8.0     PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE - John Hanley, Sonya Coakley

8.1     Staff Changes

        There have been three changes in staff since the last 
        quarterly update:

        o       Lt. Steven Tome will be the new assistant chief. He 
                will be based in WASO for eight months of the year, 
                and cover Glacier NP and Grand Teton NP for the 
                remaining four months. He will replace the seasonal 
                sanitarians who were assigned to those two areas.
        o       Lt. Cdr. Paul Robinson is the new PHS consultant in 
                Santa Fe, effective May 1st.
        o       Sonya Coakley is in a new position in the WASO office. 
                She is now a program analyst and will manage the 
                office.

8.2     Interagency Agreement

        The interagency agreement between the NPS and Public Health 
        Service has been signed and went into effect on March 20th. 
        This agreement has a number of benefits to the NPS:

        o       Fourteen commissioned PHS officers are detailed to the 
                NPS, up from the dozen previously assigned to the 
                agency.
        o       Significant savings in overhead costs to the NPS.
        o       Elevation of the NPS program to agency status within 
                PHS, which make the National Park Service an equal 
                partner with other agencies within PHS, such as EPA.

9.0     RANGER ACTIVITIES

9.1     Fee Program - Jane Moore

        Developments of note in the second quarter in the fee program 
        included the following:

        The new National Parks Pass (NPP) went on sale on April 18th.  
        The NPP is an agency specific annual pass, valid for entrance 
        fees charged at NPS units.  This pass is available for $50 at 
        participating parks through an 800 number (1-888-GOPARKS), 
        online at www.nationalparks.org, and through many cooperating 
        associations. In addition, the NPP will be sold online by 
        selected retail partners, including AAA, Amfac, KOA, L.L. 
        Bean, Rand McNally, and REI. A Golden Eagle hologram sticker 
        is available for an additional $15, making the NPP valid for 
        entrance fees charged at FWS, BLM and USFS land management 
        areas.  The traditional Golden Eagle Passports will continue 
        to be honored at NPS entrance fee areas.  Mail-outs directly 
        to parks and regional offices have included an informational 
        PowerPoint slide show, NPS talking points, a list of most 
        frequently asked questions, and standard operating procedures. 
        Please contact your park fee program manager, superintendent, 
        or regional fee program coordinator for further information.

        The House Appropriations Committee has concurred with an NPS 
        proposal to incorporate 18 additional park units into the 
        authorized 100 recreational fee demonstration projects.  These 
        parks have geographic, thematic, or administrative linkages, 
        and will provide reciprocal entrance fee arrangements.  The 18 
        units will be included under the recreational fee 
        demonstration program retroactively to last October 1st.  For 
        further information, please contact your regional fee program 
        coordinator.

        H.R. 149, the technical corrections bill for the Omnibus Parks 
        and Public Management Act of 1996, was signed by the president 
        in March.  Among other things, this bill authorizes non demo 
        parks collecting recreation fees under the Land and Water 
        Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to retain revenues in the same 
        manner and for the same purposes as the current recreational 
        fee demonstration program authority (that is, an 80/20 split). 
        The effective date for implementation is retroactive to April 
        1st. WASO Budget is working with AOC and the WASO Recreation 
        Fee Program to make the necessary accounting adjustments.  An 
        activation memorandum will be forthcoming to provide further 
        details and guidance to the parks.

        Senator Graham (FL) recently requested that the NPS provide 
        draft bill language for permanent fee legislation for the NPS, 
        BLM, USFWS, and USFS.  A joint interagency workgroup has 
        provided a draft bill to Graham's office and it appears that 
        he plans to introduce this legislation soon, either as a 
        stand-alone bill or as part of a larger, primarily NPS-related 
        bill.  Similar bill language has been provided to OMB as an 
        administration sponsored legislative proposal, which may also 
        be introduced in this session of Congress.  

        A Servicewide basic fee training course was offered to new fee 
        supervisors and managers and those in need of a refresher in 
        March.  The training was held in Atlanta and was attended by 
        approximately 85 participants.  A  national recreation fee 
        managers conference will be held from June 13th to the 15th in 
        Las Vegas.  Attendance is limited to 100 participants.  
        Contact your regional fee program coordinator for further 
        information.  

9.2     Regulations - Dennis Burnett

        Ranger Activities has hired one person and will soon bring on 
        a second to oversee all National Park Service regulations. Kym 
        Hall came on duty in WASO in early May, transferring from 
        Olympic NP. The second regs person will be hired shortly. Both 
        will be operating out of RAD's offices on the seventh floor of 
        Main Interior.

        Ranger Activities has requested funding to reconvene the 
        workgroups that are revising 36 CFR Part 2 and 36 CFR Part 3. 
        Both projects have been on hold for some time due to lack of 
        funds.

9.3     Fire Management - Roberta D'Amico

        Developments of note in the second quarter at the Fire 
        Management Program Center included the following:

        Carolyn Rogers has been selected as the new administrative 
        assistant for the center;she transferred to Boise from Midway 
        Atoll NWR. 

