- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, March 12, 1998
- Date: Thurs, 12 Mar 1998
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, March 12, 1998
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
98-56 - Parks Servicewide - Follow-up on El Nino Winter Storm Impacts
Additional reports on the effects of recent severe storms on parks have been
received:
Jean Lafitte NHP (LA) - Chalmette Battlefield was forced to close on
Saturday, March 7th, due to flooding. Over six inches of rain fell in
a short period of time, causing extensive flooding in the New Orleans
area. Three to eight inches of water covered park roads on the
battlefield, which was closed around 12:30 p.m. Employees were sent
home in order to assure that they wouldn't be trapped by rising flood
waters in the Chalmette area. There was no permanent damage to park
resources.
Indiana Dunes NL (IN) - The park was struck by a major snow storm on
Monday, March 9th. Heavy snow and high winds caused power and phone
outages, the latter necessitating use of emergency generators for power
at headquarters and the Bailly ranger station. A state of emergency
was declared for the area late that morning, and the park put its
emergency operations plan into effect. One reservation-of-use
structure fell into Lake Michigan, as the sea wall failed due to high
winds; the resident escaped with his pets and his pajamas. A second
structure was also reported threatened. The park implemented
"Operation Elder Care," a plan in which elderly reservation-of-use
occupants are checked to verify their safety and determine if they need
assistance.
Sleeping Bear Dunes NL (MI) - The same winter storm also struck
Sleeping Bear Dunes. The park closed at noon on Monday and was still
closed as of late on Tuesday. Power was knocked out in the south end
of the park, but subsequently restored.
Reports from other parks that have also been significantly affected by these
storms would be appreciated. [Jim Miculka, JELA, 3/10; John Townsend, MWRO,
3/10; Joni Jones, INDU, 3/10]
98-99 - Natchez Trace Parkway (AL/MS/TN) - MVA with Fatality
V.D. was driving north on the parkway on March 8th when she lost
control of her vehicle near mile post 210 and struck a tree. Passenger Mary
Woodward was killed in the accident; the other passengers in the car suffered
non-critical injuries. Woodward was the only person in the car who was not
wearing a seatbelt. V.D. is deaf, and investigation indicates that she may
have lost control of the car while signing to other occupants of the vehicle.
[Gordon Wissinger, CR, NATR, 3/10]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Pictured Rocks NL (MI) - El Nino Impacts
The storms which have caused significant damage to some parks have had
beneficial effects at Pictured Rocks. This winter, which follows two which
dropped more than 300 inches of snow on the area, has been extremely mild.
The monthly average temperature for February was ten degrees higher than
normal, and all ice was off Munising Bay by February 26th (the previous
earliest ice-off date was April 3rd). Forecasts call for these effects to
last into spring, and they could have important ramifications on park
resources and spring fire potential. The survivability rate of a number of
species will likely be affected, particularly those that were hit hard over
the past two winters or that have difficulty with cold, wet springs. White-
tailed deer in particular declined over the past couple of winters and are
approaching target population levels set by the state. [Brian Kenner, RMS,
PIRO, 3/5]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Regs/Jurisdiction Update - The following actions have recently taken place:
36 CFR: The package with the updates to portions of 36 CFR Parts 1, 2
and 5 has cleared the solicitor and is now being reviewed in the
director's office.
36 CFR Part 3.6 - Personal Watercraft (PWCs): A proposed rule is being
developed that will prohibit PWCs except where designated by
superintendents. This rule is not a general Servicewide prohibition on
PWCs. Rather, it establishes a procedure for superintendents to go
through to evaluate proposed usage. This procedure will require an
administrative determination, in accordance with 36 CFR 1.5 and 1.7,
that the activity is appropriate and meets certain criteria before
allowing PWC use and designating use areas. The rule is being reviewed
by the assistant secretary.
36 CFR Part 3: The Part 3 work group met the week of February 23rd at
Biscayne NP to pull together the sections and begin development of the
draft proposed rule. This rule will update (where necessary) Part 3 of
the CFR on boating and water use activities.
36 CFR Part 7: Several special park rules are in the works:
Cape Cod NS - The final rule on ORV use was published in the
Federal Register on February 24th. It becomes final on March
24th.
Shenandoah NP - The final rule eliminating park specific fishing
regulations was signed by the assistant secretary on January
16th. It is currently being reviewed by DOI's regulatory affairs
office.
Kaloko-Honokohau NHP - The NPS is proposing to prohibit public
nudity within the park's boundaries. The existing practice of
public nudity is in conflict with the enabling legislation of the
park (16 USC 396d) and the traditional values of native Hawaiian
culture, which the park was created to perpetuate and preserve.
It is also creating visitor use conflicts. The proposed rule was
signed by the assistant secretary and is being reviewed by DOI's
regulatory affairs office.
