NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Tuesday, April 13, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-121 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Rescue

On April 9th, the park received a request from BIA for assistance on a rescue
at Beaver Falls in Havasu Creek.  A 16-year-old girl had fallen and sustained
pelvic and spinal injuries.  The park helicopter transported a rescue team to
the creek and placed a radio relay on Great Thumb Mesa.  The helicopter
dropped rangers Patrick Flanagan and Craig Patterson and helibase manager
Craig Letz a quarter mile downstream.  Upon arrival at the falls, they
determined that a short-haul evacuation would be the best way to extricate
the girl.  She was placed in a vacuum mattress and on a stretcher, then
lifted a thousand vertical feet to a helispot at the top of the Redwall
Formation.  An air ambulance picked her up there and flew her to Flagstaff
Medical Center.  Michael Nash was IC.  [Ken Phillips, GRCA, 4/12]

99-122 - National Capital Parks (DC) - Rescue

The Park Police helicopter crew on Eagle Two rescued a man from a rock spire
surrounded by whitewater on the Potomac River on April 9th.  The man had been
involved in a boating accident north of Chain Bridge and was hypothermic from
immersion in the river's cold waters.  Attempts to throw lines to him had
been unsuccessful, as had efforts by police to reach him by boat.  Eagle
Two's crew employed a Billy Pugh net to retrieve the victim.  [Valerie
Fernandes, RLES, NCSO, 4/12]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

National Capital Parks (DC) - Follow-up on Beaver Management

As was noted in the Morning Report last week, the park has been attempting to
corral a beaver that felled a number of cherry trees and white cedars around
the Tidal Basin.  Efforts continue to protect the Yoshino cherry trees, while
also allowing the beavers to live a normal life in a more natural setting. 
Two of possibly three beavers have been captured using humane live traps
(clam shell type) and have been relocated to a natural area where they will
find much more favorable habitat.  The traps were baited with willow branches
and castoreum, an oil secreted by glands at the base of the tails of beavers
that they use to maintain their fur.  Although the Tidal Basin is not prime
habitat, beavers are migrating to it because they are seeking areas where
colonies have not already been established.  The beaver population has made a
massive comeback over the past 20 years and a great deal of prime beaver
habitat has been destroyed by development, leading them to seek new areas. 
The Tidal Basin is on the Potomac River, so many beavers pass near it when
dispersing and find it attractive because there are no other beavers there. 
Beavers have been seen and captured in and around the Tidal Basin in previous
years.  Beavers usually make a dam to provide a water body that would provide
easy access to trees.  Since the Tidal Basin is an open body of water that is
between two and ten feet deep, no dam is needed.  Most of the smaller trees
around the Tidal Basin and in West Potomac Park have been protected by
plastic piping or metal mesh wrapped around the base of the trees to prevent
gnawing from any other beavers that might show up in the area.  [Gregg
Kneipp, RMS, NACC]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No entries.

UPCOMING IN CONGRESS

The following activities will be taking place in Congress during coming weeks
on matters pertaining to the National Park Service or kindred agencies.  For
inquiries regarding legislation pertaining to the NPS, please contact the
main office at 202-208-5883/5656 and ask to be forwarded to the appropriate
legislative specialist.

HEARINGS/MARK-UPS

Thursday, April 15

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands (Hansen):
Hearing on H.R. 834, to extend the authorization for the National Historic
Preservation Fund.  It will be at 10:00 a.m. in 1334 Longworth.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation, and Recreation (Thomas): Hearing on:

o     S. 109 (Coverdell, GA), a bill to improve protection and management of
      the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the State of
      Georgia.
o     S. 340 (Allard, CO), a bill to amend the Cache La Poudre River Corridor
      Act to make technical corrections, and for other purposes.
o     S. 582 (Specter, PA), a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior
      to enter into an agreement for the construction and operation of the
      Gateway Visitor Center at Independence National Historical Park.
o     S. 589 (Harkin, IA), a bill to require the National Park Service to
      undertake a study of the Loess Hills area in western Iowa to review
      options for the protection and interpretation of the area's natural,
      cultural and historical resources.
o     S. 591, a bill to authorize a feasibility study for the preservation of
      the Loess Hills in western Iowa.
o     H.R. 149 (Hansen, UT), a bill to make technical corrections to the
      Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996.

The hearing will be at 2:00 p.m. in 366 Dirksen.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Murkowski): Hearing on:

o     S. 501 (Murkowski, AK), a bill to address resource management issues in
      Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska (see H.R. 947).  

o     S. 744, a bill to provide for the continuation of higher education
      through the conveyance of certain lands in the State of Alaska to the
      University of Alaska.  

The hearing will be at 9:30 a.m. in 366 Dirksen.

