- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, June 26, 1997
- Date: Thurs, 26 Jun 1997
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, June 26, 1997
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
*** NOTICE ***
The Morning Report will appear intermittently over the next four weeks while
the editor is on travel. During that time, fire reports will be abridged and
there will be a time lag between the submission and appearance of incident
reports. Incident reports should still be sent to this address, but with
copies to Bob Marriott in WASO Ranger Activities.
INCIDENTS
96-570 - Little Bighorn (Montana) - Follow-up on Employee Murder
On May 30th, the jury in the trial of 20-year-old R.H., accused of
the murder of Clifford Nelson, a veteran seasonal ranger/interpreter who had
worked at Little Bighorn NHP since 1968, found R.H. not guilty. The jury
foreman, according to the Missoula, Montana, "Missoulian," felt [the case
against R.H.] wasn't proved beyond a reasonable doubt. We felt that there
were a number of people who could have done it...We just had far too many
doubts for a conviction." The trial of Matt Livingston, 21, who was with
R.H. that night, has not yet been held, but the county attorney has moved
for dismissal based on the outcome of the R.H. trial. [From newspaper
reports submitted by Phil Young, SA, IMFA]
97-295 - Death Valley NP (CA) - Two Airplane Crashes
On June 20th, a California Air National Guard F-16 crashed into a remote
section of the park. The pilot was able to eject before crashing and
sustained only minor injuries. The aircraft was found in the park's
wilderness. The wreckage will be removed by helicopter. On Sunday, June
22nd, a twin-engine Cessna experienced trouble with both engines over the
Saline Valley. The pilot was forced to make an emergency landing on Saline
Salt Flat. He then hiked ten miles out of the area. Temperatures exceeded
105 degrees that day. [Ann Holeso, PIO, DEVA]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Tue Wed % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 6/24 6/25 Con Con
*** No significant fires reported ***
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, 6/21 6 0 8 0 14 2 30
Sunday, 6/22 6 0 9 0 31 5 51
Monday, 6/23 3 18 6 0 80 18 125
Tuesday, 6/24 2 0 6 4 73 21 106
Wednesday, 6/25 2 1 10 2 65 22 102
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Saturday, 6/21 7 0 3 0 0
Sunday, 6/22 9 9 8 0 1
Monday, 6/23 7 24 15 0 3
Tuesday, 6/24 16 54 11 11 28
Wednesday, 6/25 25 41 21 7 13
CURRENT SITUATION
Fire activity continues in Alaska, with large acreage increases on existing
fires. Very high to extreme fire indices are being reported in southern
California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Montana.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/26]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Budget Update - The House Appropriations Subcommittee marked up the Service's
FY 1998 appropriations bill on Tuesday, June 17th. The following is a
summary of the highlights of the bill. Please note that this bill still has
to go through further reviews and may be amended or revised in the House
and/or the Senate. The fee provisions may run into problems, so there's no
way of yet determining how it will turn out. Note, too, that the fee
provisions wouldn't take effect until FY98.
Fee Demonstration Program
The subcommittee has once again taken the initiative to revise our fee
legislation to allow more funds to remain in the NPS to reduce our project
backlogs. The subcommittee has included language the would permit the
Service to retain 100% of all fees collected through the fee demonstration
program. Since the NPS has not yet seen the language or been able to assess
its handling of related issues such as cost-of-collection and income outside
the demo program, it's not yet possible to determine all ramifications, but
this provision would mean, if enacted, that an additional $60 million or so
would come into the NPS for project work each year. The committee also
expressed the following views on the management of the fee demo program. The
subcommittee:
o expects that that fee demo funds will be "used primarily to reduce
backlog maintenance requirements;"
o agreed to prohibit use of fees for any visitor center or permanent
structure without committee approval (it's not clear if this pertains
to new construction only or whether it also applies to significant
reconstructions);
o will require the NPS to prepare a report containing specific lists of
prioritized backlog projects by January 31, 1998;
o will require that the NPS develop maintenance backlog prioritization
criteria and a monitoring system.
Operation of the National Park System (ONPS)
The following increased were accepted (or partially accepted where so noted):
o all "uncontrollables", including pay raises $22,406,000
o a 1% increase for all parks 8,060,000
o special increases at 63 parks 16,300,000
o air quality program 1,000,000
o abandoned mine projects 1,000,000
o desert mining program 583,000
o inventory and monitoring 2,000.000
o "Vanishing Treasures" (reduced from $3.5 million request) 1,000,000
o historic structure stabilization 2,000,000
o cultural cyclic maintenance program 1,000,000
o collections cataloging system upgrade at 291 parks 873,000
o 6(c) retirement increase 4,336,000
o safety training 103,000
o information management assistance groups at seven parks 963,000
o national trails (half of request, for Selma trail) 100,000
o information management upgrades 500,000
o workers compensation initiative 320,000
o financial management upgrades 970,000
o FTS 2000 charges 1,900,000
The following increases were rejected:
o Northwest Ecosystem Office increase 100,000
o 16 cooperative eco study units 2,400,000
o education initiative 1,000,000
o VIP increase 981,000
o wild and scenic rivers increase 300,000
o social science increase 422,000
o implementation of "IDEAS" 700,000
The following increases were added:
o Everglades research (actually not an add but moved
here from request in Everglades restoration fund) 12,000,000
o Additional park operating increases beyond those
requested, as follows:
Amistad $275,000 Aztec Ruins $ 74,000
Badlands 300,000 Bering Land 175,000
Big Cypress 450,000 Cabrillo 188,000
Canyonlands 275,000 Capulin 88,000
Channel Islands 137,000 Cuyahoga 187,000
Frederick L. Olmsted 120,000 Gettysburg 132,000
Glen Canyon 450,000 Grand Canyon 425,000
Hagerman Fossil Beds 85,000 Haleakala 256,000
Hampton 77,000 Harpers Ferry 338,000
Jefferson NEM 425,000 Jewel Cave 100,000
Kings Mountain 28,000 Little Bighorn 72,000
Longfellow 245,000 Martin Luther King 306,000
North Cascades 275,000 Pipestone 100,000
Sagamore Hill 100,000 Saint Croix River 400,000
Saratoga 163,000 Shiloh 108,000
Sleeping Bear Dunes 200,000 Statue of Liberty 470,000
Tonto 66,000 U.S.Park Police 500,000
Weir Farm 213,000 Yellowstone 697,000
The ONPS bottom line: The sum in the House markup is $1.232 billion, which is
$77.7 million over FY97 and $12 million over request. In effect, the NPS
received the level requested (not counting Everglades research transfer), and
most of the requested increases, except that the subcommittee changed $8.5
million of our items into additional park increases.
