NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, May 22, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1781, Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene began the Continental 
Army's siege against American loyalists at Ninety-Six, South Carolina, 
the longest siege of the Revolutionary War. The loyalists repulsed his 
attack and forced his withdrawal nearly a month later.  Ninety Six 
National Historic Site contains remains of the defensive and offensive 
earthworks.

INCIDENTS

00-213 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - Fatal Bear Mauling

A woman from Cosby, Tennessee, was killed in a bear attack yesterday 
evening. The woman and her companion entered the park around noon to 
fish along the Little River. The man last saw her around 2 p.m. when 
the couple separated and he went fishing. He went to look for her 
about an hour later, came upon her day pack, then found her body off 
the trail. There were two bears at the body, a large adult female and 
a yearling. Another fisherman hiked to Elkmont campground to report 
the incident around 5 p.m., and rangers were on scene at 6:05 p.m. Two 
bears were in the area and rangers shot and killed them. The bears are 
being taken to the University of Tennessee for necropsies to ensure 
that they were the animals involved in the attack. As a precautionary 
measure, park officials have closed backcountry campsites 21, 23, 24 
and 30, all of which are in the Little River drainage. The woman's 
name is being withheld pending notification of family members. A news 
conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning. This is the 
first-ever fatality from a black bear attack to occur in the park. 
[Bob Miller, PIO, GRSM, 5/21]

00-214 - Castillo de San Marcos NM (FL) - Drug Arrest

On May 10th, ranger Andrew Rich saw three people smoking what appeared 
to be marijuana on the north green of the Castillo. Rich and rangers 
Kim Kirk and Chuck Dale approached the trio; as they were patting them 
down and obtaining identification, one of them - D.S., 19 - 
bolted and ran. Rich and Dale pursued, caught and subdued D.S. after 
a struggle in which all three sustained minor injuries. D.S. was 
charged with resisting arrest and possession of a controlled 
substance. He has a long criminal record for violent crimes; he had 
just finished an 11-month prison stay and was out on probation when 
the incident occurred. [C.L. Dale, CR, CASA, 5/11]

00-215 - Fire Island NS (NY) - Special Event

Last week, the park hosted the 2000 Blue Wave Campaign ceremony 
recognizing America's cleanest and safest beaches. The event was 
sponsored by the Clean Beaches Council, a non-profit organization 
whose purpose is to focus attention on the nation's cleanest beaches 
and to recognize examples of best beach management practices. "Blue 
Wave" certification, denoted by a distinctive blue flag displayed on 
site, is awarded to beaches that meet a series of criteria, including 
excellent water quality and high quality visitor safety services, such 
as lifeguarded beaches and emergency services. Fire Island NS, 
Assateague Island NS, and the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway NRA were 
recognized with Blue Flag certification at the ceremony, which took 
place at the park visitor center. About 60 people attended. [Barry 
Sullivan, IC, FIIS, 5/19]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III

CURRENT SITUATION

New large fires were again reported yesterday in the South over the 
weekend, most of them in Florida and North Carolina. Initial attack 
was light to moderate. Demobilization is underway from large fires in 
the Southwest. 

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from Friday's  numbers in parentheses): 73 crews (- 69), 717 
overhead (- 464), 171 engines (- 101), 39 helicopters (- 12), and 12 
air tankers (- 17).

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, New 
Mexico, Utah, Texas, and Oklahoma.

NPS FIRES

Cape Hatteras NS (NC) - The Pole fire broke out under a power line 
near Highway 12 on Ocracoke Island at the south end of the park on the 
afternoon of May 19th. Moderate southwest winds spread the fire 
rapidly in grass and shrubs, with 100-foot runs in less than a minute 
and flame lengths of 20 to 25 feet. Six NPS firefighters and equipment 
responded and were joined by about 30 volunteer firefighters with 
structural firefighting apparatus. The southwest flank of the fire 
backed to within a half mile of Ocracoke Village before it was stopped 
with a bush hog line supported by a hose lay. A North Carolina 
Division of Forestry air tanker and lead plane were diverted from an 
FWS fire in nearby Alligator River NWR and made numerous drops on the 
southwest flank and along Highway 12. The fire was 95% contained by 
10:30 p.m. and fully contained in the early morning hours of May 20th. 
Dan Trexler was IC.

Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - A Type I incident management team (Frye) has 
been assigned to the Outlet fire, which is burning in designated and 
proposed wilderness 25 miles south of Jacob Lake. The fire has burned 
13,350 acres (no change) and is 100% contained. All North Rim 
facilities will reopen today. Transition to a Type III team is 
scheduled to occur tomorrow. 

