- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, June 21, 1994
- Date: Tues, 21 Jun 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, June 21, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-318 - Capulin Volcano (New Mexico) - Employee Fatality
Park maintenance worker Fernando Abeyta was killed yesterday morning when a
John Deere front end loader he was driving went over the side of the road
and down a steep embankment about a quarter of a mile from the top of the
volcano. At the time of the report, EMS responders, state police and
rangers were at the scene of the accident, but no further details were
available. The regional office has dispatched a stress debriefing team to
the park. The park road will be closed until the on-site investigation is
completed. [Tony Bonanno, RCR, RAD/SWRO, 6/20]
94-319 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Plane Crash
A twin-engined plane crashed in the "China Orchard" of the Moses Cone Estate
around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 19th. The plane was being tracked by
Customs aircraft at the time of the crash, and a large quantity of marijuana
and hashish were found at the crash site in parts of the plane that broke
away from the main section, which burned upon impact. Thus far, no pilot
has been found in the plane or around the crash site. A search is underway
to locate him or her. Rangers and Customs officials are conducting the
investigation. [CRO, BLRI, 6/20]
94-320 - Jefferson National Expansion (Missouri) - Special Event
Emperor Akshito and Empress Michicko of Japan visited the park on Friday,
June 17th. Approximately a third of the memorials' grounds were closed off
to the general public, as were the south entrance to the Arch and the Museum
of Westward Expansion. Two special events teams were brought in to help
with security. Extreme heat and humidity created some minor problems, but
no significant events occurred. The event was managed under the incident
command system. There was extensive coverage of the event by the local,
national and international press. [Deryl Stone, CR, JEFF, 6/20]
94-321 - War in the Pacific (Guam) - Special Event
On June 12th, the park hosted a short wreath laying ceremony at the Mambini
monuments in the park's Asan Beach unit. Former Philippines President
Coruzon Aquino placed wreaths at the monuments in recognition of the
contributions of the exiled revolutionaries who were incarcerated at the
park's location in 1901. A small crowd of Filipinos attended, as did
representatives of the press. Moderate security was provided by the Guam
police department and private body guards. No problems were encountered.
[Edward Wood, Superintendent, WAPA/AMME, 6/20]
94-322 - American Memorial (Saipan) - Special Event
Throughout last week, the park hosted commemorative ceremonies for the 50th
anniversary of the Battle of Saipan and the Battle of the Philippine Sea
during World War II. The ceremonies and dedications marked the near
completion of a new $2.5 million memorial and amphitheater complex in the
park. Approximately 200 veterans of the battles returned to participate in
the remembrance activities. Few incidents occurred. [Edward Wood,
Superintendent, WAPA/AMME, 6/20]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - III
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 6/20 6/21 Status
NM USFS Gila NF Pigeon - T1 2,900 3,220 CN 6/22
Spruce 200 200 CND
BLM Las Cruces Dis. Organs 1,700 1,900 CN 6/21
AK State - 404274 - T2 40,000 40,465 NEC
CA USFS Sierra NF * Garlic 625 625 CND
NOTES:
- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this report). T1 and
T2 indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Status - The following abbreviations are employed:
NR - No report received MS - Modified suppression strategy
CL - Controlled MN - Being monitored
CS - Containment strategy NEC - No estimate of containment
CND - Contained CN/CS (date) - Expected date of containment
3) FIRE HIGHLIGHTS -
No significant fire reports.
4) FIRES YESTERDAY (BY AGENCY) -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 2 6 9 0 52 28 97
Acres Burned 1 473 10,345 0 102 334 11,255
5) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 83 43 45 0 554
Non-federal 15 1 4 0 58
6) CURRENT SITUATION - Containment targets are being met in the Southwest
due to cooler temperatures, higher relative humidity and scattered
precipitation. Numerous Southwestern areas, however, are continuing to
report very high fire indices. Demobilization of resources increased
yesterday through NICC. Favorable weather and the availability of initial
attack resources are keeping new starts at minimal acreages. Elsewhere,
very high and extreme indices are being reported in the Great Basin, Rockies
and California, but cool and wet weather in Alaska has diminished fire
activity throughout the state.
7) OUTLOOK - Little new fire activity is expected in any area of the
country.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/21]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Glacier (Montana) - Northern Hawk Owl
Biologists have located the nest of a rare northern hawk owl in a burned out
tree left from the 1988 Red Bench fire in the North Fork area of the park.
This is the first recorded nesting of the owl in the park and in the western
United States, but the birds may have nested in Glacier for years without
anyone observing them. Park resource managers recently placed
identification leg bands on the female and three young. The hawk owl's
presence in Glacier was described as a "unique event" by state biologists.
