NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, September 3, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-520 - Cape Hatteras NS (NC) Follow-up: Hurricane Dennis

A tropical storm warning remained in effect for the entire eastern North
Carolina area yesterday.  Overwash continued, with tides running two to four
feet above normal.  Winds between 25 and 45 mph were expected last night. 
Highlights from yesterday's report follow: 

o     NC Highway 12 remains breached in several places and is still closed.  
o     Hatteras Island is flooded in low areas and overwash is occurring at
      high tide at many places along the highway.  Radio communication with
      park employees on the island has been intermittent at best, so cell
      phones are being utilized.  
o     Ocracoke Island is still without phones.  Electricity is being provided
      by on-site generators.  Water is receding from Ocracoke Village.
o     Fort Raleigh NHS and Wright Brothers NM were cleaned up yesterday and
      should reopen today.  

Seasonal staff were brought back from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, yesterday
and will be available for assignment.  [William Fischer, IC, CAHA, 9/2]

99-533 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Illegal Guide Service

Three people appeared at the White River ranger station early on the morning
of August 28th.  When climbing ranger Joe Puryear asked why they were there,
they replied that they were just waiting for their guide.  Puryear attempted
to elicit more information from them, but they had nothing more to say. 
Puryear notified commissioned rangers Geoff Walker and Uwe Nehring, who
contacted the trio and a fourth man - D.M. - in the parking lot
outside the ranger station.  The four said that they were just friends going
on a climb, and that there was no client-guide relationship.  The three
suspected clients were interviewed individually and admitted that each had
paid D.M. $450 to guide them up the mountain.  They were supposed to have
climbed the mountain with D.M. in late June, but the trip was canceled
due to poor weather.  They rescheduled for August 28th and were supposed to
pay D.M. an additional $150 cancellation fee.  When confronted with this
information, D.M. admitted that he was guiding for money and that he had
formerly worked as an instructor for NOLS in Lander, Wyoming, and as a guide
for Mountain Madness, a Seattle-based guide service.  The rangers also
learned that two more clients had arrived for the climb and that they'd been
instructed to lie to rangers about the guided climb.  The contact number
D.M. gave rangers came back to a number listed in the Seattle Yellow
Pages under "Rock and Mountain Climbing Instruction" as Climbing Connection
of Seattle, Washington.  D.M.'s summit climb was terminated and he was
cited for conducting an illegal commercial activity in the park (36 CFR 5.3)
and for providing false information (36 CFR 2.32(a)(3)).  A review of the
park permit system revealed that D.M. was listed as party leader for at
least two other climbing parties that were on the mountain in June and July. 
Additional citations or a mandatory court appearance are pending.  [Uwe
Nehring, MORA, 8/29]

99-534 - Voyageurs NP (MN) - Border Boat Check Operation

Over the weekend of August 21st, rangers Dennis Kaleta and Dave Little joined
U.S. and Canadian county, state and federal agencies in "Operation Walleye,"
organized by U.S. Customs to focus on customs requirements and drug
interdiction along 100 miles of the border between and including Lake of the
Woods and Rainy Lake.  On the 21st, rangers and officers from the U.S. in six
boats contacted people in about 60 boats on Rainy Lake.  Two BUI arrests were
made in the park, one of which involved an operator with a blood alcohol
count of 0.23, boating operation without lights, drug possession, and flight
from officers.  A Customs helicopter helped in the night operation.  Customs
agents reported that there was a large increase in the number of required
border check-ins once the operation began.  [CR, VOYA, 8/23]

99-535 - Organ Pipe Cactus NM (AZ) - Drug Seizure and Arrests

On August 28th, two Border Patrol agents tracked a group of ten suspected
drug traffickers to a wilderness area in the park.  A helicopter was summoned
and located the suspects, who abandoned their contraband and fled in several
directions into the desert.  A ranger patrolling a dirt road in the area
responded to a radio request for backup and apprehended one of the men as he
fled south toward Mexico.  The agents apprehended three others; the remaining
six escaped.  Eleven makeshift "backpacks" with 468.2 pounds of marijuana
were seized.  [Karl Pearson, ACR, ORPI, 8/30]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level IV

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                      Wed      Thu   %  Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT      9/1      9/2  Con Con
 
CA    Angeles NF             Bridge           T1    7,000    7,000   68 UNK
      San Bernadino NF       Willow           T1   60,100   61,770   50 UNK
                             Mixing           T2    3,000    3,000   70 UNK
      Plumas NF              MHRD Cx          T1   14,482   17,445   30 UNK
                             FRRD Cx          T1    3,805    3,805  100 CND
      Shasta-Trinity NF      High Cx          T1   21,100   27,100   85 9/4
                             Big Bar Cx       T2    5,476    6,322   25 9/8