The report accompanying the bill contains the following directives (among
others). The subcommittee:
o requires an annual report of training plans, with emphasis on
non-travel alternatives of videoconferencing and tapes;
o deplores the "excessive cost" of employee housing, and advises against
new housing where affordable housing is available;
o applauds our progress so far on GPRA, worries about our lack of
baseline data and data collection ability, and suggests all DOI bureaus
start a consultation process regarding possible budget restructuring;
o requires a report on January 1, 1998 about our progress in increasing
our contracting for commercial activities; and
o encourages development of "business plans" for all parks to demonstrate
how base funds are being used.
National Recreation and Preservation (NR&P)
The subcommittee:
o provided for all "uncontrollables", including pay raises;
o rejected the $1 million watershed restoration initiative;
o included $4.5 million for heritage grants ($3 million over request),
stating that the Essex, Ohio and Erie Canal, and Steel Heritage should
get the maximum amounts (i.e. $1 million per area) and that the
remainder should be split among the other "five" based on proposal
assessments;
o reduced NPS heritage technical assistance from $1.25 million requested
to $850,000, and added that "the Service is reminded that it only has
Congressional authorization to work on these eight areas specified in
the the Omnibus Parks Act of 1996;"
o placed other heritage areas back in stat aid activity, deleting the
Steel Heritage $379,000 as a redundancy, and adding $450,000 there for
Lackawanna Heritage; and
o added $200,000 to cultural programs activity without clarification, but
presumably for HBCU study discussed in the HPF appropriation (see
below).
The bottom line: NR&P receives $43,934,000, $6 million over FY97 and $1.871
million over request.
Historic Preservation Fund (HPF)
The subcommittee:
o denied a $400,000 increase to Indian tribal grants;
o reduced the $9 million increase to HBCU grants by $4.8 million to $4.2
million, stating that $1 million each is for Knoxville College, Selma
University, Allen University (SC) and Tougaloo College (MS), and that
$200,000 is for the NPS to prepare a comprehensive assessment of
historic structure condition at all colleges authorized by the Omnibus
Parks Act (since the HPF appropriation is used strictly for grants, it
is presumed at this time that the $200,000 provided in NR&P [see above]
was intended for this study, and that this $200,000, if it remains,
will supplement grants to the four mentioned HBCUs);
o encouraged the NPS to work with the United Negro College Fund to help
assess and prioritize expenditures;
o stated that only 50% cost share projects should be considered; and
o allowed $3.5 million requested for the National Trust, but expects the
Trust to become completely self-supporting in FY99.
The bottom line: HPF receives $40,412,000, $3.8 million above FY97, $5.2
million below request.
Construction
The following provisions are included:
o The line items total $90.3 million, $18.4 million under FY97 and $2.3
million over request, but the subcommittee did not fund eight requested
line items totalling $22.102 million, reduced another six requests by
$19.44 million and included the $11.9 million for Everglades requested
in the Everglade restoration fund here, meaning that the NPS only
receives $46.46 million against our requested items. There are also 24
add-ons totalling $31.941 million.
o The planning request was reduced by $3.1 million, which equals amount
requested for Elwha dams, but the subcommittee supplied no information
for its action in report.
o The emergency, seismic safety and housing accounts were reduced by
$808,000, also with no indication of where to make the cuts.
o The GMP is funded at request level, but the subcommittee directs
$200,000 for a Moccasin Bend study and a $250,000 Northern Frontier
(New York) heritage study.
o Equipment activity is funded as requested, including $3 million for
information management equipment and $500,000 for narrow band radio
assessments.
o The subcommittee directed the NPS "to give priority consideration to
replacing dilapidated employee housing at Grand Canyon and White
Sands", presumably in conjunction with the previously mentioned
directive regarding housing.
The bottom line: Construction receives $148,391,000, $15.1 million below FY97
(exclusive of supplementals), and $1.6 million below request.
Land Acquisition
The subcommittee:
o increased federal land acquisition by $57.85 million, but four line
items totalling $6.5 million were rejected; Giacomini Ranch was reduced
by $1.45 million and Elwha was reduced by $18.8 million (to $3
million). Though there were six adds or supplements totalling $9.1
million, the big difference here is the addition of $66 million for
Everglades NP and $10 million for Big Cypress, which is intended to
completely fund their land acquisition needs.
o increased federal land administration by $250,000, reduced inholdings
by $500,000, and kept state administration at $1 million.
The bottom line: Land acquisition receives $129,000,000, $75.1 million over
FY97, and $58.1 million over request.
Summary
The overall bottom line for the NPS is $1.564 billion, $147.5 million over
FY97 (exclusive of supplementals), $34.9 million under request. [Jim Giammo,
WASO Budget]
MEMORANDA
No submissions.
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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