SCENERY NOT ONLY GREENERY ABUNDANT IN NATIONAL PARKS

Rangers Weed Out Pot, Other Drugs

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- When Christopher Cranford came to Old
Faithful, it wasn't as a tourist; it was to make money peddling drugs. And
in the heart of the world's first national park, officials say he found a
market.

By park standards, Cranford's arrest last spring was a big-time bust -- one
that investigators say crimped the flow of drugs into Yellowstone National
Park. But they know, too, there are others like Cranford ready to step in to
sell drugs to the mostly young workers who spend their summers at park hot
spots, busing tables, selling souvenirs and cleaning guest rooms.

"I think it's a matter of users drawing suppliers," said Chris Fors, a
Yellowstone special agent. "Service workers create demand."

Drug use among service workers is among the many headaches law enforcement
officers in Yellowstone and nearby Grand Teton National Park must deal with.
Park officials say drug cases in the park each summer largely involve
seasonal workers, many of them young college students on summer break,
employed through private concession companies.

And while most arrests are for simple possession charges, park officials and
the concession companies that hire the workers take each case seriously,
aware that those involved with drugs also are more likely to be involved in
other crimes in the park.

Drugs Lead To Other Crimes

"Someone with a significant illegal drug habit is more likely to embezzle
and steal from guests' rooms and cars," said Brian Smith, supervisory
special agent at Yellowstone. "The public has a right to feel that they're
safe and not going to be victimized when they come to a national park."

Employers and park officials tell workers upfront the consequences of drug
use -- which range from being fired to facing federal drug charges.

"We're very aware of the drug situation. But I don't think we have a
problem," said Clay James, president of Grand Teton Lodge Co., which runs
gas stations, shops and other tourist businesses in Grand Teton and has
about 1,050 employees by early summer. Drug use is taken seriously, and "we
respond very quickly if we have a need to do so," he said.

Park officials say the concessioners cooperate in investigations and that
other employees often provide tips.

Fors said drug use among workers is not an overwhelming problem in
Yellowstone but is a persistent one. And busy rangers, whose duties range
from directing traffic at "bear jams" to patrolling the park boundaries for
poachers, may not be able to devote the time some law enforcement agencies
can to go after drug sellers and users.

Seller Active For Several Years

Investigators said Cranford was selling marijuana and other drugs in the
park for several years before he was finally arrested last May. He often
timed his visits to coincide with employee pay days, officials said.

Found with 93 grams of marijuana, he pleaded guilty to a federal drug
distribution charge in December and was sentenced to a year in prison,
officials said.

Possession, often of marijuana, comprised the bulk of the 72 drug cases at
Yellowstone last year, and the 26 cases at Grand Teton, officials said.
While they do not keep a tally of how many of those arrests were of seasonal
workers, Fors said they make up the "overwhelming" number of the arrests.

Dennis Burnett, the Park Service's law administrator, said the type of drug
activity that occurs varies with each national park and often depends on its
proximity to urban areas.

The situation in Yellowstone and Grand Teton pales, for instance, to the
problems faced in California's Sequoia National Park, where investigators
last year found an unheard of 37 marijuana gardens and makeshift campsites
for growers in the park's boundaries. The campsites contained guns and
chemicals.

Investigators at Sequoia believe tighter security at border crossings with
Mexico since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is fueling a trend of
growing drugs closer to their markets. Just three marijuana gardens were
found in 2001, park spokeswoman Kris Fister said.

Drug Cases Up At Yosemite

At Yosemite National Park, drug cases, including investigations and arrests,
have increased 10 percent to 20 percent in each of the past five years, said
Don Coehlo, the deputy chief ranger for law enforcement services. Many cases
involve the use of methamphetamine.

What all the parks share, however, is concern about law enforcement
staffing, because rangers' workloads are strained already.

"Variety is the beauty of the job, but the work can be dizzying," said Tim
Reid, a supervisory ranger at Yellowstone, which has about 50 permanent law
enforcement rangers for the roughly 2.2 million-acre park and about 3
million visitors each year.

>From 1980 to 2002, over 60 new units were added to the National Park system,
and others were expanded. Annual visitations rose from 300 million to 430
million people. Meanwhile, field staff was constant at best and in many
cases declined, causing some campsites to close and backcountry to go
unwatched, said Jeff McFarland, executive director of the Association of
National Park Rangers.

Chief ranger Bill Holda expects the drug situation at Grand Teton to worsen
before it gets better because his staff is so thin. Holda has about 35 law
enforcement rangers in the summer. The park can get additional help from
state and county agencies.

Fors said officials in Yellowstone are trying to place more emphasis on drug
cases with the hope that more vigilance will help drive the problem away.
The park is even planning to add a drug-sniffing dog.

"Even if we have an average drug problem, people are not here to deal with
that or having their cars broken into," he said. "I think there should be a
higher standard in the park.