QUARTERLY PARK OPERATIONS UPDATE
                 THIRD QUARTER, FY99: April 1 - June 30, 1999

August 28, 1999                                                          99-03
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                               TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0   Associate Director, Park Operations and Education
2.0   Concessions
3.0   Interpretation and Education
4.0   Facilities Management
5.0   Harpers Ferry Center
6.0   Youth Programs
7.0   Risk Management
8.0   Public Health Service
9.0   Ranger Activities
10.0  Appalachian Trail 
11.0  Intra-Divisional/Intra-Directorate Projects

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1.0   ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, PARK OPERATIONS AND EDUCATION - Maureen Finnerty

      This is the third issue of the quarterly summary of activities in Park
      Operations and Education.  We have received little feedback on previous
      editions, and would like to hear from you on whether or not you find
      this periodic update on operations useful/informative.  If not, how can
      we change it to meet your needs?

      One of my primary focuses this year has been to improve communications
      and cooperation between Operations and other divisions, directorates,
      and the field.  The Quarterly Operations Update is part of that effort.
      We have also been making particular efforts to strengthen links and
      build relationships between Operations and Administration, and have been
      working hard with them on a wide range of issues.  One of the outcomes
      is the upcoming, first-ever joint conference between ARD's for
      Operations and ARD's for Administration, to be held in San Diego this
      coming November.  I'm very much looking forward to this meeting and to
      the development of a shared plan for dealing with common problems. 
      Further information on this effort will appear in upcoming editions of
      this newsletter.

2.0   CONCESSIONS - Bob Yearout, Cindy Orlando, Wendy Mann

2.1   Concession Regulations

      The new concession regulations have cleared the Department and OMB and
      were published in the Federal Register on June 30th.  The 60-day comment
      period has been extended until October 15th at the request of Senator
      Thomas and Congressman Hansen.  The notice extending the comment period
      should be published in the Federal Register on August 27th.  Once the
      comments are factored in, the regulations will be published in final.
      A Federal Register notice on the revised standard contract language
      should be published on either August 26th or 27th for a 60-day public
      comment period.  Final regs and contract language will probably appear
      in February - but possibly later.  

2.2   Concessions Management Advisory Board

      Title 5 of the National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998, which
      deals entirely with concessions, calls for the establishment of a new
      concessions management advisory board.  The board will be composed of
      individuals representing seven different industries - hospitality,
      tourism, accounting, outfitting and guides, state parks, traditional
      arts and crafts, and non-profit conservation.  The NPS has sent the
      names of nominees for each slot to the Secretary of Interior for
      consideration and expects to have the list approved and returned
      shortly.

2.3   Division Management Transition

      Cindy Orlando has taken over from Bob Yearout as the new chief of
      concession for the National Park Service, effective October 4th.  She
      will oversee more than 600 concessioners in 125 national parks.  Cindy
      has been in the National Park Service since 1969, most recently as
      superintendent of Fort Clatsop NM.  She also managed the concessions
      program at Mesa Verde NP form 1980 to 1986 and served as a concessions
      analyst in PNRO from 1986 to 1988.

2.4   Operational Standards

      A major revision of concessions operational standards is currently
      underway, including environmental compliance and operations standards,
      which will have the same weight as the current public health and safety
      standards.  They will be going out for internal review in the near
      future.

3.0   INTERPRETATION AND EDUCATION - Corky Mayo

3.1   Interpretation

      In April, Corky Mayo and the members of the Federal Interagency Council
      for Interpretation (FICI) visited the School of Forestry at Stephen F.
      Austin University in Natchitoches, Texas.  A general assembly of
      forestry students was held and the FICI members taught classes.  

      Work continues on Director Order 6, with the first draft nearly ready
      for review. It should be available for review in August.

      In June, Corky Mayo visited Martin Luther King NHS at the invitation of
      the superintendent and engaged the staff in a discussion of
      interpretation and the interpretive competencies at the site. 

      Two interpretive courses have been held at Mather Training Center this
      summer - Interpretive Planning for Managers was held in July, the
      Chief's of Interpretation Workshop in August.