Appalachian Trail - The proposed rule on snowmobile routes was
signed by the assistant secretary on February 5th and is
currently being reviewed by DOI's regulatory affairs office.
Grand Teton NP - The final rule on snowmobile routes has cleared
the solicitor's office and is currently being reviewed by the
director.
Delaware Water Gap NRA - The proposed rule designating bicycle
trails was published in the Federal Register on November 4th.
The comment period closed on January 3rd. The park is currently
reviewing comments and putting the final rule package together.
36 CFR Part 14 - Rights of Way: The proposed rule was published in the
Federal Register on December 1st and the comment period closed on
January 30th. A small workgroup met the week of February 23rd to
review the comments. Dick Young has begun work on drafting the final
rule.
36 CFR Part 61 - Procedures for State, Tribal and Local Government
Historic Preservation Programs: The final rule is in the final review
process by the solicitor's office. It should go to the director in the
near future.
Action will soon begin on another regulation, this one having to do with
permissible blood alcohol levels in drivers in national parks. President
Clinton has called on Congress to pass a tough new drunk-driving law that
would impose uniform standards around the country and deny federal highway
funds to states that resisted. Legislation recently passed by the Senate
asks all states to lower the legal blood-alcohol limit to 0.08 percent.
States that refuse to adopt the standard would face the loss of five percent
of their federal highway construction dollars. The president has directed
the secretary of the Department of Transportation to develop a plan within 45
days to lower the limit to 0.08 on federal property, including military bases
and units of the National Park Service. Although the idea of lowering the
limit has grown increasingly popular in recent years and 15 states have
dropped it to 0.08, most remaining states are still at 0.10. The NPS will
begin work in the near future to change the existing regulation found at 36
CFR 4.23 to reflect the 0.08 blood alcohol level. [Dennis Burnett, RAD/WASO]
Department of Intermittent Good News - The Pew Research Center for the People
and the Press has released a new survey on public attitudes toward the
federal government. The following excerpts are from Stephen Barr's article
on the survey in Tuesday's Washington Post: "In general, the survey showed
Americans to be less critical of government in a variety of ways than they
were just a few years ago...The polling found improved public assessments of
specific departments and agencies in the government, with seven receiving
better ratings than they did in the mid-1980s...The highest favorability
ratings went to the U.S. Postal Service, the National Park Service, the
Centers for Disease Control, the Defense Department, the Food and Drug
Administration, NASA, and the Federal Aviation Administration.The survey
showed government workers, in particular, are well-regarded by most of the
public..." The NPS had a favorability rating of 85%, second only to the
Postal Service, with 89%. Although the NPS was number one in 1987, its
favorability rating was only 80% at that time. [Washington Post, 3/10/98]
MEMORANDA
No entries.
EXCHANGE
No entries.
WEB DIRECTORY
The Morning Report periodically runs a listing of Worldwide Web sites of use
to NPS employees in the course of their work. Please send along entries -
and corrections, in case of address errors - to the editor.
Thanks to the following for providing this month's additions:
Paul Broyles and Nancy DeLong for wildland fire sites
Linda Canzanelli for the NPS public health office site
Lisa McCann for the National Register for Historic Places site
Jim Miculka for the cooperating association and NPF sites
Betsy Chittenden for the computer virus myths home page
Barb Hall for the fire report site
Glenda Jackson for the zip code site
And, above all:
Glenda Jackson, again, for her efforts to find all the mistakes in
prior entries and correct them....
All new entries are marked with asterisks (*); all revised/corrected entries
are marked with pound signs (#).
