- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, September 12, 1996
- Date: Thurs, 12 Sep 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, September 12, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-511 - East Coast Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Fran
Additional reports have been received regarding on-going hurricane and flood
recovery efforts:
o Shenandoah - The process of removing downed and dangerous leaning trees
from Skyline Drive is still underway. The Federal Highway
Administration has provided the professional expertise and funding
needed to repair the washed-out portions of the shoulder of the drive,
and that work is now underway. Two portions of the drive will probably
open on Saturday - the five-mile segment from the north entrance at
Front Royal to the Dickey Ridge area in the North District and the 15-
mile segment from Swift Run Gap to Big Meadows in the Central District.
Specific time frames for the reopening of the rest of the drive have
not yet been established. Power has been restored to most areas,
including Big Meadows; all water and sewer systems are again
functional. All park trails, including front country nature trails,
are missing bridges and blocked with hundreds of downed trees. As
sections of the park are reopened, visitors will be warned about trail
conditions and discouraged from using them. A damage assessment and
accompanying funding request is still under preparation.
o C&O Canal - The park's staff continues to work extended shifts in an
effort to determine the extent of the damage inflicted on the area and
to reopen portions of the park for use this coming weekend. Crews are
once again discovering heavy siltation, debris and trees along the
towpath and in parking lots, access points, campgrounds and boat ramps.
The visitor center at Williamsport was flooded with two feet of water,
compared to five feet received in January. A large section of stone
wall in Georgetown collapsed during the heavy rains and has closed a
portion of the towpath in that area indefinitely. There was far less
loss of property than in January due to work undertaken by park staff
and volunteers before the river rose and to better working conditions
(the January effort was hampered by snow and ice and by the government
shutdown then in effect). The park's four campgrounds and 36
hiker/biker campsites will likely remain closed through next spring.
Heavy rains are forecast for today, which will help the clean-up effort
by washing away some of the accumulated silt, but may also cause
additional flash flooding. Although it appears that much of the work
completed by park staff and over 4,000 volunteers on 218 separate
projects since January may have been lost, only a fraction of the $24
million appropriated by Congress and donated by individuals and
corporations has actually been expended to date.
o Great Falls - The park, which is on the Virginia side of the river, did
not suffer as much as it did in the January floods, but the Potomac
Canal was extensively damaged. Park managers fear that this historic
resource may be lost without immediate attention. Many park trails
also remain closed.
o George Washington Parkway - The boardwalk, contact station and comfort
station in the Roosevelt Island unit all suffered major damage, and the
trail system will require complete rehabilitation. Other units of the
park suffered extensive tree damage and shoreline erosion. The park's
radio repeater system was also damaged. Preliminary damage estimates
have now passed $1.5 million.
o Moores Creek - Power has been restored to park offices and to some
employee residences, but an additional two to three inches of rain has
fallen on the area over the past two days and flood waters have again
risen in the park and surrounding area. No park buildings or employee
residences are in danger, but many nearby roads and bridges are
impassable. The flood crest from the Cape Fear River is expected to
reach the park on Saturday. The park remains closed.
[Greg Stiles, SHEN; Ann Childress, CVS, FOSU Group; Don Boucher, FMO, NCSO;
Kevin FitzGerald, DR, CHOH]
96-517 - Caribbean Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Hortense
Caribbean parks continue to recover from extraordinarily high levels of rain
dropped by the hurricane:
o San Juan - About a third of park employees reported to work yesterday,
largely because travel in Puerto Rico is severely hampered by downed
trees, washed-out bridges and roads, and flooding. All park structures
have water in them, but the archives were kept dry. Little other
damage occurred. The superintendent estimates that upwards of 18
inches of rain fell on the Old San Juan area. The entire island is
without electricity or water. A generator is furnishing power to park
facilities, and the park's cisterns are full of water. The park
remains closed.
o Virgin Islands - All four park units are open. It's been determined
that more than ten inches of rain fell on the area. Damage is minimal.
The park's staff is in the process of cleaning up areas, clearing
roads, and restoring visitor services. The final assessment for Buck
Island began yesterday. All utilities and services have been restored.