3.2   Education 

      The 1999 "Parks as Classrooms" fee demonstration funds have been
      distributed.  Twenty-three parks benefitted from the additional
      $242,000.  Parks receiving these additional funds will provide a report
      in December.

      Bob Huggins continues to work with the Partners in Resource Education on
      several projects including "Hands on the Land" (HOL) which is being
      funded by an EPA grant.  HOL is a cooperative effort between the NPS,
      BLM, USFS, USFWS, and NRCS.  Each agency has identified two natural
      resource units (Everglades NP and Olympic NP are the NPS participants)
      and all ten units are linked together to provide a joint educational
      effort.  

      Work continues on developing educational strategy/plans in several
      related and unrelated fields including environmental leadership,
      wilderness, green energy parks, and the natural resources initiative. 

      The 1998 "Parks as Classroom" annual report is written and will be
      distributed as soon as final design and printing has been completed.

      The following 16 NPS interpreters and historians were selected from
      among 33 applicants to attend the summer academic seminars being offered
      by the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History:

      o     Words of Liberty: Rhetoric & American Democracy - Harvard
            University: Joseph Chauncy (INDE), Martin Blatt (BOST)
      o     The Origins & Nature of New World Slavery - Yale University: Frank
            Faragasso (NCPE), Michael Maione (FOTH), Judith Mueller (HAFE)
      o     New Insights Into Cold War History - Yale University: Bruce Craig
            (GETT)
      o     The Gilded Age: New Perspectives: Leonard DeGraaf (EDIS), Nancy
            Waters (BSO)
      o     Thomas Jefferson & Foundations of American Democracy - University
            of Virginia: Scott Shultz (NCPC), Edward Welch (INDE)
      o     The Public and Private George Washington - Brown University: Susan
            Ballistreri (INDE), Andrew Packett (GEWA)
      o     Passages to Freedom: Abolition & The Underground Railroad -
            Amherst College: Robert Derry (MIMA), Robin Fuller (PETE)
      o     Lincoln - Gettysburg College: Bruce Melberg (MORU), Barbara
            Sanders (GETT)

3.3   Cooperating Associations

      As required by DO-32, the new five year agreement has been written,
      approved by the DOI Solicitor's Office, and distributed to regional
      directors and cooperating association executives with instructions on
      signing and returning to WASO. Any questions regarding the signing of
      this document should be directed to Glenn Clark, Servicewide cooperating
      association coordinator at 202-565-1058.
     
      RM-32, the accompanying resource manual, has been prepared in draft in
      cooperation with the Association of Partners for Public Lands (APPL) and
      distributed for selected field review before final compilation and
      distribution.  A notice will be placed in the Federal Register for a 30-
      day review of RM-32.
     
      The cooperating association annual report for fiscal year 1998 has been
      prepared and will soon be distributed to field directorate,
      superintendents, and cooperating association executives.  There was
      record aide to the NPS in 1998 - a total of $22,561,502.

3.4   Volunteers

      The new Servicewide volunteer coordinator, Joy Pietschmann, has been
      working on DO-7, incorporating comments and suggestions from the field
      and reviewing and editing level 2 and level 3 documents.

      The revised VIP brochure is now on the way to the printers.  Orders were
      taken from parks and the 230,000 brochures will be sent in mid-
      September.

      The 1998 VIP annual report, based on statistics received from the web-
      based 10-150 system, is in preparation and will be posted on the
      volunteer web page when completed.

