- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, August 14, 1989
- Date: Mon, 14 Aug 1989
RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Monday, August 14, 1989
*** SPECIAL NOTICE ***
All flags will be lowered to half staff this morning in tribute to Rep.
Leland. They will remain lowered until his interment.
INCIDENTS
89-221 - Assateague - Oil Spill
At 8 a.m. on the 10th, a relative of a park staff member who works in an
Ocean City hotel advised the park that tarballs were washing up on beaches
in the area, and said that they were being raked under the city's beaches.
The Coast Guard confirmed that tarballs were appearing on beaches from
Rehoboth in Delaware to Ocean City in Maryland - a stretch of about ten
miles. Although the tarballs were thick and half-dollar-sized in Ocean
City, those that first appeared along a five-mile stretch of the seashore
from the McCabe House to the first dune crossing were much smaller. They
were in a foot-wide band along the high tide line at a density of about 30
to 50 pieces per square foot. This area, which includes two miles of state
park land, is south of the nesting area of the endangered piping plover.
After high tide that day, only a very small amount of oil remained on the
beach, but more oil washed in on Friday. Surveys by rangers determined that
the tarballs extended south of the Virginia state line into Chincoteague
NWR, but most of the tar washed off the Assateague beaches with tides later
in the day. The park is working on clean-up with the Coast Guard, a
contractor, and two Maryland agencies - State Parks and the Department of
Environment. Ocean City has begun cleaning up tar along city beaches and is
recovering an average of seven to eight tons of tarred sand per city block;
they're working an area 47 blocks long. (Roger Rector, Superintendent, and
Brion Fitzgerald, CR, ASSA, via CompuServe message from Kathy Jope,
RAD/MARO).
89-222 - Coulee Dam - Marijuana Eradication
Park rangers and law enforcement officers from the Forest Service, BIA and
Stevens and Ferry County sheriffs' offices have discovered and eradicated
103 marijuana plants valued at $100,000 from a plot within the park.
Numerous other plantations were also found on nearby Forest Service lands
and two Indian reservations. There are no suspects at this time. Several
areas have been left undisturbed for followup investigations. (John Scott,
CODA, via CompuServe message from Mark Forbes, RAD/PNRO).
89-223 - Yellowstone - Mudslides
On the afternoon of August 10th, three major mudslides and about a dozen
moderate slides occurred in the park as a result of heavy rains. Because of
the intensity of the rain and the fact that there had been several minor
slides recently, rangers Rob Dana and Bonita Garrett were on patrol
searching for such situations before the slides occurred. While returning
from the patrol, they saw a camper which had been swept into the Gibbon
River by a slide. Realizing that there were people trapped within the
vehicle, Dana and Garrett jumped into the river, swam to the camper,
extricated the family of three, and brought them to shore. The rangers then
took that family and other people from eight vehicles trapped between
various mudslides and walked them to safety. Heavy equipment was sent to
remove the biggest slides between Gibbon Falls and Gibbon Meadow.
(Associated Press, along with supplemental information telefaxed from
RAD/RMRO).
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) FIRE SITUATION: Planning Level IV.
A spate of small fires were ignited by lightning on Sunday - including
100 starts in the Boise and Payette NF's alone - but most were suppressed
through initial attack by firefighters and aircraft. Progress continued
to be made against existing large fires in the Northwest.
Demobilization continues; 53 crews were slated for demobilization on
the 11th, and another 25 for the 12th. As of Friday afternoon, the NPS
had 560 firefighters and 155 overhead personnel committed to fires, down
from the 589 firefighters and 161 overhead in the field on Thursday.
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire Acres Contain
ID USFS Boise NF Lowman Comp. - T1: 45,564 8/14
USFS Boise NF Warm Lake Comp. - T1:
Bear Creek 6,324 8/15
Lunch 9,595 8/15
Horn Creek 3,073 8/14
USFS Boise NF Riordan Lake - T2 3,100 Yes
USFS Payette NF Foolhen Comp. - T2
Dollar 13,300 None
USFS Payette NF Partridge Comp. - T1:
Partridge 8,688 None
Goat 260 None
USFS Payette NF Steamboat Comp. - T1:
Wangdoodle 7,689 Yes
USFS Payette NF Game Creek 2,454 None
USFS Payette NF Two Point 767 None
USFS Payette NF Hand Creek 558 None
USFS Payette NF Sheepeater 353 None
WA BIA Colville Agency *Keller 3,000 None
CA USFS San Bern. NF *San Manuel 700 8/14
OR USFS Wall.-Whit. NF Enterprise Comp. - T1:
Summit - T1 7,000 Yes
USFS Wall.-Whit. NF Emmet Comp. - T2:
Sheep 5,811 Yes
Lily Pad 1,519 Yes
Baldy 1,401 Yes
NPS Crater Lake *Sharp II 150 Yes
NOTES:
- Agencies - All BLM areas are districts; CDF is California Department of
Forestry.
- Fires - Asterisk indicates new fire.
- Areas - T1 and T2 indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Contain - Containment dates are estimates; "none" means no estimate;
"yes" means the fire has been contained.
3) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE:
Fire danger readings in the parks on August 13th were as follows:
- Extreme: Lava Beds NM (California).
- Very High: Santa Monica Mountains NRA (California), Sequoia and
Kings Canyon NP (California).
- High: Thirteen parks - most in the Southwest - reported high fire
dangers.
* Crater Lake:
The park had a 150-acre fire, which has now been contained. No
further information presently available.
