- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, August 16, 1994
- Date: Turs, 16 Aug 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, August 16, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-236 - Whiskeytown (California) - Follow-up on Hazardous Materials Dumping
On the afternoon of May 22nd, rangers discovered that five 55-gallon drums
of suspected hazardous material had been dumped in the Clear Creek area,
about a quarter mile downstream from a dam on that river. The illegally-
dumped waste contained beryllium and magnesium metal powders. On August
12th, P.G., 26, of Redding, California, was indicted by a federal
grand jury in Sacramento on three counts of violations of the Federal Clean
Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The indictment
stemmed from a three-month investigation by the NPS, EPA's Criminal
Investigation Division, the FBI, and BLM. If convicted, P.G. faces up to
five years in prison. [Larry Carr, CR, WHIS, 8/12]
94-459 - Glen Canyon (Arizona/Utah) - Significant Assist to Agency
On August 12th, the park received a request from the Kane County sheriff's
office for assistance with a fight involving shots fire and wounded victims
in Big Water, Utah, a small unincorporated town on the park's southwest
boundary, as it would take their officers 20 to 30 minutes to reach the
scene. Additional reports indicated that one victim had been shot in the
head, and that a person was standing on his porch with a high-powered rifle,
threatening to kill anyone who came after him. Responding rangers and park
medics confronted J.W., 30, who put his rifle down inside the house
as soon as they arrived and surrendered without further incident. They
found that he was had suffered head wounds from being struck in the head
with a pistol, and that S.W., 32, had been shot in the hand (not the
head) with a small caliber handgun. S.W, who has a lengthy criminal
file, was convicted of assault on a Glen Canyon ranger in 1990 and is
considered to be a high risk individual because of his expressed hatred for
law enforcement officers in general and rangers in particular. Kane County
deputies took both men into custody. Alcohol appears to have been a
contributing factor in the fight between the two men, who are neighbors.
[Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA, 8/15]
94-460 - Statue of Liberty (New York) - Arrest for Threats to Employees
On August 14th, FBI agents in New Orleans executed an arrest warrant for
J.G.D., 45, of that city for violation of 18 USC 875,
threatening interstate communications. The arrest stemmed from an
investigation into threatening phone calls directed at specific park
employees which was begun by rangers Steve Connor and Peter Tortorell in
March, 1994. The caller threatened injury to the employees and also stated
that he would punish all females he came into contact with. Consensual
monitoring of telephone lines with recording equipment allowed rangers to
establish sufficient evidence to arrest J.G.D.. Over the period of the
investigation, J.G.D. allegedly made between 350 and 500 threatening
telephone calls to the park from the New Orleans area. At this time, it is
uncertain if J.G.D.'s case will be adjudicated in Louisiana or if he will be
extradited to New York City to stand trial. [Scott Pfeninger, CR, STLI,
8/14]
94-461 - Crater Lake (Oregon) - Rescue
A 20-year-old man was seriously injured in a fall and rescued from the
caldera wall Sunday, August 14th. J.N., of Union City, California,
suffered a dislocated knee and numerous abrasions and lacerations while
illegally descending the wall. The incident began when rangers spotted Andy
Lacayo, J.N.'s companion, at the edge of the lake and responded by boat to
contact him. Lacayo then told them of his friend's injuries and location
about 300 feet up the caldera wall. Rangers employed technical climbing
equipment to descend a thousand vertical feet down the steep caldera wall to
him. Falling rock created significant hazards to the team during the
descent; ranger Carl Jones suffered minor abrasions while covering J.N.'s
head with his own body to protect him from falling rock. J.N. was
stabilized, belayed down talus slopes to the lake edge, then transported
across the choppy lake, which had waves of from two to three feet in height.