        Rich Wands, formerly with USFS, is now the "lessons learned" 
        program manager for the NPS, stationed at NARTC in Marana, 
        Arizona. The program is being modeled after a similar program 
        run by the Army. The purpose is to support the fire community 
        by collecting and analyzing information on tactics, techniques 
        and procedures that can be used to support field operations, 
        training curricula, and safety programs. 

        GAO completed the information gathering phase in its audit of 
        the Service's structural fire program in March. The report is 
        now being written, and is due to Congress by May 22nd. Six 
        parks were visited during the audit, which began last 
        November - Shenandoah, Yosemite, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, 
        Olympic, Ford's Theater and Prince William. The audit 
        consisted of a review of seven key elements of a structural 
        fire program - dedicated funding sources, structural fire 
        plans, inspection programs, incident reporting systems, 
        prevention/detection/ suppression systems, trained and 
        qualified personnel, and fire response capability. Bill 
        Oswald, the Service's structural fire program manager, is the 
        agency contact for this evaluation.

9.4     Uniforms - Ken Mabery

        The review of proposals for the new contract is underway and 
        on track for award in early June.

        This spring, the Departmental OIG completed a report on the 
        uniform contract entitled "Administration of the Uniform 
        Supply Contract, National Park Service" (00-I-319, April 
        2000). The OIG found two weaknesses in the program, both 
        concerning agency administration - lack of a permanent manager 
        for the program and lack of established controls to ensure 
        that sufficient amounts of funds are obligated to the 
        contract. Both are being addressed.

        A work group will convene in mid-June to begin work on a new 
        DO and RM for the uniform program. Both should be out in late 
        summer or fall. 

        Development continues on a number new items - a new green 
        commando sweater has been selected and will be wear-tested; 
        the new crew sock has been phased in, with a catalogue 
        revision planned for next week; a new wide-brim cotton hat has 
        been approved and is awaiting approval of an appropriate 
        color; wear tests of new relaxed-fit jeans and field/work 
        shirts will be conducted in June; the design of a new work 
        jacket has been approved, but the wear test is pending; 
        consolidation of summer weight coveralls should be completed 
        by the end of June.

9.5     Law Enforcement - Dennis Burnett

        Section 801 of Public Law 105-391, the National Parks Omnibus 
        Management Act of 1998, requires the NPS to conduct a study 
        "to fully evaluate the needs, shortfalls and requirements of 
        the law enforcement programs in the National Park Service." 
        The study, known as the "Thomas Report" after the chairman of 
        the Senate subcommittee that requested it, has been completed 
        and approved by DOI. Copies were sent to the Hill on May 5th; 
        arrangements are currently being made for copies to be sent to 
        the parks via regional offices some time early on the week of 
        May 15th. The entire report should be posted on the NPS web 
        site by the end of May. Key paragraphs from the executive 
        summary follow:

        "The responsibilities of the United States Park Police and the 
        protection park ranger staff have increased significantly over 
        the last twenty years - both in terms of system growth and 
        broadening responsibilities. During this time period, the 
        system has grown by 84 new units, 31 million acres and 
        visitation has increased by 53%. New laws have been enacted 
        and existing laws amended for environmental and resource 
        protection, drug enforcement and to protect against terrorism.

        "This growth results in a pronounced increase in workload, 
        accelerated wear on equipment and a workforce lacking 
        sufficient numbers and training to provide acceptable levels 
        of law enforcement, public safety and park resource 
        protection.  Mandated development of computer-based incident 
        reporting, conversion to new radio technology and upgrades to 
        dispatch and advanced fingerprint- identification technology 
        increase the importance and timeliness of this report.

        "The National Park Service appreciates the support and funding 
        increases provided by the Congress over the last few years to 
        help meet the expanded workload. 

        "As directed in Public Law 105-391, this report identifies 
        major categories of need for NPS law enforcement programs. The 
        funding needs are presented in a two-volume format: A master 
        report and a compendium of supporting documentation.  The NPS 
        recommends phasing of the funding increases over several years 
        to meet the desired staffing and resource goals.
     
        "The National Park Service developed this report.  The 
        Department of the Interior supports the mission of the 
        National Park Service and the law enforcement programs and 
        will give full consideration to the law enforcement funding 
        needs during future budget deliberations. Nevertheless, budget 
        requests for the Department of the Interior must address the 
        many competing needs of Interior programs within existing 
        budget caps.
     
        "The report has been provided to the Office of Management and 
        Budget (OMB).  OMB intends to conduct a review of the reports 
        and to request interagency review among other Federal 
        agencies.  The document should be considered an NPS planning 
        document and does not necessarily have Administration 
        approval.  OMB will give consideration to the information in 
        this report in formulating the Presidents FY 2001 budget 
        request to Congress, but will not be bound by its contents, 
        including future funding recommendations."