- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, July 3, 1995
- Date: Mon, 3 Jul 1995
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, July 3, 1995
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
95-342 - Shenandoah (Virginia) - Follow-up on Flooding
The park is recovering from the impacts of the torrential rains and floods of
June 28th. Power has been restored to the Big Meadows area, which should be
fully operational by tomorrow. All road access to trails on the east side of
the park between Routes 211 and 33 has been barred at the request of the county
sheriff's office due to the national state of disaster declared for the area.
A large slide (600 yards long by 50 feet wide) of trees, rocks and soil
occurred near the Berry Hollow area and ran outside the park, coming to rest
against a private residence. On July 1st, the park received a report that some
people might have been stranded in the Conway River area since June 27th. The
reporting party said he saw a vehicle with two people in it enter the rugged
fire road at that location about two hours before the area was cut off by
rising water, and said that he had spent that night clinging to a tree top
after a six-foot-high wall of water came down the drainage. He was able to get
to a residence outside the park the next day, but remained stranded there until
Saturday. Three rangers checked the area but were unable to locate the vehicle
or its occupants. The park has assisted Green County by lending earth moving
equipment and operators to push one lane through destroyed state roads to reach
some 200 stranded people. Efforts continue to reach other families through the
park and get urgently needed supplies to them. [Brenda Ritchie, SHEN, 7/2]
95-354 - Mammoth Cave (Kentucky) - Resource Theft
On June 8th, a researcher reported finding a hole under the Crystal Cave gave.
Park staff subsequently determined that the cave had been illegally entered and
that gypsum and travertine cave formations and two sculpted clay heads had been
stolen. The latter were carved out of damp clay sediments in the cave by F.C.
and his brother around 1920; the heads are life-sized and reputedly
carved in the likeness of the two men, who were working to create trails in
order to open Crystal Cave to commercial tours when it was still in private
hands. Investigators identified four possible suspects. Three have been
interviewed, and all have confessed to varying amounts of involvement. It
appears that there were at least five separate entries between mid-April and
the end of May, but that not all suspects were present each time. Over 300
pounds of formations have been recovered from three gift shop operators in the
Cave City area who paid about a dollar a pound for them. The clay heads were
sold to a fourth gift shop operator for $300, and have also been recovered.
One vehicle was seized following service of a search warrant. it contained
particles of cave formations, cave soils, tools and notes pertaining to the
sale of the formations. Tools found inside the cave have been sent to the FBI
lab for analysis for latent fingerprints. Investigators also found a large
pile of gypsum and travertine in the cave which had been stockpiled for later
removal by the suspects. The park is working with experts in geology to place
a value on the damage to these irreplaceable formations. An assistant U.S.
attorney was to visit the park late last week to review the case, and it's
expected that indictments will be sought on multiple felony counts. The fourth
suspect is being sought along with additional formations known to have been
stolen from the cave. [Phil Veluzat, CR, MACA, 6/26]
95-355 - Gulf Islands (Mississippi/Florida) - Drowning; Three Rescued
On the afternoon of June 26th, N.W. and a companion were swimming
about a quarter mile east of the guarded beach at Perdido Key when they were
swept out into the gulf by strong currents. Two visitors on the beach went to
their rescue; one reached N.W.'s friend and brought him back to an off-shore
sandbar. Lifeguards Philip May and Aaron Patterson received word that thee
were swimmers in distress, responded and rescued all but N.W., who they
were unable to locate. Two of the rescued swimmers were taken to a hospital in
Pensacola. A search was launched for N.W., continued late into the
evening, then resumed the following morning. On the 28th, N.W. body was
recovered from the surf about a thousand yards east of the point last seen by
county SAR team members. Surf conditions were very rough at the time of the
incident, with waves two- to three-feet high and a very strong, eastward-
trending rip current. Although the drowning did not occur at the guarded
beach, yellow cautions flags were flying indicating dangerous surf conditions.
[Gene Phillips, CR, GUIS, 6/29]
[Many more pending incident reports later this week....]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
% Est
State Area Fire IMT 6/30 7/3 Con Con
AZ Arizona Strip
District Nevershine Cx T2 2,000 21,126 20 NEC
Tonto NF * River -- - 8,500 60 CN 7/4
ID Boise District * Initial Point -- - 2,200 - CN 7/2
UT Cedar City
District * Birthday -- - 2,600 80 CN 7/3
MN Superior NF Gunflint T2 2,346 2,346 85 CN 7/3
HEADING NOTES:
Fire * = newly reported fire (on this report). Cx = complex.
IMT T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST1 = state Type 1; ST2 = state Type 2.
% Con Percent of fire contained.
