NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT
   
   
   To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices
   
   From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
   
   Day/Date:   Friday, January 7, 2000
   
   ALMANAC
   
   On this day in 1894, the earliest surviving copyrighted motion picture (81 
   frames, lasting about two seconds and showing Thomas A. Edison's assistant 
   Fred Ott sneezing) was made in the movie studio at Edison's laboratory in 
   West Orange, New Jersey. The laboratory and Glenmont, his nearby estate, 
   now compose Edison National Historic Site.
   
   INCIDENTS
   
   00-003 - Biscayne NP (FL) - Illegal Aliens
   
   The Coast Guard asked rangers for assistance when a 60-foot vessel 
   suspected of smuggling illegal aliens entered park waters near Pacific 
   Reef Light at 1:30 a.m. on January 1st. Rangers David Pharo and David 
   Carter and a Coast Guard patrol boat tracked the fleeing vessel north 
   through shallow coral reef areas of the park.  The vessel ran aground on a 
   coral reef, but was freed by the rising tide approximately a half hour 
   later.  It then continued northward and ran aground again on a sea grass 
   shoal approximately two miles south of Cape Florida Lighthouse in park 
   waters.  Initial estimates were that up to 100 people were onboard the 
   vessel at the time of the grounding.  Removal of the illegal aliens from 
   the vessel began around 6 a.m., with about 80 people voluntarily leaving 
   the smuggling vessel.  Those remaining on board refused to leave, so a 
   Coast Guard team boarded the vessel and began to physically remove them.  
   Coast Guard, NPS, and Florida Marine Patrol shallow draft vessels ferried 
   the migrants to three 110-foot Coast Guard cutters located approximately 
   two miles offshore.  The transfer was completed by 3 p.m. There were no 
   injuries during the operation, but four pregnant women were taken to local 
   hospitals complaining of maternity symptoms.  The final tally revealed 
   that there were 411 illegal aliens on the boat, mostly from Haiti but with 
   some from the Dominican Republic and China.  All are being returned to 
   Haiti by the Coast Guard.  Supervisory ranger Tom Rutledge oversaw the 
   Coast Guard's removal of the vessel from park waters; there were no 
   further injuries to resources.  Investigation failed to reveal who had 
   piloted the vessel or organized the smuggling operation.  The wooden 
   vessel was of little value and posed a serious health threat from possible 
   disease and vermin infestation.  An assessment conducted by park biologist 
   Karen Battle revealed that the incident caused extreme damage to the shoal 
   and its associated sea grass community.  The vessel excavated over 75 
   cubic meters of sea grass and sediment, creating a trench that was over 
   114 feet long, nine feet wide and four and a half feet deep. The estimated 
   cost to restore this site is over $100,000.  The coral reef area where the 
   vessel ran aground has not yet been located but it is expected to also be 
   heavily damaged.  The incident was managed by the Coast Guard under ICS.  
   All participating agencies worked together with exchanges of fuel, 
   supplies and personnel. [Wayne Elliott, CR, BISC, 1/5]
   
   CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
   
   No submissions.
   
   FIRE ACTIVITY
   
   Mike Warren at the NPS Fire Management Program Center will be providing 
   intermittent updates on NPS fires. These will be augmented with NIFC 
   intelligence reports when and where appropriate. The following update 
   contains reports on fires as of January 3rd:
   
   o     Padre Island NS (TX) - A 4,000-acre fire began on the night of 
         December 22nd and burned into the 23rd before being controlled by 
         park staff and local volunteer fire departments. The fire began 
         outside the park.
   
   o     Big Thicket NP (TX) - The park reported a 5,000-acre fire and
         several smaller (less than ten acre) fires.
   
   o     Sequoia NP (CA) - Firefighters continue with efforts to suppress the 
         five-acre Conifer Fire. The helicopter that had been employed to 
         drop water on the fire since December 21st was released on Monday. 
         The park also reported three other small fires, which were 
         considered to have little chance of spreading beyond their 
         boundaries.
   
   OPERATIONAL NOTES
   
   Structural Fire Program - There have been significant developments 
   recently regarding structural fire in the NPS.  Among these is the 
   development of a Servicewide structural fire program to address the broad 
   issues of fire prevention and fire protection. An update of these recent 
   developments can be found at the Fire Management Program Center web site 
   at http://fire.nifc.nps.gov. Look under the fire information section for a 
   heading entitled "Status of National Park Service Structural Fire." If you 
   have any questions or comments, please contact Bill Oswals via cc:Mail or 
   at 208-387-5212. 
   
   MEMORANDA
   
   No submissions.
   
   INTERCHANGE
   
   No submissions.
   
   PARKS AND PEOPLE
   
   No submissions.
   
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   Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by 
   park, office and/or regional cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please address 
   requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your servicing hub 
   coordinator.  The Morning Report is also available on the web at 
   http://www.nps.gov/morningreport
   
   Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation 
   and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
   
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