MT    Crow Agency            Ash Creek        --      500      262  100 CND 

UT    State                * Gold Spike       --        -      400  UNK UNK

ID    Lower Snake District   East Slick       T2   35,118   35,118   90 9/2 

TX    State                  Darby Springs    --    2,000    2,000   45 9/2

                                  Heading Notes

Unit        Agency or Area Office = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA
            state resource or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; FO =
            BLM field office; District = BLM district; NWR = USFWS wildlife
            refuge
Fire        * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex 
IMT         T1 = Type I Team; T2 = Type II Team; T3 = Type III Team; ST =
            State Team; FUM = Fire Use Management Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained: UNK = unknown; NR = no report
Est Con     Estimated containment date: NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; UNK = unknown; NR = no
            report; RBF = resource benefit fire, no containment action being
            taken; LR = last report unless significant activity occurs

FIRE NARRATIVES (as of 9/2)

Yosemite NP - Fires in the park continue to burn within prescription.  The
fire use management team will demobilize within the next couple of days.

Great Smoky Mountains NP - The Blacksmith fire has burned 198 more acres for
a total of 343 acres as of September 1st.  No rain is expected for the next
several days.

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Monday, 8/30         3      5        18       1      230     31       288
Tuesday, 8/31        2      3         8       1      193     29       236
Wednesday, 9/1       1      0         9       0      162     27       199
Thursday, 9/2        1      6        10       0      125     36       178

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Monday, 8/30       441        849         102             5         2,059
Tuesday, 8/31      403        643          89            15         1,387
Wednesday, 9/1     407        573         102            14         1,578
Thursday, 9/2      456        587          98            11         1,542

CURRENT SITUATION

Initial attack activity was moderate in the South yesterday and minimal in
most other areas.  New large fires were reported in the Great Basin.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Oregon, Washington,
California, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, South Dakota, Kentucky, Alabama,
Indiana, Tennessee and Texas.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/3; Mike Warren, NPS FMPC, 9/2]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROTECTION AND EDUCATION 

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

"Green Energy Parks Program," signed on August 24th and transmitted
electronically to all employees:

"The Green Energy Parks Program (GEPP) is in full implementation and forging
forward into the new millennium with great results.  Since the signing of the
Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of the Interior and the
Department of Energy (DOE) at Golden Gate National Recreation Area in April
of this year, GEPP has been on a fast track with numerous successes.  
     
"With support from the Department, in FY 1999 both DOE and the National Park
Service (NPS) funded in excess of $800,000 towards the completion of various
projects that focused on energy conservation, renewable energy and energy
audits.  These dollars were used to fund initiatives such as a large
photovoltaic system at Alcatraz Island, Golden Gate National Recreation Area,
which is just one of 17 photovoltaic systems being set up Servicewide to
promote renewable technology. 
     
"In a partnership between DOE and NPS to promote alternative fuel vehicles,
DOE is funding some $1.7 million over the next 4 years.  The hybrid
bio-diesel/electric bus and bio-diesel storage facility being procured for
Yosemite National Park is just one of 27 projects that parks will receive
from a portion of the funds to promote cleaner burning fuel and innovative
transportation technology. Yellowstone National Park is one of 11 parks that
will receive a portion of this funding to implement other bio-fuels projects
to promote energy conservation and renewable energies.  

"Also as part of an ongoing energy conservation initiative, the NPS in
cooperation with DOE and James Madison University in Virginia established the
NPS/University Energy Audit Program.  This program calls for university
students to complete energy audits that lead to a number of recommendations
for strategies to reduce energy consumption. 

"In FY 1999, the program received great support and funding through a
partnership between DOE and the NPS totaling $150,000.  In FY 1998,
Shenandoah National Park was the test pilot park.  The success of this pilot
lead to some 5 to 10 parks being audited in FY 1999.
     
"With 275 million national and international visitors annually Servicewide,
the NPS can utilize the GEPP as a great platform to influence public thinking
in regards to energy awareness and environmental issues.  Using our
educational expertise and high visibility with the public, we can help make a
difference in the ways the world views energy and water conservation.
     
"The GEPP is an important part of the overall Environmental Leadership
initiative.  To learn more about energy-related projects and Environmental
Leadership within the NPS please go to the GEPP home page at
www.nps.gov/renew.
     
"If you have any questions, please contact Terry Brennan, 202/565-1248."

INTERCHANGE

Channel Islands NS - The park is interested in creating a mountain bike
management plan for Santa Rosa Island.  Parks with such plans - or whatever
else is employed to manage mountain bikes - are asked to send same to Kyle
Nelson.  He can be reached by name on cc:Mail or at 805-658-5700 ext. 5956.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP - The park is recruiting for a GS-401-11
natural resource management specialist.  The job is listed on USAJOBS as MARO
99-33 and closes on September 14th.  The incumbent manages all facets of the
park's natural resources management program, including a large farm lease
program.  For more information, call Mike Johnson, chief ranger, at 540-654-
5535.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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