A day-time hunter, the owl stands 16 inches and has yellow eyes and a long,
barred tail. Except for portions of northern Minnesota, it seldom travels
south from Canada. [Amy Vanderbilt, PIO, GLAC]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Internet - The Information and Telecommunications Division in WASO has
opened a user-friendly gateway for Internet mail on cc:Mail. Each NPS
employee and office that has a cc:Mail address now also has an official NPS
Internet address. To send a message, choose NP--INTERNET from the cc:Mail
address list. At the "To:" prompt, type in the Internet address of the
person you are sending mail to, i.e. billc@whitehouse.gov. Then type and
send the message as you normally would. Files may be attached, but in most
cases they should be ASCII Text files (as opposed to binary files). For
WordPerfect documents, you can create text files by saving them using
Control F5; Dos Text; Save. (Be sure to give the text version a distinct
file name; xxx.txt is standard.) A complete set of instructions with
technical information will be distributed to all cc:Mail users through the
cc:Mail Hub Coordinators in the next few weeks. Your National Park Service
Internet mail address to receive mail is the same as your name on the
cc:Mail address list, in the form of firstname_lastname@nps.gov. Examples
are betsy_chittenden@nps.gov; waso_ranger_activities@nps.gov;
yose_superintendent@nps.gov. The gateway will automatically take the
incoming Internet mail and convert it to a cc:Mail message. Internet access
through this gateway is for mail only. Full Internet services are being
implemented as part of the ParkNet project over the next few years (see the
May 31st Morning Report). If you have technical questions on Internet mail,
please send a cc:Mail message to your Hub Coordinator. For more information
on Internet services in general, contact Betsy Chittenden at WASO ITD
(cc:Mail or 202-343-4449).
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
IN CONGRESS
The following activities have occurred recently or will be taking place in
Congress during coming weeks on matters of interest or consequence to the
National Park Service. If you would like further information on any of
these hearings or bills, please contact Mary in WASO Legislation at 202-208-
3636.
Upcoming Hearings
6/21 -- House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands (Vento): Hearing on H.R. 3408 and S. 1586, to
establish New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park in
Louisiana; H.R. 4158, to establish Lower East Side Tenement
Museum National Historic Site.
-- Senate Energy and Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Public
Lands, National Parks and Forests (Bumpers): Oversight hearing
on Disney's America project and its potential impacts on nearby
Civil War battlefield sites.
6/23 -- House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands (Vento): Oversight hearing on Everglades
issues.
6/27 -- House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands (Vento): Hearing on H.R. 3079, to establish the
Augusta Canal National Heritage Corridor in Georgia; H.R. 1685,
to establish the Essex Heritage District Commission; H.R. 3144,
to authorize funding within the Department of Interior to
implement the plan of the Steel Industry Heritage Project; and
H.R. 3988, to provide for the preservation and interpretation of
certain lands and structures relating to the coal mining
heritage of the state of West Virginia and the nation.
Recent Actions
House -- The House's Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks,
Forests and Public Lands has approved the following bills for
full committee action: H.R. 1716, amended, to amend the Act of
January 26, 1915, establishing Rocky Mountain National Park, to
provide for the protection of certain lands in Rocky Mountain
National Park and along North St. Vrain Creek; H.R. 3708,
amended, to reform operation, maintenance, and development of
the Steamtown National Historic Site; H.R. 4364, to direct the
Secretary of Transportation to transfer administrative
jurisdiction over certain lands for inclusion in the Cape
Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area.
Senate -- The Senate has passed the following bills: S. 472, to improve
the administration and management of public lands, National
Forests, units of the National Park System and related areas by
improving the availability of adequate, appropriate, affordable,
and cost effective housing for employees needed to effectively
manage the public lands, after agreeing to committee amendments;
S. 1980, to establish the Cane River Creole National Historical
Park and the Cane River National Heritage Area in the State of
Louisiana, after agreeing to committee amendments; S. 150, to
provide for assistance in the preservation of Taliesin in the
State of Wisconsin, after agreeing to a committee amendment in
the nature of a substitute; S. 316, to expand the boundaries of
the Saguaro National Monument, after agreeing to a committee
amendment in the nature of a substitute; S. 1703, to expand the
boundaries of the Piscataway National Park, after agreeing to a
committee amendment in the nature of a substitute; H.R. 2815, to
designate a portion of the Farmington River in Connecticut as a
component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Systems, after
agreeing to committee amendments.
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: 202-208-4874
Telefax: 202-208-6756
cc:Mail: WASO Ranger Activities
SkyPager: Emergencies ONLY: 1-800-759-7243, PIN 2404843