NPS SITES
Congressional Affairs office http://www.nps.gov/legal
Training and Development office http://www.nps.gov/training
NPS Web page development info http://www.nps.gov/helpdesk (user name:
NPS, password: Mather)
Current VIP opportunities http://www.nps.gov/volunteer
Press releases, park news, more http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/pressrm.htm
Q&A with volunteer NPS historians http://www.nps.gov/crweb1/history/askhist.htm
Geologists-in-Parks program http://www.aqd.nps.gov/natnet/grd/geojob/geojob.htm
Harpers Ferry wayside exhibits http://www.nps.gov/waysite
NPS safety info http://www.nps.gov/riskmgmt
NCR Museum Resource Center http://www.nps.gov/mrc
National Center for Preservation
Technology and Training http://www.cr.nps.gov/ncptt
NPS training opportunities http://www.nps.gov/training
NPS strategic plan http://www.nps.gov - InfoZone, Park Planning
NPS "Courier" magazine http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/courier/index.htm
NPS intake training program http://www.nps.gov/intake
U.S. Park Police http://www.doi.gov/u.s.park.police/
NPS organization charts http://www.nps.gov/refdesk/Refdesk.htm
Fire Management Program Center * http://www.nps.gov/fire/
Public Health Service office * http://www.nps.gov/public_health/
Nat. Reg. for Historic Places * http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/nrhome.htm
DOI SITES
DOI address directory http://www.doi.gov/cgi-bin/mailsrch
DOI jobs listings http://www.usgs.gov/doi/avads/index.html
DOI IG reports http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/ig.html
DOI payroll, Denver http://www.dasc.doi.gov
DOI safety http://safety.doi.gov
DOI recreation lakes commission # http://www.doi.gov/nrls
OTHER AGENCY SITES
Comptroller General decisions http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/gaocd.html
GAO reports http://www.gpo.ucop.edu/search/gao.html
OPM jobs listings http://www.usajobs.opm.gov
USDA graduate school http://www.grad.usda.gov
Thrift Savings Plan http://www.tsp.gov
New legislation (NECTEA) re:
funding for park roads http://www.fhwa.dot.gov
OPM locality pay rates http://www.opm.gov/pay/index.htm
CFR and Federal Register info http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr
FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection http://www.ftc.gov
IG networks # http://www.ignet.gov/ignet
Fed Employees News Digest # http://www.fedforce.com/fedforce/fedforce.html
Wildland fire information http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/fire
National registry for EMTs http://www.nremt.org
Center for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov
Standard government forms http://web1.whs.osd.mil/icdhome/SFEFORMS.HTM
Excess military equipment http://www.drms.dla.mil
National Interagency Fire Center * http://www.nifc.gov/
NIFC fire situation reports * http://www.nifc.gov/sitreprt.html
OTHER ORGANIZATION SITES
NPS cooperating associations * http://www.nps.gov/coophome.htm
National Park Foundation * http://www.nationalparks.org
CONGRESSIONAL SITES
All Senate offices, committees http://www.senate.gov
All House offices, committees http://www.house.gov
Bills, reports, related info http://thomas.loc.gov
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SITES
Exotic invasive species http://www.aqd.nps.gov/npci
Malformed amphibians reports http://www.npwrc.org/narcam
Mineral developments near parks http://www.aqd.nps.gov/facts/fadjacen.htm
Vegetation/soils planting info http://plants.usda.gov
"Park Science" magazine http://www.aqd.nps.gov/nrid/parksci/
"Natural Resource Year in Review" http://www.aqd.nps.gov/pubs/yr_rvw96/
Natural resource pubs list http://www.aqd.nps.gov/pubs/
NRM fact sheets http://www.aqd.nps.gov/facts/findex.htm
WILDERNESS/BACKCOUNTRY MANAGEMENT SITES
Arthur Carhart training center http://www.wilderness.net/carhat
Aldo Leopold institute http://www.wilderness.net/leopold
Leave No Trace program http://www.lnt.org
LEGAL SITES
United States Code http://law.house.gov/usc.htm
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/
Code of Federal Regulations http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr
Federal Register # http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/#fr
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html
Federal Acquisition Regulations http://www.gsa.gov/far/current/html/toc.html
Executive Orders http://www.arnet.gov/References/References.html
OMB Circulars http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/OMB/
Supreme Court cases # http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct
Federal Circuit cases http://www.law.emory.edu/fedcircuit/
http://www.gao.gov/decisions/decision.htm
http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Ct/fedcourt.html
FLRA cases # http://www.flra.gov/index.html
MSPB cases http://www.access.gpo.gov/mspb
FLETC legal updates # http://www.ustreas.gov/fletc/index.htm
Environmental lawv http://www.law.indiana.edu/law/v-lib/envlaw.html
Ethics issues http://www.usoge.gov/
Federal laws in general # http://www.fedworld.gov
http://fedlaw.gsa.gov
ARPA/NAGPRA laws # http://www.nmia.com/~quasho/
Info on legal issues http://www.Lawcheck.com/main.html
Laws, court rulings, related info http://www.findlaw.com
ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION SITES
Environmental contract fraud info http://www.echotech.com
http://www.afce.org
http://www.fraud.org
Info on militia groups, etc. http://www.splcenter.org
OTHER RELEVANT SITES
Student Conservation Association http://www.sca-inc.org
George Wright Society http://www.portup.com/~gws/home.html
GWS park-related links # http://www.portup.com/~gws/gwsnet.html
Links to NPs worldwide http://149.170.210.2/~keith/links.htm
National Center for Accessibility http://www.indiana.edu/~nca
Recycled content procurement http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/procure.html
http://www.metrokc.gov/oppis/recyclea.html
http://www.pnl.gov/esp/greenguide
fcn.state.fl.us/bpsr/drc_notice.html
Telephone directory searches # http://www.pc411.com
Computer virus myths * http://kumite.com/myths/
Zip codes * http://www.usps.gov/ncsc/
* * * * *
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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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