[Ping Crawford, Superintendent, SAJU; Mark Woods, Assistant Superintendent,
VIIS; Steve Smith, ACSO]
96-518 - Shenandoah (Virginia) - Follow-up on Search in Progress
The search for State Department employee J.S. continues in the
park's Central District. All high probability areas of have been searched
without success. The search area will be expanded today, but the number of
searchers will be scaled back. A joint NPS-FBI investigation is also
underway. Although no scenario has been ruled out, investigators have
determined that J.S. was upset about personal matters just before he
came to the park on August 30th. J.S.'s parents are now in the park and
providing information to searchers; they plan to hold a press conference
today to ask anyone with information on his whereabouts to come forward.
About 30 people, mostly SAR group volunteers, will be involved in search
efforts today. IC is Steve Bair. [Greg Stiles, SHEN]
96-519 - Appalachian Trail (Georgia-Maine) - Fatal Airplane Crash
A single-engine Piper Cherokee crashed on the trail near Stokes State Forest
in New Jersey on the afternoon of September 7th. The 59-year-old pilot and
sole occupant was killed. The wreckage was discovered by hikers the
following day. The NTSB is investigating the accident; wreckage was to be
removed yesterday. [APPA Project Office]
96-520 - Olympic (Washington) - Search; Falling Fatality
A search was begun on September 3rd when A.R., 40, of Bainbridge
Island, Washington, failed to return from a three-day hike in the southeast
section of the park. A.R., an experienced hiker, had planned an extensive
backcountry trip, both on and off trail. His body was found on an extremely
steep and rocky slope on the east side of Mount Cruiser on the third day of
the search. He had apparently fallen about 200 feet to his death. More than
20 people from the park, Olympic NF and Olympic Mountain Rescue were involved
in the search. [Barb Maynes, PIO, OLYM]
96-521 - Hubbell's Trading Post (Arizona) - Larceny Arrests
On September 5th, the trader for the park, a Southwest Parks and Monuments
Association employee, assisted Navajo tribal police with the recovery of a
stolen Navajo rug valued at approximately $1,000. The trader had received a
call the day before from the Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprise, notifying him
of a theft and describing the suspects. When they showed up and attempted to
sell the rug to the trader, he contacted tribal police and rangers. Three
suspects were taken into custody. [Aleta Knight, CR, HUTR]
96-522 - Glen Canyon (Arizona/Utah) - Drowning
The body of R.J., 40, of Salt Lake City, was found floating face
down under the dive platform at the rear of the houseboat on which she'd been
vacationing around 3 p.m. on September 9th. The other three occupants of the
houseboat had not seen her for about 30 minutes. Park staff responded and
conducted CPR, but to no avail. The boat's generator was operating, and
carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust is thought to have been the
proximate cause of death. [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA]
96-523 - Delaware Water Gap (Pennsylvania/New Jersey) - Insurance Fraud
An investigation begun in March into an adjacent property owner's report of
debris dumping resulted in a felony auto insurance fraud case. Ranger
Deborah Girard, working with the Pennsylvania State Police auto theft unit,
investigated a burned-out car which had been cut into pieces and left on park
land. After reconstructing the VIN, Girard was able to determine that the
vehicle pieces were from a car which had been reported stolen to New York
City police. Investigation revealed that the victim of the alleged theft had
recently purchased another car of the same make and model, but one year
newer. Girard's crime scene work and initial leads were turned over to an
insurance investigator and the NYPD auto crime division. In late August,
detectives filed charges against the owner for insurance fraud, attempted
grand larceny, falsifying business records, providing a false written
statement, and falsely reporting an accident. [Doyle Nelson, CR, DEWA]
[Additional pending reports tomorrow...]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 9/11 9/12 Con Con
OR Willamette NF Moolack Cx T2 11,735 11,735 90 9/16
Umpqua NF Spring T2 15,528 15,712 88 9/20
Malheur NF * Phipps T2 - 25 0 NEC
MT Custer NF Shepard Mtn. T1 12,800 12,800 80 9/12
ID Nez Perce NF Blackerby T2 354 354 NR NEC
Idaho Falls District * Mule Butte -- - 9,600 100 CND
State * North Wendell -- - 3,200 100 CND
* North Wapi -- - 7,000 100 CND
WY Bridger-Teton NF Aspen Hollow T2 2,748 2,780 65 9/15
Big Horn NF Stockwell II T1 2,950 3,300 60 9/14
NV Carson City District Seal -- 1,000 3,000 85 9/12
