NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Thursday, January 22, 2015
INCIDENTS
Santa Monica Mountains NRA
Couple Charged With Removing Historic Artifacts
On October 28, 2014, law enforcement rangers at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area were alerted to possible disturbances of historic and cultural sites within the Rancho Sierra Vista area of the park. The Springs Fire, which burned a total of 24,000 acres in 2013, destroyed a significant amount of vegetation in the area, exposing the sites to the public.
The unit is rich in artifacts from the native Chumash Indians. Settlers arrived later and established the ranching culture, leaving behind additional reminders of their presence. During the investigation, surveillance cameras and increased patrols were employed near the disturbed spots and adjacent parking lots. The cameras proved useful by capturing irrefutable photographic evidence of a man and woman removing historic ranching equipment from federal lands.
A short time later, the cameras captured images of a woman and a vehicle near the site. They matched those from images captured by surveillance cameras during the looting of the relics.
A subsequent interview of a local man and woman took place when they again returned to the area. During the contact, both said that they took the historic farming implement to place in their garden "so that others would not take them."
The couple was cited for removal and possession of cultural resources from federal property. All stolen pieces were returned by the couple.
The visitor resource and protection staff will continue to work closely with the park's cultural resources manager to preserve and protect all of the park's cultural sites and artifacts.
[John Chelko, Park Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):
Anacostia Park - Over 400 volunteers joined Secretary Jewell, Director Jarvis and other leaders for a National Day of Service project at Anacostia Park in Washington on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Andersonville NHS - Andersonville National Historic Site is saddened to report the unexpected passing of Kim Douglas Robins, the park's cemetery administrator, at her home on January 20th.
Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - The National Park Service has issued a call for nominations for the FBI's National Academy, held in Quantico, Virginia. Submissions are due by February 4th.
Office of Communications - Jeff Reinbold, currently superintendent of the National Parks of Western Pennsylvania, has been selected as the Service's new assistant director for partnerships and civic engagement.
To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:
NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/
The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).
--- ### ---