He was carried a mile up the Cleetwood Cove trail on a wheeled litter, then
taken by park ambulance to a landing zone at North Junction. Due to the
unavailability of civilian aircraft, park staff had called the 304th Air
Rescue Squadron, Portland, Oregon for assistance. They responded with
Blackhawk helicopters with night navigation and vision equipment and flew
J.N. to a hospital. J.N. and Lacayo were cited for entering a closed
area. [George Buckingham, CR, CRLA, 8/15]
94-462 - Glacier (Montana) - MVA with Multiple Injuries
Three park visitors were injured, two seriously, when the four-wheel drive
pick-up they were traveling in went over the side of the Going-to-theSun
Road on August 11th. S.F., 68, of Emory, Texas, and his wife,
C.F., 61, were eastbound on the highway with their two sons, J.S.,
20, and T.S., 22, both of Florence, Colorado, when their
truck left the roadway one mile above Haystack Creek. T.S. was
reportedly driving the truck; his parents were in the single cab, while
J.S. rode in the truck bed. The three in the cab were all thrown from the
truck approximately 100 feet below the roadway, but J.S. apparently was
able to jump out onto the pavement before the vehicle left the road.
Rangers and ranger medics treated both F.s at the scene with the
assistance of a local doctor; they were then taken to Kalispell Regional
Hospital. S.F. sustained a dislocated hip and fractures to the
scapula, clavicle and pelvis; C.F. suffered significant facial
lacerations and fractured ribs, nose and tail bone. Both are listed in
serious but stable condition. Tom Shaffer suffered a fractured wrist. None
of the occupants of the truck was wearing a seatbelt. After they were
thrown from the truck, it continued rolling downhill and eventually came to
rest about 1,200 feet below the highway. The cause of the accident is not
known. [Amy Vanderbilt, PAO, GLAC, 8/15]
94-463 - Glacier (Montana) - Injury to Concession Employee
On August 15th, J.C., 28, of Whitefish, Montana, an employee
with Glacier Wilderness Guides, a park concession, slipped on wet rocks
while hiking on the Red Gap Pass trail and fell about 75 vertical feet down
cascading rocks. J.C. suffered facial lacerations and a number of
serious bruises. An eight-person rescue team comprised of rangers from the
Many Glacier areas evacuated him to a landing zone, where a helicopter
picked him up and took him to a regional hospital. J.C. was one of
two Wilderness Guides escorting a group of six visitors on a four-day
backcountry trip from Belly River to Many Glacier Valley via Poia Lake.
This is J.C.'s third season as an employee with Glacier Wilderness
Guides. [Amy Vanderbilt, PAO, GLAC, 8/15]
94-464 -Indiana Dunes (Indiana) - Drug Arrests
On the morning of August 10th, rangers responded to a noise complaint in the
Dunewood Campground. Upon entering the campsite, they saw a marijuana
cigarette in plain view. A consent search of the tents on the site yielded
43 grams of marijuana, 42 grams of dried psilocybin mushrooms, and 20 "hits"
of LSD. One subject admitted ownership and was arrested and charged with
possession of a controlled substance. Distribution charges and additional
State charges are being considered by the assigned assistant U.S. attorney.
[Joni Jones, INDU, 8/11]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - V
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 8/15 8/16 Status
WA USFS Wenatchee NF Tyee Comp. - T1 123,970 124,780 CN 8/22
Hatchery
Comp. - T1 41,895 42,385 NEC
OR USFS Wall.-Whit. NF Snake River
Comp. - T2 5,802 5,802 CN 8/19
Boundary - T2 2,600 3,300 CN 8/20
Okanogan NF Methow Comp. - T2 16,634 16,634 CN 8/19
Okanogan Comp. - T1 4,631 4,631 NEC
MT NPS Glacier NP * Starvation
Creek - T2 - 200 NEC
State - Lost Trail - T2 1,400 1,170 CND
- * Wolf Mountain II
Comp. - T2 - 3,200 NEC
USFS Bitterroot NF Bitter-Nez - T2 625 615 CN 8/18
Kootenai NF 17 Mile - T1 500 1,200 NEC
Flathead NF * Little Wolf - T2 - 150 NEC
ID USFS Boise NF Idaho City
Comp. - T1 19,600 21,700 CN 8/28
Thunderbolt - T2 920 960 CN 8/18
Payette NF Blackwell Comp. -
T1 24,715 28,200 NEC
Corral Creek - T2 32,340 48,600 NEC
Clearwater NF Sam Group - T2 465 465 CN 8/16
Freezeout 5,550 5,550 CN 9/15
Idaho Pan. NF St Joe Fires - T2 600 640 NEC
Priest Lake
Comp. - T2 500 681 CN 8/29
Targhee NF * Mesa - 125 CN 8/16
Challis NF * Pioneer Creek - T2 - 750 NEC
UT USFS Was.-Cache NF * E. Deweyville - 400 NEC
CA NPS Yosemite NP Horizon 2,850 2,860 CN 8/16
USFS Klamath NF Dillon Comp. - T2 20,162 20,162 CN 8/16
San Bern. NF Deep Creek Comp. 1,800 1,800 NEC
State - Creek 1,400 1,400 CND
- 41 300 41,300 NEC
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 NEC - No estimate of containment
CND - Contained CN/CS (date) - Expected date of containment
3) FIRES YESTERDAY -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 11 9 7 0 77 223 327
Acres Burned 24 28 6,706 0 3,511 4,811 15,080
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 488 282 106 15 2,758
Non-federal 124 184 37 12 1,528
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1994 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires 54,446 50,893
Acres Burned 2,487,393 1,977,679
6) OVERALL SITUATION - Initial attack increased in the northern Rockies
yesterday due to dry lightning. Active burning continued on several large
fires in the Northwest, Great Basin, northern Rockies and California.