3.5   National Council for the Traditional Arts

      The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) will be providing
      expert advice and technical assistance regarding cultural programming in
      the traditional arts to six NPS parks/programs in FY99. At New Orleans
      Jazz NHP, the NCTA will assist the park in developing the portion of the
      GMP that explains the history of jazz and its roots in earlier musical
      forms, and will produce a compact disc of "field" recordings of work
      songs, chants, religious songs, and similar pre-jazz musical forms. At
      Nicodemus NHS, the NCTA will assist the park in planning the annual
      Nicodemus Homecoming and help coordinate a program of oral history
      fieldwork in order to research the history of this historic African-
      American community through the living descendants of the original
      settlers. The NCTA will coordinate the programming and presentation of
      the 10th Lowell Folk Festival, a major event that draws over 200,000
      visitors to the park.  The NCTA will also assist the park in planning
      its Boardinghouse Park summer series with the objective of having the
      series better represent the ethnic diversity of Lowell. On the Blue
      Ridge Parkway, the NCTA will continue to assist the park in the
      planning, construction and funding of a new center to interpret the
      history of traditional American music, and will produce a small brochure
      describing the planned center.  The council will also coordinate a
      series of concerts in the park featuring musical forms from the area. In
      National Capital Region, the NCTA will play a major role in the
      coordination of the "American Roots" Fourth of July musical program at
      the Sylvan Theatre, including arranging for the event to be broadcast
      live nationwide over National Public Radio.  For the Trails to Rails
      program, NCTA will assist the program coordinator in planning
      cultural/historical programs for the new expansion routes, including the
      selection of appropriate musicians, singers, craftspeople, storytellers
      to participate in the program.

4.0   FACILITIES MANAGEMENT 

4.1   Housing - Donna Compton

      Congress continues to have a strong interest in the NPS housing program.
      They have been concerned about the cost and extent of our housing
      inventory and want us to provide housing only when absolutely necessary. 
      They expressed their views in the House Appropriations Committee report
      on the Department of Interior's FY 2000 budget request (H. Rept. 106-
      222, issued in June):

      "For several years, the Committee has been concerned about the cost and
      extent of the Service's employee housing program.  The Committee has
      been very supportive of the need to assure that quality housing is
      provided when it is necessary to protect resources and serve visitors. 
      However, the cost of providing housing has been staggering.  Over the
      past 10 years, the Committee has appropriated nearly $200 million to
      repair and construct Park Service employee housing, and the agency has
      estimated that it needs another $300 million to repair and replace some
      of its existing housing inventory.  While we have supported the agency
      in the past, we are convinced that the Service has not done all it can
      to assure that it provides housing only when absolutely necessary; that
      apartments or duplex housing are considered in place of single family
      homes; and that common design and planning documents are used to ensure
      cost effective housing...

      "In the early 1990's, it was clear from General Accounting Office
      reports that the Park Service could not justify the need for all its
      current housing...As a direct result of language in both the 1996
      Omnibus Parks Act and the Interior Appropriations Act, the Service hired
      an independent consultant to conduct a needs assessment based on
      directions from the Washington office.  In addition, the Director
      committed to a revised housing policy which would (1) minimize the
      agency's need for housing by relying more on the private sector and (2)
      exhaust all alternatives to in-park housing before replacing or
      constructing additional park housing.  Both were accomplished last year
      and the Committee's initial reaction was favorable.

      "However, the Committee has been greatly disappointed to watch the
      events of the last six months regarding both implementation of the
      policy and the results of the needs assessments, which cost the American
      taxpayers $2,000,000!  The park managers don't like the policy or the
      assessments which indicated that about 75 percent of the parks had too
      much housing.  In fact, the park managers feel that they need what
      exists and more.  As of this date, the Service has taken no definitive
      action to resolve the conflict...

      "While this Committee does not want to write the National Park Service's
      Housing Policy, it will not tolerate the status quo or a greatly watered
      down policy which allows all existing housing plus additional new
      housing in every unit of the Service, particularly when affordable
      housing is available within a reasonable distance...The Committee is
      concerned that park superintendents are more interested in defending
      past housing practices rather than taking a critical look at what makes
      economic sense for the future...

      "The Committee directs the Service to make the hard decisions that need
      to be made...A policy, complete with a detailed strategy including
      specific timetables, priority park housing needs and total costs, should
      be provided to the Committee no later than September 1, 1999....Should
      the Service not have a reasonable policy and plan for implementation by
      September 1, the Committee will redirect ($30,500,000 for housing) to
      other needs in the (appropriations) bill."