Est Con Estimated containment date. NEC = no estimated date of
containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report.
3) FIRES YESTERDAY -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 1 10 7 0 21 48 87
Acres Burned 0 305 4,826 0 350 4,540 10,021
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 46 98 25 6 171
Non-federal 4 13 3 0 30
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1995 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires - U.S. 44,826 39,031
Acres Burned - U.S. 725,485 810,623
Number of Fires - Canada 5,348 -
Hectares Burned - Canada 3,640,085 -
6) SITUATION - Initial attack increased in several areas in the West over the
weekend, but resource mobilization through NICC remained low. Eight, five-
person smokechaser squads were sent to Quebec yesterday. Almost 700,000 acres
burned in Canada on Sunday. [NOTE: Several Morning Report readers have asked
for additional information on the Canadian fires. We will have a special
report later in the week.]
7) OUTLOOK - A fire weather watch has been posted for dry lightning in northern
and eastern Arizona. Initial attack is expected to continue throughout the
holiday weekend; large fires will continue in the Southwest.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/3]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
MEETINGS/TRAINING CALENDAR
Calendar appears in the morning report every other Monday. If you know of a
conference, meeting or training session with Servicewide interest and
implications, please forward the listing to WASO Ranger Activities. Entries
are listed no earlier than FOUR months before the event, EXCEPT in instances in
which registration dates close much earlier. Asterisks indicate new entries;
brackets at end of entry indicate source of information:
7/17-18* -- Mile-A-Minute (Polygonum Perfoliatum) Conference, Old York Valley
Inn, York, PA. Registration is $40; the deadline for registration
is July 6th. Contact: Dr. Nathan Hartwig, 116 ASI Building,
University Park, PA 16802; tel: 814-865-1906; fax: 814-863-7043.
[Carol DiSalvo, IPM/WASO]
7/17-21 -- "The Museum Leadership Seminar", Smithsonian Institute, Washington,
DC. The application deadline is May 12th. Contact: 202-357-3101.
[Diane Vogt O'Connor, CSD/WASO]
7/30-8/11 -- Ninth Annual Western Archives Institute, Fuller Seminary, Pasadena,
CA. A how-to overview of archival management. Contact:
916-773-3000 (phone); 916-773-8249 (fax). [Diane Vogt O'Connor,
CSD/WASO]
8/6-10 -- 46th Annual American Institute of Biological Sciences Meeting of
Scientific Societies, Town and Country Hotel, San Diego, CA.
Contact: AIBS Meetings Office, 800-992-2427 (phone) or 202-628-1509
(fax). [Steve Cinnamon, MWRO]
8/8-10 -- "Repellents in Wildlife Management", symposium, Sheraton Hotel,
Denver Tech Center, Denver, CO. Early registration fee is $125;
$150 after June 30th. Contact: Office of Conference Services,
Colorado State University, 970-491-7501. [Steve Cinnamon, MWRO]
9/12-17 -- "Excellence in Wildlife Stewardship through Science and Education",
Second Annual Conference, Wildlife Society, Portland, OR. Nineteen
on-going symposia, 21 sessions featuring contributed papers and
posters, trade show. Child care available. Early registration fee
for members is $125, $170 for non-members; fees increased by $35
after August 14th. Contact: Wildlife Society, 5410 Grosvenor Lane,
Bethesda, MD 20814-2197; fax: 301-530-2471. [Steve Cinnamon, MWRO]
9/18-20 -- Seventh International Disaster Recovery Symposium and Exhibition,
Atlanta, GA. Contact: 314-894-0276. [Diane Vogt O'Connor,
CSD/WASO]
9/18-22* -- Teaching with Historic Places, Mather EDC, Harpers Ferry, WV.
Training course in which participants will use an established model
to develop lesson plans employing historic places in their parks.
Completed lesson plans can be used both on- and off-site. There is
no fee; travel and per diem are by benefitting account. The
application deadline is August 4th. Contact: Marilyn Harper,
National Register of Historic Places, WASO, 202-343-9546 or via
cc:Mail by name. [Marilyn Harper, IRD/WASO]
10/16-20* -- "Managing Parks Sustainably: Seminar on Environmental Issues",
Xerox Center, Leesburg, VA. Presented by WASO Environmental
Quality Division in conjunction with the Environmental Law
Institute. The seminar will address ways to incorporate
sustainability into aspects of park management ranging from visitor
impacts and facilities location and design to resource management
and ecosystem considerations, and will explore legal tools and
opportunities for moving toward sustainable decision-making for
park and adjacent resources. Limited to 40 people. Contact: Jacob
Hoogland, EQD/WASO, 202-208-5214. [Jake Hoogland, EQD/WASO]
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