7) NPS SITUATION -
* Glacier - An incident command team is in place and managing the Howling
fire as a prescribed natural fire. The fire began on June 23rd and has
grown to 90 acres. The fire has been backing slowly downhill, creating an
ideal understory burn. Little torching or active flame activity is being
observed. The team is utilizing several models to predict expected fire
behavior and growth. The management attainment perimeter is in excess of
60,000 acres for the fire, and includes the 1988 Red Bench fire. Trails in
Logging Creek, Anaconda Creek and Dutch Creek have been closed. The nearest
structures are 12 miles away along Lake McDonald.
* Yosemite - As of late Sunday night, the Horizon fire had burned 2,860
acres and was 95% contained. Containment was expected at 6 p.m. yesterday
evening. Control problems included prolific spotting and heavy fuels.
Demob of overhead had begun.
8) OUTLOOK - A red flag watch has been posted for winds in eastern Oregon,
central and southern Idaho and western Wyoming. Large fire activity will
continue.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/16; Dean Berg, NPS fire
situation coordinator, Branch of Fire and Aviation Management, 8/15; Deb
Liggett, IO, Howling fire, 8/14]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Channel Islands (California) - Discovery of Pygmy Mammoth Remains
On June 29th, Tom Rockwell, a geologist with San Diego University, working
with Don Morris, a Park Service archeologist, discovered the remains of a
pygmy mammoth on Santa Rosa Island. This is the first complete skeletal
remains of this rare species ever found; no counterpart has ever been found
on the mainland. The pygmy mammoth is considered to be an example of sub-
speciation, a process in which large animals isolated on islands adapt to
the environment by evolving into smaller versions of their mainland
ancestors. The pygmy mammoth species is believed to have become extinct
about 10,000 years ago with the appearance of aboriginal man. The vertebrae
and part of the skull of this animal were partially exposed in a sandstone
coastal bluff that was gradually eroding. The skeleton is estimated to be
about 70,000 years old. The elephant was a mature male and measured five
feet tall at the shoulder. In order to protect the site, discovery was kept
secret until an excavation could be funded, planned and executed. Western
Regional Office funded the project and excavation commenced on August 9th.
The excavation will conclude on the 19th, at which time the remains will be
transported back to the mainland by boat, then moved to the University of
Arizona for preservation and study. The remains will eventually be brought
back to a Museum in Southern California and a replica made for public
display in the park visitor center. Requests for additional information
should be directed to Kate Faulkner, chief of resource management, at
805-658-5709. [Jack Fitzgerald, CHIS]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
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
No hearings scheduled in either the House or the Senate.
Recent Actions
House -- Representative Dicks has introduced H.R. 4909, a bill to amend
the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act to
provide greater flexibility in the expenditure of funds. The
House has voted to suspend rules and pass the following
measures: S. 1703, amended, to expand the boundaries of the
Piscataway National Park, and H.R. 1562, amended, to amend title
V of Public Law 96-550, designating the Chaco Culture
Archeological Protection Sites.
Senate -- No new NPS-related actions.
Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation
and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
Telephone: 202-208-4874
Telefax: 202-208-6756
cc:Mail: WASO Ranger Activities
SkyPager: Emergencies ONLY: 1-800-759-7243, PIN 2404843