The

Protection RangerWWW.RANGERFOP.COM

The Newsletter of the U.S. Park Rangers Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police

FOPLODQEVAeo

Vol. XV • No.2 • 2005

President's Message

Greg Johnston

Veronza Bowers Jr.

As many of you are aware, VeronzaBowers, convicted murderer of RangerKenneth Patrick; was scheduled to be

released on February 21 st. Thanks to the

diligence of a Lodge member, wediscovered in time to gather support andwith the help of the Grand Lodge of theFOP, we were able to convince the U.S.Parole Commission stop Bowers release inorder for Ranger Patrick's wife to present

evidence to the Commissioners hearing thecase.

We have presented our case to the ParoleCommissioners and are eagerly awaitingtheir decision. We are unsure if we will be

able to keep Bowers in prison to serve theremainder of his life sentence. Due to a

sentencing technicality, there was a chancethat Bowers could go free after onlyserving 30 years of his life sentence.

I would like for everyone to keep TomiePatrick Lee and her family in your thoughts

Inside This Issue:

Editor's Note 2

Sample FOIA Letter 2Goodbye Tony! 2NFS WASO Letter 3

Letter to Devaney 3Filner Bill Progress 4Letter from Retiree 4

Lodge Letter 6NPCA & The Ranger's Lodge .... 6Reg. Official Reports on FLERT . , 7

and prayere during this ordeal. Ifnotforherstrength and conviction, Bowers wouldalready be back on the street, poised tocommit another brutal crime.

FLERT and 6c issues

For the past several years, FLERT has beenworking feverishly under the radar tiying toundermine the victories that properlycompensated the NPS Law EnforcementRangers. By misconstruing the Watsondecision, they have consistently held theopinion that NPS Rangers do not deserveT.F. enhanced pay or retirement. The most

recent attack came with the rescission of

coverage of the seasonal LE positiondescriptions.

Now FLERT is going back over previousawarded claims and are revoking periods ofcoverage that are affecting a large number ofemployees. Employees with 15 years ofservice in current supervisory LE positions

are getting their primary coverage positionsdenied and because they moved into asecondary LE position from this no longer

covered position, they lose their secondarycoverage also. This is a horrible way to treatyour employees and not the way the DOI orthe NPS should be doing business in a time

wdiere professionalizing and reforming theLE function are allegedly in progress.

The lodge is encouraging all members tosubmit a FOIA (Freedom of Information

Act) request to the Department of Interior togather all information that FLERT has onyour claim or position description. Asample letter is printed in this newsletter andthe document is available for download on

the Lodge Webpage. Submit your letter tothe DOI to get copies of all documentsmaintained, created, or collected for

consideration of your claim. Carefullyreview the documents for irregularities or

information on how they are making theirdeterminations. You can request thedocuments to be sent to you in anelectronic or hardcopy format.

If every member were to send in a FOIArequest, our voice will be heard by thehighest levels in Washington D.C. Weneed to send a clear message to FLERTand the DOI that we are going to fight thisbattle with an unparalleled effort andcommitment. The Lodge is also interestedin hearing from members that havereceived any information from FI^RTregarding rescission of coverage orupcoming MSPB hearings. Please forwardthis information on to either Randall or

myself.

Fratemally,Greg Johnston

Computer MalfunctionThe Lodge's computer crashed andwe lost all our membership data.

Fortunately, I have paper records ofall the money sent in for dues anddonations. And, the files were

backed up on disc as of two monthsago. What we are lacking are changesof address that have been sent in

since December. If you get your

issue with the wrong address pleaselet the Lodge know at:randaMfop@ls.net or 800-407-8295.

If you hear of a member commentingthat he or she did not receive this

issue, please have them contact theLodge so we can replace the issueand make sure that the name and

address are in our database. We

regret the inconvenience.Randall Kendrick