- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, August 21, 1995
- Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, August 21, 1995
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
*** NOTICE ***
By order of the White House, all flags are to be lowered to half staff,
effective immediately, in tribute to the three American diplomats who died in
Bosnia on August 19th. Flags will return to full staff on the morning of
Thursday, August 24th.
INCIDENTS
95-518 - East Coast Parks - Follow-up on Hurricane Felix
The sudden change in direction and departure of Hurricane Felix spared East
coast parks from significant damage. The following reports were received on
Friday:
* Assateague Island - The park reopened all areas and facilities at 10 a.m.
on Friday, August 18th. No significant damage was reported by returning
staff. At 9 a.m., park personnel recovered the body of a man believed to
have drowned north of the park in Ocean City. Sea conditions were
reported to still be hazardous.
* Cape Lookout - The park returned to normal operations at 3 p.m. on August
17th. The park sustained no property damage and only minimal resource
damage.
* Colonial - The park has returned to normal operations.
[Bob Thomas, Acting CR, ASIS; Bill Harris, Superintendent, CALO; Jim Burnett,
CR, COLO]
95-531 - Grand Teton (Wyoming) - Special Event
President Clinton and his family have made several visits to the park since
their arrival in the area last Tuesday for a two-week vacation. On Friday,
August 18th, the family dined at Dornan's in Moose Village and took an evening
stroll around the Menor's Ferry historic district with concessions chief and
White House liaison Joan Anzelmo. They then drove through the park to view a
herd of bison before returning to their residence. Earlier in the day,
President Clinton phoned long-time local resident and national park advocate
Mardie Murie to extend best wishes to her on her 95th birthday. On Sunday, the
family ventured into the park for a full day of activities. They first stopped
at the Moose entrance station, where President Clinton got out of his vehicle
and purchased a Golden Eagle passport from ranger Erik Reis. After attending
church and greeting visitors and local residents at the Chapel of the
Transfiguration, the family ate at Jenny Lake lodge, then hiked along String
Lake and Jenny Lake with park public affairs officer Linda Olson as their
guide. As of August 20th, a total of 81 individuals were involved in the
interagency operation, including 41 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]
95-532 - Pinnacles (California) - Death of Employee
Steven Debenedetti, 47, the park's resource management specialist and fire
management officer, died of cancer on August 11th. He was born and raised on
Concord, California, and graduated from UC-Berkeley with a BS in conservation
of natural resources and a BA in political science. He received his masters in
watershed management from Humboldt State University. He began working in the
NPS at Yosemite in 1972, then worked at Sequoia-Kings Canyon before moving to
Pinnacles in 1984. Major projects and studies he initiated at Pinnacles
included rock climbing impacts on wilderness areas, feral pig eradication,
trespass and cattle fencing, revegetation, and air resources monitoring. He is
survived by his wife, Jolene Wright, and daughter, Anna. Private services were
held in Gilroy, California. Those wishing to make a donation in his memory
should send a contribution to the American Cancer Society, 1715 South Bascom
Avenue, Suite 100, Campbell, CA 95008, or to the National Park Foundation, 1101
17th Street, Northwest, Suite 1102, Washington, DC 20036-4704. Please indicate
if your donation should go to Pinnacles. Condolences should be sent to Jolene
Wright-Debenedetti, PO Box 566, San Juan Batista, CA 95045. The park plans on
presenting his wife with a photo album in memory of Steve. If you would like
to contribute any photographs, letters or stories about him, please forward
them to Leticia Ruiz at Pinnacles NM, 5000 Highway 146, Paicines, CA 95043.
September 9th has been tentatively set for a gathering of friends. If you have
any questions, please call the park at 408-389-4485. [Gary Candelaria,
Superintendent, PINN]
[More pending reports tomorrow...]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
% Est
State Area Fire IMT 8/17 8/21 Con Con
UT Wasatch Cache NF Perry Canyon -- 4,000 3,090 100 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 1 2 4 0 62 22 91
Acres Burned 1 1 26 0 126 164 318
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 19 39 12 2 117
Non-federal 0 2 0 0 1
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1995 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires - U.S. 60.929 54,725
Acres Burned - U.S. 1,495,587 2,243,548
Number of Fires - Canada 7,186 -
Acres Burned - Canada 15,560,718 -
6) SITUATION - There was little fire activity anywhere in the United States
yesterday.
7) OUTLOOK - A fire weather watch has been issued for dry lightning in portions
of northern Nevada.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/21]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
OBSERVATIONS
"I think we all agree that a national park is not merely scenery. A national
park embodies something that cannot be found everywhere - it embodies history,
a way of life, primitive experience, early environment. It has the elements
capable of providing that lifting of the spirit for which modern civilization
is willing to pay so much. A national park is specifically dedicated to these
intangible and imponderable qualities."
Conservationist Olaus J.
Murie, 1889-1963
[Quotes submitted for consideration for the Morning Report should pertain to
either the National Park Service or closely related issues, such as wilderness
and conservation, and should include the author and the date and source of the
quote. A mailing list has been created for periodic dissemination of the
master list of quotes to date to interested parties. If you'd like to be on
that list, please 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