NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Thursday, August 17, 1995

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

85-516 - Mount Rainier (Washington) - Follow-up on Employee Deaths

The park has released the names of the two employees who were fatally injured
in the climbing accident on Mount Rainier on Saturday.  Killed were seasonal
climbing ranger Sean Ryan, 23, of South Nyack, New York, and SCA Phillip Otis,
22, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The two were en route to the 13,400-foot level
of the Emmons Glacier to assist a climber with a broken ankle when they fell
about 1,200 feet to their deaths.  Ryan was in his second season at Mount
Rainier, having worked at the park as an SCA in 1994.  Otis was in his first
season.  There will be a service for them for park employees and close friends
today; a public service will be held in Seattle early next week for employees
from other parks and agencies and the public.  Funeral services will be held in
New York and Minnesota during the next several days.  Parks in the Pacific
Northwest have lowered their flags to half staff until tomorrow morning. 
Further details on where to send notes of condolence will appear as soon as the
information becomes available.  [Lance Gillispie, MORA; Mark Forbes, PNRO]

95-518 - East Coast Parks - Follow-up on Hurricane Felix

The following reports were received yesterday from parks being most directly
affected by Hurricane Felix, which remains stationary off the North Carolina
coast:

* Cape Hatteras - All employees have left the park except for two
representatives to the Dare County emergency control committee and those
who made personal decisions to stay in the area.  A request for
assistance from a field area incident management team has been submitted
to the Southeast Field Office.

* Assateague Island - All remaining campers left the park yesterday
morning.  The Maryland District was closed at 1 p.m. and will remain
closed until the storm passes; the Virginia District was scheduled for
closure yesterday evening.  The major danger to facilities at present is
overwash.  Tides will continue to increase in height as long as Felix
stays at sea.

* Cape Lookout - The park is closed.  Essential employees completed final
closing procedures at noon yesterday then left the area.  Storm surges
have affected the park, but winds were minimal at the time of the report
yesterday morning.

* Colonial - The park completed hurricane preparations yesterday.  Visitor
centers and other facilities remained open and on regular schedules. 
Portions of the tour roads on Jamestown Island and in Yorktown have been
closed, however, due to potential problems with tidal flooding and downed
tree limbs.

* Gateway - Jacob Riis beach and Sandy Hook have been closed because of
high water, according to newspaper reports.

[Robert Woody, PIO, IMT, CAHA; Superintendent, CALO; Bob Thomas, Acting CR,
ASIS; Jim Burnett, CR, COLO; USA Today]

95-531 - Grand Teton (Wyoming) - Special Event 

President and Mrs. Clinton arrived at Jackson Hole Airport late on the
afternoon of Tuesday, August 15th, for a personal family vacation in the
Jackson Hole, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone area.  Superintendent Jack Neckels
and Bridger-Teton National Forest supervisor Sandra Key greeted the Clintons at
the airport.  Neckels and Key have signed a joint delegation of authority to
authorize management of the visit by the National Park Service's national Type
I all-risk incident management team.  Other cooperating agencies include the
Teton County sheriff's office, Jackson police department, Yellowstone National
Park, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Secret Service.  The
Clintons are expected to participate in a number of recreation activities in
and around the park.  As of August 16th, a total of 77 individuals were
involved in the interagency operation, including 37 employees from Grand Teton,
five from Yellowstone, eight from Bridger-Teton and Targhee national forests,
and 27 from other NPS units.  [Colin Campbell, CR, GRTE]

                    [More pending reports tomorrow...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY

                                                                  %   Est
State    Area                Fire         IMT      8/15     8/17  Con Con  

 MN   Superior NF        Sag Corridor      T2     8,088   12,200   90  CN 8/17

 CA   Tahoe NF           Helester          T2       573      624  100  CND    

 UT   Wasatch Cache NF * Perry Canyon      --         -    4,000    0  NEC

 ID   Idaho NEL, DOE   * Inel Assist       --         -    3,650  100  CND

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            0       5        6       0       113       31        155
Acres Burned      0       4       15       0       218       67        304

4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -

               Crews     Engines     Helicopters     Airtankers     Overhead

Federal           37        50           22               2            186
Non-federal        2         6            0               0              0

5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -

                                      CY 1995            Five Year Average
                                    Year-to-Date           Year-to-Date

Number of Fires - U.S.                 58,563                  53,156     
Acres Burned - U.S.                 1,436,496               2,150,502 
Number of Fires - Canada                7,000                       -
Acres Burned - Canada              14,959,194                       -

6) SITUATION - Initial attack remained at moderate levels yesterday.

7) OUTLOOK - A red flag warning has been issued for Lassen and Plumas Counties
in northern California for gusty winds.  Fire weather watches have been posted
for high winds in southern and eastern Nevada, and for high winds, low humidity
and high temperatures in all of Utah.  Moderate fire activity is expected, but
the potential exists for increased activity in northern Minnesota and areas
where watches and warnings have been posted.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/17]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Washington Office - Resource Management Support Functions

Mike Soukup, the associate director for natural resource stewardship and
science, has asked that the following message be passed on to all areas:

"I would like to take this opportunity to let you know that although the
Wildlife and Vegetation division has been disbanded we are still very concerned
about the biological aspects of natural resources.

  Those individuals who had
programmatic responsibility for such topics as wildlife management, exotic
species, fisheries, threatened and endangered species, National Natural
Landmarks and IPM are still responsible for these areas and are available to
assist you.   They are, however, performing these functions from a different
venue and a slightly different perspective; for example, IPM is now assigned to
the WASO Environmental Quality Division, Fisheries is assigned to the Water
Resources Division, and Wildlife Management is assigned to Partnerships in Fort
Collins, CO. 

"To recognize that the Service has as its mission stewardship of natural
systems, I have created the Natural Systems Management Office, staffed by four
former Wildlife and Vegetation Division employees.  These individuals have
strong credentials in biology but have also been involved in synthesis programs
and issues for many years, and will remain key resources for not only
biological advice and problem solving but the integration of biology, ecology,
and systems ecology.  They will begin to synthesize existing information into
strategies to deal with many of the 

issues which occur at the regional and
landscape scale, external to the parks, that are or will have significant
impacts on the Service's  ability

 to meet our mission.  I feel that park
management will increasingly need this support.  This Office recently met

 and,
with the input of field representatives, has begun to define its mission, to
identify its role and function, and to identify specific tasks designed to
accomplish its mission.  I hope to have a more detailed report to soon share
with the Service.

"I feel it is critically important that the NPS strike out in this direction,
but we will not abandon the traditional services we have provided."

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No notes.

OBSERVATIONS

"The national parks represent our belief that certain lands are more valuable
to us in their preserved state.  We have always acknowledged, though, that
activities not allowed in the parks were more than allowable and even
encouraged elsewhere.  Only recently have we seen that these same activities
may threaten the parks we thought were preserved for all time." 

                                   John C. Freemuth, "Islands Under
                                   Siege: National Parks and the
                                   Politics of External Threats"

[Do you have a favorite quote about the NPS?  If so, send it along for possible
inclusion in a future Morning Report.  If you'd like a WP5.1 copy of quotes
that have appeared to date, send a note to this address]

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