NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

INCIDENTS

Zion NP

Felony Convictions For Illegal Wildflower Seed Harvesting

Ranger Anne Pestolesi came upon several large bags of illegally collected wildflower seeds along the side of the road in the Kolob Terrace area of the park last August. Over the next several weeks, Pestolesi and park staff began an investigation that led to the discovery that several hundred pounds of Palmer's penstemon wildflower seeds had been illegally harvested and removed from the park. Special agent Matt Fisher was brought in to assist with the investigation. On September 21st, Fisher and Pestolesi travelled to the remote backcountry area where the illegal harvest had taken place. They arrested undocumented aliens C.L.-A. and C.M.-G., who were illegally camped in the backcountry and engaged in the illegal removal of the seeds. The total weight of collected seeds exceeded 900 pounds. The seed collectors intended to sell their illegal harvest to commercial seed distributers who then frequently sell their seed to federal agencies pursuing revegetation projects. On December 7th, C.L.-A. and C.M-G. were convicted on felony counts of 18 USC 641, theft of government property, and sentenced to 24 months of supervised probation in addition to time served. The two had been in custody since their September arrests. The court also imposed the condition that the two shall not illegally reenter the United States. Charges against additional suspects are pending. The assistance of the NPS Investigative Services Branch and the Saint George Assistant US Attorney's Office was instrumental in the successful prosecution of the case. [Ray O'Neil, Acting Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Everglades NP - Representatives from numerous Federal, state, and local agencies, non-governmental organizations, and community groups converged on Friday, December 4th, to celebrate the commencement of a long-awaited Everglades restoration project.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs - Director Jarvis announced yesterday that Karen Taylor-Goodrich has been selected as the new superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. She will assume her new responsibilities in February. Photo.

WASO Public Affairs - Director Jarvis has presented the 2008 Appleman-Judd-Lewis Awards for excellence in cultural resource management to H. Thomas McGrath, Jr., Dr. Jeanne Schaaf, and Robert Fox. Photo.

To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter): NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index ; non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

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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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