NPS Visitor and Resource Protection
The Morning Report

Thursday, November 06, 2003


INCIDENTS


Mojave National Preserve (CA)
Explosives Found and Destroyed

On October 8th, a contractor working in the park came upon a metal silo at the Morning Star Mine which appeared to contain explosives. Rangers and the county bomb squad examined the silo and confirmed that it contained about 40,000 pounds of energized and active ammonium nitrate explosives. Around-the-clock security was begun and maintained at the site for nine days until the explosives could be destroyed. Rangers from Lake Mead, Santa Monica Mountains and the BLM assisted with the security. NPS explosives disposal experts from Yosemite and Sequoia-Kings Canyon destroyed the explosives in small amounts. The 40,000 pounds constituted about nine times as much of the same explosive as was used in the Oklahoma City bombing.
[Submitted by Kirk Gebicke, Park Ranger]



Saguaro National Park (AZ)
Suicide Intervention

Rangers Jason Griswold and John Williams saw a man acting oddly at the Douglas Springs trailhead on the evening of October 31st. They stopped to talk with him and detected alcohol on his breath during the conversation. While Griswold was questioning him, Williams saw a receipt from a local gun shop in plain sight on the front seat of his vehicle. When asked if he had a firearm, the man admitted that there was one under the driver's seat. Williams retrieved a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, which had been purchased earlier that day. The man eventually confessed that he'd planned to hike up the trail and commit suicide prior to the rangers' arrival. He was placed in protective custody and taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation. The 41-year-old man, a resident of Tucson, is married and the father of five children. He said that he'd been involved in a serious motor vehicle accident four months previously and had been experiencing chronic headaches and other health problems.
[Submitted by Bob Love, Chief Ranger]




OPERATIONAL NOTES


NPS Office at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
New Resource Law Handbook Available

The Federal Natural Resources Law Handbook, developed by Gould Publications in cooperation with the NPS FLETC office, is now available for purchase. The handbook, which will be issued to all basic students attending the national park ranger integrated training program, was developed for use by the majority of land management agencies. It includes the following statutes or subject areas:

  • United States Constitution
  • Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
  • Selected provisions of Title 5, D.C. Code
  • Public Laws relating to the U.S. Park Police
  • Executive Order 11644
  • Title 4, United States Code - Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States.
  • Selected provisions of Title 16, United States Code - Conservation
  • Title 18, United States Code - Crimes and Criminal Procedure
  • Selected provisions of Title 21, United States Code - Food and Drugs
  • Selected provisions of Title 25, United States Code - Indians
  • Selected provisions of Title 26, United States Code - Internal Revenue Code
  • Selected provisions of Title 28, United States Code - Judiciary and Judicial Procedure
  • Selected provisions of Title 30, United States Code - Mineral Lands and Mining
  • Selected provisions of Title 33, United States Code - Navigation and Navigable Waters
  • Selected provisions of Title 42, United States Code - The Public Health and Welfare
  • Selected provisions of Title 43, United States Code - Public Lands
  • Selected provisions of Title 46, United States Code Appendix - Shipping
  • Federal Rules of Evidence

The handbook in soft-cover format is approximately 1,000 pages long and costs $45. There is a also a CD-ROM version available for $59.95. In order to obtain copies, call Gould Publications at 800-717-7917 (fax: 407-695-2906) or go to http://www.gouldlaw.com/.
[Submitted by Don Usher, NPS/FLETC]




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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.