Humboldt NF Tom Basin -- 2,000 2,000 90 9/12
State Frenchy Flat -- 17,000 25,385 80 9/12
Toiyabe NF * Can -- - 200 5 9/13
AK Statewide 10 fires -- 342,723 342,723 -- LPS
NC Fort Bragg Hurricane Fran T1 Managing receiving and
distribution center
Heading Notes
Unit -- Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
Fire -- * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
strategy
IMT -- T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
% Con -- Percent of fire contained
Est Con -- Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report; LPS = limited
protection status
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Saturday, 9/7 - - - - - - -
Sunday, 9/8 3 6 21 0 33 26 89
Monday, 9/9 3 1 36 0 111 22 173
Tuesday, 9/10 1 2 43 1 54 28 129
Wednesday, 9/11 1 5 20 1 37 52 116
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Saturday, 9/7 --- --- -- - -----
Sunday, 9/8 254 196 87 8 1,479
Monday, 9/9 194 167 78 3 1,212
Tuesday. 9/10 137 157 79 3 1,075
Wednesday, 9/11 181 183 79 7 1,166
CURRENT SITUATION
Initial attack was moderate yesterday, with only the Great Basin reporting
new large fires. Progress continued on most existing fires, except in
Oregon, where higher temperatures, lower humidities and strong winds
increased activity on contained fires. Resource mobilization remained
minimal.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
No unusual conditions are forecast. Much of the West will be cooler and/or
moister.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
NPS-9 Status Report - Work continues on revisions to the first draft of the
guideline, and it now appears that the second draft will not be circulated
until early winter. The reasons are several, and include the decision to
draft additional chapters on criminal investigations and emergency law
enforcement incidents, the need to incorporate significant changes in
commissioning and background investigation SOPs into relevant chapters, and
delays in completion of editorial revisions. [Chris Andress, RAD/WASO]
MEMORANDA
"Call for Fiscal Year 1997 NPS Parks as Classrooms Grants," signed by the
Associate Director, Park Operations and Education, and sent to all field
directors and SSO superintendents with a reply due date of October 18th. An
advanced copy of the text follows:
"Attached [to the mailed memorandum] are the application form and list of
Servicewide criteria needed to apply for fiscal year 1997 Parks as Classrooms
funding. We ask that you copy and distribute this information to the parks
in your field area.
"This year, we have revised our procedures for distributing the Parks as
Classrooms funding to better serve the organization and reflect our
commitment to provide the highest quality educational programs. Because the
Parks as Classrooms is a national program with limited resources, we feel
that it should address Servicewide objectives and represent the very best we
can offer in educational programming. This year we have developed a set of
Servicewide criteria which will help guide parks in the development of their
proposals and provide continuity during the selection process.
"We will use the following procedures to distribute the Parks as Classrooms
funds.
1. Based on the attached criteria, the field areas will prioritize the
applications from the parks in their area. In field areas where
clusters will be determining project priorities, the cluster priorities
must be combined into a single field area submittal.
2. Each field area will submit all of the applications in priority to the
WASO Division of Interpretation and Education, Attention, Bob Huggins
by October 18, 1996.
3. Using the field area's priorities, a small group of individuals, who
are familiar with the NPS education efforts but have no vested interest
in the outcome of the funding, will develop the final Servicewide
priorities based on the 'best of the best.'
"We feel that this process will result in a fair distribution of funds to the
field while meeting our objectives of providing the best possible educational
experiences to the public. Questions regarding this process should be
directed to the attention of Bob Huggins at 202-523-5270.
"Finally, I wish to express my appreciation for the high quality of
educational programs being produced in the parks.
"There is no doubt that the National Park Service is the leader in this
field. The quality of these programs is a direct reflection of the
dedication of all of the employees and partners involved."
EXCHANGE
No submissions.
Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
office and/or field area cc:Mail hub coordinators. Please address requests
for the Morning Report to your servicing hub coordinator.
Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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