* Yellowstone:
As of Friday, the fire danger in the park was low to moderate, and
there were no new fires despite significant lightning mixed with locally
heavy rains. The park had not had a fire since August 2nd.
* Grand Canyon:
The park reports lightning activity throughout the area. There are
five fires going, the largest of which is about five acres.
4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 527 fires for 1,834 acres in last 24 hours.
5) ANALYSIS - Progress is being made on major fires. Many new starts
are occurring in the Great Basin and Northwest, but most of them are
being picked up on initial attack. A RED FLAG WATCH has been issued
for portions of northern California for gusty winds.
6) PROGNOSIS - Progress on large fires is expected to continue. Rotation
of crews will be occurring over the next week to replace crews that
have completed their commitments.
(NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0530 MDT, 8/14/89; information on NPS fires
from BFM/Boise).
OFFICE NOTES
1) We have been advised by officials of the Retirement Section of OPM that
the deadline of September 30, 1989 for submitting requests for consideration
of past service for 20-year retirement will be met if the employee submits a
written request that he/she intends to submit documentation to support
coverage under the provisions of section 8336(c). This request MUST BE
RECEIVED AND STAMPED into the servicing personnel office not later than
midnight, September 30, 1989. A postmark of September 30 will not be
acceptable. (Mario Fraire, Personnel, WASO).
CALENDAR
Asterisks indicate new or revised entries:
September 11 - 17 - "Managing America's Enduring Wilderness Resource",
conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sponsored in part by the National Park
Service. Contact David W. Lime, College of Forestry, 110 Green Hall,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108 (612-624-2250).
September 12 - 14 - Interpretive Survey Committee Meeting, Lowell NHP,
Lowell, Massachusetts. Meeting to analyze the results of the survey of
field interpreters and make recommendations to the Director.
September 17 - 22 - Annual conference, American Water Resources Association,
Tampa, Florida. The themes will be water laws and management and wetlands
concerns and successes. Contact AWRA, 5410 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD
20814 (301-493-8600).
September 25 - 29 - Interpretive Skills II, Tower Mountain Lodge, Hancock,
Massachusetts. Sponsored and taught by NARO Interpretive Skills Team. This
course meets the second half of the 80-hour interpretive skills training
recommended for permanent interpreters. Contact David Day, NARO, Division
of Interpretation (617-223-5073).
October 1 - 5 - Rocky Mountain Chief Rangers' Conference, Wort Hotel,
Jackson, Wyoming.
October 16 - 20 - Southwest Regional Chief Rangers* Workshop, Hot Springs,
Arkansas.
October 22 - 27 - Rendezvous XIII, joint meeting, Association of National
Park Rangers and Employee and Alumni Association, Arlington Resort Hotel and
Spa, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
October 24 - 27 - "The Scientific Challenges of NEPA: Future Directions
Based on 20 Years of Experience", symposium, Knoxville, Tennessee.
Sponsored by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Address inquiries to Dr.
Stephen Hildebrand, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, Post Office Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6036 (615-574.
7329).
October 30 - November 3 - Law Enforcement for Managers, training session,
FLETC, Georgia. The course is targeted at the management level and is
intended to familiarize participants with recent changes in Federal law, NPS
authority and jurisdiction, policy and guidelines, and civil liability.
Contact Bill Supernaugh (FTS 230-2246 or 912-267-2246).
November 5 - 10 - "Homespun to High Tech: Interpreting for Urban Audiences",
workshop, National Association of Interpretation, St. Paul/Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Contact MAI, PO Box 1892, Fort Collins, CO 80522 (303-491-6434)
November 7 - 9 - "Symposium on the Interpretation of Literary and Visual
Arts Sites", Concord, Massachusetts. Sponsored by NARO Interpretive Skills
Team. The symposium will examine the relationship between the creative
process, writers and artists and their works, and the physical resources
through which they are interpreted. Contact David Day, NARO, Division of
Interpretation (617-223-5073).
*November 10 - 11 - Fourth Annual Wilderness Emergencies Conference, Los
Abrigados Resort, Sedona, Arizona. Topics include wilderness improvisation
and rescue, management of backcountry trauma, long term care of the injured,
environmental illnesses, and survival and medical equipment. The
registration fee is $75 ($135 for physicians). For further information,
contact Sharon Harbeck, R.N., Flagstaff Medical Center (602-779-3366,
extension 4185).
November 28 - 30 - Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program (SLETP)
Curriculum Conference, FLETC, Georgia. School coordinators will meet with
NPS staff to review curriculum in light of NPS-9 revisions and Servicewide
needs. Field input and suggestions welcome. Contact Bill Supernaugh (FTS
230-2246 or 912-267-2246).
November 28 - 30 - "Interpretation of Critical Resource Issues", Sheraton
Ocean Park Inn, Eastham, Massachusetts. Sponsored by the NARO Interpretive
Skills Team. The workshop will focus on the issues and techniques involved
in the interpretation of critical cultural and natural resource management
issues. Contact David Day, NARO, Division of Interpretation (617-223-5073).
December 11 - 15 - Fire Management for Managers, 36-hour course, Branch of
Fire Management, Boise, Idaho. First offering of this new course.
(Calendar appears in each Monday's morning report. If you know of a
conference, meeting or training session with Servicewide interest and
implications, please provide the specifics to Bill Halainen in Ranger
Activities).
STAFF STATUS
Dabney, Healy and Hodapp on AL. Andy Ringgold is acting chief of Ranger
Activities.
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: FTS 343-4874/6039 or 202-343-4874/6039
Telefax: FTS 343-5977 or 202-343-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER
SEAdog: 1/650 (Phone:343-6014; BAUD:2400)