NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

INCIDENTS

Golden Gate NRA

Open Carry Gun Enthusiasts Demonstrate In Park

An unidentified open carry enthusiast group recently contacted Golden Gate's special park uses office to discuss plans to volunteer for their own beach cleanup day on Baker Beach. They advised that during the event they intended to exercise their right to openly carry firearms, pursuant to California Penal Code 12025(f) and Public Law 111-23, Section 512, which now allow firearms in the park. Park Police and Golden Gate command staff met to organize a training and situational plan to address the possible scenarios associated with the organized demonstration. On the morning of February 27th, a joint briefing was held for assigned Park Police officers and rangers. At 11:30 a.m., a Park Police Officer reported seeing several people gathered together in the south parking lot of Baker Beach. Several members of the group displayed holstered, openly carried pistols. At the same time. a separate event was developing, as a tsunami warning was being broadcast for the bay area. The rangers who were assigned to the open carry demonstration were reassigned to the coastline areas to assist with emergency closures. Park Police officers contacted three separate groups that were actively engaged in cleaning the beach area. Several members within these groups were displaying open carry pistols. Pursuant to California Penal Code 12031(e), the weapons were only inspected to determine if they were loaded. Seven members within the groups were checked and were found to be in compliance with federal and state laws. The groups that were contacted were found to be extremely knowledgeable of the law and how it pertained to their constitutional rights. The contacts were filmed by multiple people within the groups and a local news reporter was present to document the event. No identification or further searches were conducted on any of the individuals during these brief contacts. There were no reports from the public and there was no significant impact on the park due to this specific incident. [Sergeant Todd Roth, US Park Police]

OTHER NEWS

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

Saint Croix NSR - The park has been employing horses to skid felled trees infested by oak wilt out of its woodlands, thereby minimizing disturbance to the forest.

Rocky Mountain NP - A couple from Michigan, one of whom is in a wheelchair, have employed information on accessibility gained in more than 30 years of traveling to national parks and surrounding areas to create a website called “The Disabled Traveler's Companion.” A link is provided.

Mount Rushmore NM - Mount Rushmore has assembled an NPS Rapid Resource Assessment Team to create an action plan to address the mountain pine beetle epidemic that is causing ponderosa pine mortality throughout the Black Hills. Photo.

Chief Information Officer - Effective March 8th, all technical support requests for NPS.gov, InsideNPS and NPS presences on third party websites (YouTube, iTunes, Twitter, etc.) should be made using the NPS Helpdesk.

Chiricahua NM - On January 13th, a memorial service was held for ranger Paul Fugate, who went out for a hike on that date 30 years ago but never returned. No sign of him was ever found, and nothing has ever been discovered that would explain his disappearance. Photo.

Lowell NHP - Dave Redding, chief ranger at Lowell National Historical Park, retired on February 26th after nearly 30 years with the National Park Service. Photo.

Carlsbad Caverns NP - Manuel "Manny" Cortez, 76, longtime supervisor of park guides and rangers at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, passed away on Friday, February 26th. 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/

NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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