   On November 21st, the 564-foot Russian-flagged freighter Sergo 
   Zakariadze grounded at the entrance to San Juan Harbor on the 
   protective breakwater off Fort El Morro, a part of the park.  The 
   ship remains hard-aground. Heavy seas between December 3rd and 5th 
   caused further damage to the structural strength of the vessel. Seas 
   estimated at between 25 and 30 feet pushed the ship another 20 feet 
   closer to shore and further up on the breakwater. Another such severe 
   weather cycle may make it impossible to float it free. Members of the 
   unified command are accordingly beginning planning for a wreck 
   removal scenario. Equipment needed to offload cargo will not arrive 
   on scene until December 16th at the earliest. Sixteen state and 
   federal agencies remain directly involved in the incident. The threat 
   to lands and resources in the park remains high.  A new concern has 
   also arisen regarding the breakwater itself. Erosion along the port 
   side of the hull from high seas may eventually undermine the toe of 
   the breakwater, causing further damage to its integrity. The NPS paid 
   $45 million to build the breakwater. [Mark Hardgrove, Deputy 
   Superintendent, SAJU, 12/9]
   
   99-727 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Rescue
   
   On the afternoon of October 27th, park dispatch received a 911 cell 
   phone call from a climber 2,000 feet up the face of El Capitan.  He 
   reported that his climbing partner had taken a 70-foot leader fall 
   and was seriously injured. The weather at the time was clear enough 
   for flying, but the first winter storm warning of the season was in 
   effect for the upcoming night. Ranger/ medics Keith Lober and Mary 
   Hinson were able to rappel onto the wall from the park helicopter. 
   They found that the injured climber was in an altered mental status 
   and had obvious trauma to his head and left wrist. A support team was 
   flown to the top of El Capitan, just beating nightfall. The plan was 
   to fix lines from the top of El Capitan and raise the injured climber 
   during the night. However, the worsening weather forced the 
   abandonment of the evacuation. The injured climber was moved to a 
   conveniently located cave on the cliff. During the night, the storm 
   hit, bringing heavy rains and gusty winds. The party was able to 
   spend a reasonably comfortable night, with advanced life support 
   continuing. The next morning the storm broke and the victim was 
   packaged in a Stokes litter and short-hauled from the ledge to El 
   Capitan Meadow.  He was taken to a Modesto hospital, where he was 
   diagnosed with a subdural hematoma and fractured right wrist. [Mary 
   Hinson, Shift Supervisor, YOSE, 12/8]
   
   99-728 - Organ Pipe Cactus NM (AZ) - Narcotics Seizure
   
   During an interdiction operation on December 3rd, rangers and Customs 
   officers tracked a group of suspected smugglers through the park onto 
   Tohono O'Odham tribal lands. The group was tracked to the spot where 
   they'd stashed 16 backpacks of marijuana containing 692 pounds of 
   marijuana. Later on the same day, rangers assisted a Border Patrol 
   agent with the seizure of eight backpacks within the park containing 
   a total of 587 pounds of marijuana.  On December 4th, two rangers 
   tracked yet another group of backpackers to a cache containing eight 
   backpacks with 354 pounds of marijuana. The total seizure came to 
   just over three-quarters of a ton. On December 2nd, rangers also 
   found five rounds of 7.62 x 39, Russian-made ammunition with a load 
   of drugs smuggled through the park - another indicator of the slowly 
   growing trend of smugglers carrying weapons in the area, possibly due 
   to increased pressure from law enforcement agencies. [J. Young, PR, 
   ORPI, 12/7]
   
   99-729 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Poaching
   
   Front Royal entrance station fee employee Barbara Jessee reported 
   hearing gunshots from a boundary area near the start of Skyline Drive 
   on the morning of November 25th (Thanksgiving). Rangers Dana Sullivan 
   and Carol Leggat investigated, checking the property of a resident 
   whose lands abut the park. They discovered an intermittent trail of 
   deer hair and blood about 25 yards from a house under construction.  
   Sullivan and Leggat tracked the faint trail back into the park to the 
   apparent kill site. The site, located about 30 yards inside the park, 
   was within sight of a newly-erected tree stand located on private 
   land belonging to R.M.B. A perimeter search revealed no 
   trace of deer tracks, blood or hair originating from R.M.B.'s property. 
   On the following day, game check cards were obtained from an area 
   game check station that indicated that R.M.B. had killed a ten-point 
   buck on November 20th on private property.  Two federal search 
   warrants were obtained, one for R.M.B.'s current in-town residence and 
   the other for the house under construction. They were executed on 
   November 29th by rangers, state game wardens, and Front Royal police 
   officers.  Numerous pieces of comparison evidence were collected, 
   including  deer parts, meat, hunting equipment and hunting records.  
   Also seized were an ATV and .243 caliber hunting rifle.  Additional 
   consent searches at an area taxidermist and neighbor's residence 
   yielded a ten-point deer rack and additional packaged deer meat.  The 
   investigation continues.  A separate investigation into R.M.B.'s
   western big game hunting trips and interstate game activities has 
   also been launched. [Clyde Yee, CI, SHEN, 12/5]
   
   99-730 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Poaching
   
   On November 27th, rangers found the carcass of an elk near milepost 
   24 on US 191 within the park on November 27th.  Evidence indicates 
   that it had been killed several days earlier, probably from the 
   highway during the night. A reward of $500 has been offered for 
   information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) 
   responsible for the killing. The number to call is 307-344-2120. 
   [Public Affairs, YELL, 12/8]
   
   RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROTECTION AND EDUCATION
   
   No submissions.
   
   OPERATIONAL NOTES
   
   No submissions.
   
   MEMORANDA
   
   No submissions.
   
   INTERCHANGE
   
   No submissions.
   
   PARKS AND PEOPLE
   
   No submissions.
   
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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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