Tuesday, April 20

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands (Hansen):
Hearing on H.R. 791, to amend the National Trails System Act to designate the
route of the War of 1812 British invasion of Maryland and Washington,
District of Columbia, and the route of the American defense, for study for
potential addition to the national trails system.  It will be at 10:00 a.m.
in 1324 Longworth.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Murkowski): Hearing on:

o     S. 25 (Landrieu, LA), a bill to provide Coastal Impact Assistance to
      State and local governments, to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands
      Act Amendments of 1978, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of
      1965, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act, and the Federal Aid
      in Wildlife Restoration Act (commonly referred to as the Pittman-
      Robertson Act) to establish a fund to meet the outdoor conservation and
      recreation needs of the American people, and for other purposes.
o     S. 446 (Boxer, CA), a bill to provide for the permanent protection of
      the resources of the United States in the year 2000 and beyond (see
      H.R. 798).
o     S. 532 (Feinstein, CA), a bill to provide increased funding for the
      Land and Water Conservation Fund and Urban Parks and Recreation
      Recovery Programs, to resume the funding to the State grants program of
      the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and to provide for the
      acquisition and development of conservation and recreation facilities
      and programs in urban areas (see H.R. 1118).

The hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m.in 366 Dirksen.

Senate Indian Affairs Committee (Campbell): Oversight hearing on
implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
It will be at 9:30 a.m. in 485 Russell.

Wednesday, April 21

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Land Management
(Craig): Hearing on the memorandum of understanding signed by multiple
agencies regarding the Lewis and Clark bicentennial celebration.  It will be
at 2:00 p.m. in 366 Dirksen.

Thursday, April 22

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior (Gorton): Hearing on the
Department of Interior's FY00 budget request.  The hearing will be at 9:30
a.m. in 124 Dirksen.

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation, and Recreation (Thomas): Hearing on:

o     S. 441 (Sarbanes, MD), a bill to amend the National Trails System Act
      to designate the route of the War of 1812 British invasion of Maryland
      and Washington, District of Columbia, and the route of the American
      defense, for study for potential addition to the national trails system
      (see H.R. 791).
o     S. 548 (DeWine, OH), a bill to establish the Fallen Timbers Battlefield
      and Fort Miami National Historic Site in the state of Ohio (see H.R.
      868).
o     S. 581 (Specter, PA), a bill to protect the Paoli and Brandywine
      Battlefields in Pennsylvania and to authorize the Valley Forge Museum
      of the American Revolution at Valley Forge National Historical Park
      (see H.R. 659).
o     S. 700 (Akaka, HI), a bill to amend the National Trails System Act to
      designate the Ala Kahakai Trail as a National Historic Trail. 

The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. in 366 Dirksen.

House Appropriations S/C on Interior and Related Agencies (Regula): Oversight
hearing on the GAO report on the Everglades NP restoration project.  It will
be at 10:00 a.m. in B-308 Rayburn.  

Thursday, April 29

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation, and Recreation (Thomas) and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
on Interior and Related Agencies (Gorton): Joint oversight hearing to review
the GAO report on the Everglades NP restoration project.

Saturday, May 1

House Resources Committee (Young): Field hearing on H.R. 883, to preserve the
sovereignty of the United States over public lands and acquired lands owned
by the United States, and to preserve state sovereignty and private property
rights in non-Federal lands surrounding those public lands and acquired
lands.  It will be in Rolla, Missouri. 

Monday, May 3

House Resources Committee (Young): Field hearing on:

o     H.R. 701, to provide Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance to State
      and local governments, to amend the Land and Water Conservation Fund
      Act of 1965, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978, and
      the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act to establish a fund to meet
      the outdoor conservation and recreation needs of the American people.
o     H.R. 798, to provide for the permanent protection of the resources of
      the United States in the year 2000 and beyond.  

It will be in New Orleans, Louisiana.  

Tuesday, May 4

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Murkowski): Hearing on:

o     S. 25 (Landrieu, LA), a bill to provide Coastal Impact Assistance to
      State and local governments, to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands
      Act Amendments of 1978, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of
      1965, the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act, and the Federal Aid
      in Wildlife Restoration Act (commonly referred to as the Pittman-
      Robertson Act) to establish a fund to meet the outdoor conservation and
      recreation needs of the American people, and for other purposes.
o     S. 446 (Boxer, CA), a bill to provide for the permanent protection of
      the resources of the United States in the year 2000 and beyond (see
      H.R. 798).
o     S. 532 (Feinstein, CA), a bill to provide increased funding for the
      Land and Water Conservation Fund and Urban Parks and Recreation
      Recovery Programs, to resume the funding to the State grants program of
      the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and to provide for the
      acquisition and development of conservation and recreation facilities
      and programs in urban areas (see H.R. 1118).

The hearing will be at 9:30 a.m. in 366 Dirksen.

FLOOR ACTION

No votes scheduled.  

LEGISLATION INTRODUCED

No new legislation introduced.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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