NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
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INCIDENTS
Blue Ridge Parkway
Three Significant Drug Cases Made In Last Week Of September
During the week from September 28th to October 1st, rangers made several significant drug cases in the park:
September 23rd - Based on intelligence gathered by a Forest Service special agent, a joint surveillance operation was undertaken at a marijuana patch on Forest Service lands adjacent to the park. During the surveillance, three people were seen entering the site, which contained 3,800 plants. The three began harvesting them and were allowed to finish, depart, meet a pickup vehicle on the parkway, and load 450 pounds of marijuana buds into it. They were then arrested. One was found to be armed with a handgun. The joint investigation included the Forest Service, DEA, McDowell County Sheriff's Office, Floyd County Sheriff's Office, and Commonwealth Attorney's Office.
September 28th - While participating in Operating Farthing, a traffic safety enforcement program, ranger Bruce Gagnon saw a vehicle whose driver was exceeding the speed limit and recognized him from a prior contact. Although Gagnon was at first unable to catch up with him, he later found the unoccupied vehicle at the scene of an accident on a parkway exit ramp. Gagnon worked with officers from two other agencies to find and interview the occupants and determined that they were in possession of controlled substances and had otherwise violated the law. A buy/bust operation was successfully conducted on park lands and another two quarter-ounce bags of cocaine were seized. Federal and state charges are pending. The joint investigation involved the Alleghany County Sheriff's Office, Wilkes County Sheriff's Office, Galax PD, and the North Carolina Highway Patrol.
October 1st - Park employees found a marijuana patch on park lands in July and a cooperative investigation was begun with the Virginia State Police. Remote surveillance was begun and pictures were taken of the growers working the 48-plant patch. The investigation is still underway and involves the Virginia State Police, Floyd County Sheriff's Office, and Commonwealth Attorney's Office.
[John Garrison]
Grand Teton NP
Special Event - Federal Reserve Symposium
The park hosted the annual Federal Reserve Bank symposium from August 21st to August 23rd. The symposium is sponsored by the Kansas City branch of the Federal Reserve and has been occurring for many years. This year the event drew a wider audience due to current economic developments worldwide. There were more than 200 participants from the international banking community and live media feeds eight hours a day from five networks. Park rangers and public affairs and business personnel provided support and assisted the Grand Teton Lodge Company and security details from several banking institutions during the event. [Patrick Hattaway, North District Ranger]
Golden Gate NRA
Taser Employed To Control Combative Juvenile
On the evening of September 27th, rangers Chad Marin and Annie Leone were on foot patrol of the picnic area of Stinson Beach when they came upon a large group of juveniles in possession of alcoholic beverages. While interviewing them, one of the juveniles became particularly defensive, loud and uncooperative and squared off with Marin. Marin attempted to place him in handcuffs and in doing so a struggle ensued and both went to the ground. Ranger Mike Hardin and Leone helped Marin gain control of the juvenile, who continued to resist and struggle with Marin and Hardin. Leone concluded that he was not going to stop fighting and announced that she was going to use her taser on him. When she did so, the juvenile stopped struggling and the rangers were able to handcuff him. He continued to be uncooperative, but was placed in an ambulance and taken to Marin General to have the barbs removed. While at the hospital, he finally provided the rangers with correct information about his parents and grandparents. His grandfather told Leone that this was the second time that an officer had used a taser on his grandson. [Kim Coast, Operations Supervisor]
Golden Gate NRA
Marijuana And Growing Hardware Found In Parking Lot
Ranger John Goodwin was on patrol of the Navy Memorial on the morning of October 4th when he came upon numerous items dumped near the portable restrooms in the parking lot. Goodwin checked them and found that they included four overhead portable light fixtures, flexible duct hoses, planter boxes, several pounds of vermiculite, and several large black plastic bags containing marijuana leaves and stems. Park Police identification technician Rob Whalen and supervisory ranger Ron Heeren joined Goodwin in the parking lot and took photos of the scene. The marijuana was taken to Park Police headquarters to be weighed. The total wet weight came to 8.2 pounds. It was later taken to an evidence warehouse to be dried and reweighed. The criminal investigations branch was notified and is leading the investigation. [Kim Coast, Operations Supervisor]
OTHER NEWS
Among the stories in today's edition are the following:
Office of International Affairs - The most comprehensive assessment of the world's mammals yet conducted, undertaken by IUCN, the World Conservation Union, has confirmed an extinction crisis, with almost one in four at risk of disappearing forever.
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6936" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6936
Natural Resource Program Center - The topic on this week's seminar will be “What Can Be Done in a Park?” and will focus on developing climate change adaptation actions for coastal and landlocked regions.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6949" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6949
Natural Resource Program Center - Director Bomar has issued a memorandum in response to the Inspector General's concerns regarding abandoned mines on Department of Interior lands.
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6941" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6941
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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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