- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, September 29, 1995
- Date: Fri, 29 Sep 1995
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, September 29, 1995
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
95-620 - Virgin Islands - Follow-up on Hurricane Marilyn
Daryl Rhodes, IMT ops chief, is recovering from the injuries he sustained in
the crash of the contract helicopter during hurricane relief operations on
September 22nd. His neurosurgeon says that he should fully recover, and that
his injuries should have no long-term effects. Doctors expect to release him
from the hospital tomorrow. Daryl sends his sincere thanks for all the support
he's received from friends throughout the Service. Cards and letters may be
sent to 1770 54th Terrace S.W., Naples, FL 33999. [Reed Detring, CR, EVER]
95-648 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Drowning
N.A., 12, apparently drowned while swimming with her two sisters
across a cove just west of Government Wash on Sunday, September 24th. N.A.
was on an outing with her family when the accident occurred. When N.A. and
her sister, L.A., age 6, began to have difficulties, their mother, Asuncion,
swam out to help and brought L.A. to shore. When she returned to help N.A.,
the girl had disappeared. During her attempts to find her daughter, Asuncion
also went under, but was pulled from the water by another visitor, Cesair
Garcia. CPR was administered and the mother was flown to a hospital in Las
Vegas. Park and state wildlife personnel responded and attempted to find
N.A. Her body was discovered in eight feet of water about 20 feet from
shore on Monday. Fatigue is being considered as a possible cause of the
drowning. [Bud Inman, LAME]
95-649 - Big Bend (Texas) - Drowning
On September 21st, J.M.V., a Mexican national, disappeared in the
Rio Grande as he was crossing by horseback from the park to Mexico. J.M.V. had
been in the park looking for his family's livestock. His brother and others
searched for him, but without success. The park was notified early on the
following day, and employed the park plane and a boat in a search for him.
J.M.V.'s drowned horse was found in Santa Elena Canyon, about nine miles
downstream; J.M.V.s's body was found on the bank of the river in the park the
following day. The body was returned to family members in Mexico. [Pat
Grediagin, DR, River District, BIBE]
95-650 - Haleakala (Hawaii) - Thefts
A GSA-owned Chevy S10 Blazer was stolen from the Kipahulu District on the night
of September 22nd. The thief or thieves also broke into two caches and stole a
set of diving equipment, tools, and a park radio with spare batteries. Several
buildings and a gate were damaged. The vehicle was recovered by Maui police
the following evening. Several leads have been developed, including a contact
that maintenance worker Dino Brown made with two transient men in the area that
afternoon and a report of a sighting of the vehicle in a remote area of the
island that night. Ranger Perry Bednorz is investigating. [Karen Ardoin, CR,
HALE]
95-651 - Great Falls (Virginia/Maryland) - Rescue
On the evening of September 23rd, a distraught woman in her mid-40s attempted
to take her life by jumping into the Potomac River near the falls. When
rescuers arrived on scene, she was seen clinging to rocks in the river. Park
Police officers and members of a local volunteer fire department were able to
reach and rescue her. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was treated
for hypothermia and admitted for mental observation. [Bill Lynch, RLES, NCAO]
95-652 - Cumberland Gap (Kentucky/Tennessee/Virginia) - Poaching Arrests
Between September 10th and 24th, rangers Pete Petry and Jennifer Cavin made two
arrests each for ginseng poaching in the park. Four men - three from
Tennessee, one from Kentucky - were issued mandatory court appearance
citations; a juvenile from Tennessee was issued a collateral citation. Seized
were over 200 ginseng roots, marijuana, and digging tools. Many other
incidents have been investigated, but without successful apprehension of the
poachers. One poacher was apprehended after running from rangers, but not
before he managed to dispose of the evidence. He was charged with interfering
with agency functions. The local price of ginseng is $400 per dry weight
pound. [CRO, CUGA]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
2) SIGNIFICANT INCIDENT/FIRE SUMMARY
Thur Fri % Est
State Area Fire/Incident IMT 9/28 9/29 Con Con
CA Riverside RU Apache ST 3,500 3,500 100 CND
TX McFaddin NWR MCR North -- 1,000 3,000 95 CN 9/29
VI St. Thomas Hurricane relief T1 Receive/distribution center
St. Croix " " T2 Receive/distribution center
St. Thomas/St. John " " IMT NPS team - repair, support
PR R. Roads NAS " " ST Receive/distribution center
AK Anchorage River flooding T1 Damage assessment, relief
Soldotna " " T2 Damage assessment, relief
Seward " " T2 Damage assessment, relief
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 1 1 0 44 6 54
Acres Burned 1 0 0 0 267 22 290
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 3 5 2 0 304
Non-federal 0 4 0 0 24
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1995 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires - U.S. 69,188 63,016
Acres Burned - U.S. 1,735,238 2,811,794
6) SITUATION - Minor fire activity was reported yesterday.
7) OUTLOOK - Fire activity is expected to remain minimal.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/29]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
MEMORANDA
"Donor Recognition", Special Directive 95-12, signed on August 30th by acting
Director John Reynolds and distributed to all areas. The cover memo reads as
follows:
"The attached document has been endorsed by the National Leadership Council and
reflects current NPS policy and procedure for recognizing contributors.
"IT IS THE POLICY OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TO FOSTER PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT
OF THE SERVICE AND TO RECOGNIZE SUCH CONTRIBUTIONS IN WAYS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE
TO THE SERVICE.
"There is a long tradition of individuals, organizations and other entities
donating their money, products, services, and other things of value to the
National Park Service. Often, these gestures of support are made without the
donor expecting any sort of reward, other than the internal reward that comes
from knowing they have helped the NPS accomplish its mission. Increasingly,
however, we find that donors are conditioning their contributions on the
willingness of the NPS to 'recognize' the donation in specific ways. Requests
may range from a ceremonial photo opportunity, to a printed acknowledgement
line in a publication, to the prominent display of a corporate logo on a
visitor center wall. Some of these are appropriate; some are not.
"NPS managers are expected always to acknowledge a gift by saying 'thanks' in
an appropriate way. To help determine what form of thanks is appropriate, the
guidelines have been developed by the Vail Partnership Committee and endorsed
by the National Leadership Council. They reflect current NPS policy and
incorporate procedures that are either required or recommended for recognizing
contributors. Managers are to adhere to these guidelines so that the NPS will
be able to: achieve a greater degree of consistency in the way donors are
recognized; avoid any appearance that the public interest is somehow
subordinated to the interests of those who give money; and avert ethical
dilemmas posed by the increasing number of corporate marketing strategies aimed
at the parks.
"This guideline will be incorporated eventually into a partnership handbook for
managers."
OBSERVATIONS
Today's entry is from the third edition of "Conservation Quotes", complied by
Elizabeth Coiner in 1966:
"Growth and development of national park and reserve programs throughout the
world are important to the welfare of the people of every nation. We must have
places where we can find release from the tensions of an increasingly
industrialized civilization, where we can have personal contact with the
natural environment which sustains us. To this end, permanent preservation of
the outstanding scenic and scientific assets, of every country, and of the
magnificent and varied wildlife which can be so easily endangered by human
activity, is imperative. National parks and reserves are an integral aspect of
intelligent use of natural resources. It is the course of wisdom to set aside
an ample portion of our national resources as national and reserves, thus
ensuring that future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know
it today."
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, First World
Conference on National Parks, 1962
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
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