Bandelier NM (NM) - An area command team (Meuchel) and a Type I 
incident management teams (Gage] are assigned to the Cerro Grande 
fire. The fire has burned 47,650 acres (no change) and is 90% (+ 20%) 
contained. Isolated smokes are being reported from unburned islands 
within the fire's perimeter. No torching or fire spread was observed 
yesterday, though fire activity increased somewhat with afternoon 
heating. Aggressive mop-up operations are underway on the west side of 
the fire between Santa Clara Canyon and Cerro Grande.

The park reopened to the public on Saturday without incident. The only 
portion of the park not open to the public is the extreme northern 
end, which is closed for fire-related public safety reasons. Park 
staff continue to be supported by outside resources and teams. Media 
interest has been light since the reopening.

The report on the Cerro Grande fire can be found at 
http://165.83.219.61/cerrogrande/. The information there is updated at 
11 a.m. every day. The site has drawn considerable attention. There 
were 1,975 "hits" on Wednesday, May 17th, then 53,713 on Thursday 
after the report was posted there.

SIGNIFICANT NON-NPS FIRES

Florida State - The River Ranch fire, now 100% contained, burned 368 
acres in Polk County and destroyed about 113 hunting camps comprised 
of tents and trailers.

OUTLOOK

No fire weather watches or red flag warnings have been posted for 
today.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/20-2219; Jeff Cobb, CR, 
CAHA, 5/20; Steve Pittleman, WASO, 5/19; Larry Frederick, IO, IMT, 
5/21]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Hampton NHS (MD) - International "Social Conscience" Cultural Sites    
                   Protection

On May 17th, the park hosted a meeting of the International Coalition 
of Historic Site Museums of Social Conscience.  The group took a tour 
of Hampton which highlighted the interpretation of slavery, then met 
to work on presentations for the American Association of Museums 
Conference in Baltimore and the National Conference on Women and 
Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. The coalition's purpose is 
to strengthen participating sites, empower emerging sites around the 
world, protect sites that may be threatened by political regimes in 
their homelands, interest other sites around the world in joining the 
coalition, share programming, and facilitate collaboration between 
museums and arts and human rights organizations. The founding members 
of the coalition, formed four months ago, are District Six Museum 
(South Africa), Gulag Museum (Russia), Liberation War Museum 
(Bangladesh), Lower East Side Tenement Museum (USA), Slave House 
(Senegal), Project to Remember (Argentina), Terezin Memorial (Czech 
Republic), The Workhouse (England), and the U.S. National Park 
Service. Regional Director Marie Rust is the Park Service 
representative for the many NPS sites that highlight social change and 
justice such as Manzanar, Brown vs. the Board of Education, and 
Women's Rights. [Laurie Coughlan, HAMP]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

"FY 2000 Federal Lands Highways Safety Spot Improvement Program," 
signed on April 27th and sent electronically to all regional directors 
and federal lands highway program coordinators. Please see the 
original memo for the referenced attachments; there are NO attachments 
to the Morning Report:

"As per the Associate Director, Park Operations and Education 
memorandum dated March 7, 2000, Regional Federal Lands Highways 
Program Coordinators submitted candidate projects for the FY 2000 
Federal Lands Highways Safety Spot Improvement Program.  Attachment A 
provides a list of the criteria used for selecting projects in FY 
2000.  Attachment B provides the Servicewide list of FY 2000 funded 
projects.

"In response to field requests, over $1 million in projects were 
funded for FY 2000.  These low cost projects produce significant 
benefits toward the reduction and elimination of roadway incidents and 
resulting fatalities, injuries, and property damage. 

"Over the next 5 years, regions are required to report to the 
Washington Office annual reductions in traffic accidents directly 
attributable to the completion of these projects.  This information 
will be used in annual Program Measures and Government Performance and 
Results Act goals.  This data will be reported annually to the 
National Park Service (NPS), Field Operations Technical Support 
Center, Highway Operations (FOTSC-HO).  Please mail this information 
to NPS, FOTSC-HO, 7333 Jefferson Avenue, Lakewood, Colorado 80235, 
attention Ms. Nancy Arwood.  Information should be provided in the 
format found in Attachment C.

"Federal Highway Administration and the NPS mutually agree that safety 
is paramount and continue to be committed to enhancing safety on park 
roads and parkways.

"As way of reminder, all funds must be obligated by September 30, 
2000.  If you have any questions regarding the Highway Safety Program, 
please call Mark Hartsoe at 202/565-1265."

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Big Bend NP (TX) - The park is seeking a ranger to lateral into a 
permanent, full-time GS-9 protection ranger position in the Boquillas 
District. Responsibilities include law enforcement, structural and 
wildland firefighting, EMS, SAR and horse operations. The ability to 
speak Spanish is a plus but not mandatory. Required occupancy. Full 
performance rangers interested in this position should contact Rich 
Shreffler at 915-477-2356. 

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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