NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Tuesday, May 30, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1539, a Spanish expedition led by Hernando De Soto 
landed on Florida's west coast and spent the next four years on a 
4,000-mile trek through what later became the southeastern United 
States.  De Soto National Memorial near the mouth of Tampa Bay 
commemorates the expedition.

INCIDENTS

99-478 - Gettysburg NMP (PA) - Follow-up on Kidnapping/Rape

On August 18, 1999 D.O., 30, of Gettysburg, was arrested by 
Pennsylvania State Police on charges that he had abducted a 
17-year-old female from a Gettysburg tourist shop and sexually 
assaulted her on lands both inside and outside the park's boundary.  
State troopers led the investigation of the incident; rangers and 
township and borough officers assisted in the identification of 
witnesses and the search for evidence over a crime scene that 
encompassed roughly 100 acres. On May 22nd, D.O. appeared before the 
county court, where he entered pleas of guilty to one count of 
kidnapping, four counts of rape, and one count of involuntary deviant 
sexual intercourse.  Sentencing has been scheduled for July 7th. [CRO, 
GETT, 5/24]

00-227 - Gettysburg NMP (PA) - Sexual Assault

On the afternoon of May 5th, ranger Joseph Rankin investigated a 
report that a 32-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted near the 
West End guide station. He found that she'd successfully fought off 
her attacker, who fled on a bicycle. A suspect was identified and 
interviewed by Gettysburg police. E.C., 38, of Gettysburg, 
who had a prior conviction for indecent exposure, was incarcerated on 
May 6th for violation of parole. On May 17th, he was indicted by a 
federal grand jury and charged with aggravated sexual abuse and 
abusive sexual contact. An arraignment is scheduled for June 13th. 
[CRO, GETT, 5/24]

00-228 - Little River Canyon NP (AL) - Tour Bus Accident

On May 25th, ranger Jimmy Dunn responded to a tour bus accident on the 
park's canyon rim road. When he arrived, he found the bus teetering 
with its front end up in the air and its back end over a small 
embankment. The 34 passengers, all from a church group from Knoxville, 
Tennessee, had already gotten out; none was injured. The driver was 
able to maintain pressure on the brakes and kept the bus from sliding 
off the embankment until a wrecker arrived and pulled it back onto the 
road. The first wrecker to respond to the accident was hit head-on 
just outside the park by a vehicle passing in a no passing zone. The 
latter vehicle exploded in flames, killing the driver. Heavy rain 
contributed to the bus accident. [Dwight Dixon, CR, LIRI, 5/28]

                      [Numerous reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III

CURRENT SITUATION

There was considerable fire activity through the weekend, and new 
fires were reported yesterday in the South, Southwest, eastern Great 
Basin, Rocky Mountains and southern California. Moderate initial 
attack was reported in Utah, Colorado, Florida and the Southwest. An 
area command team is managing large fires in northern Arizona.

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from last Friday's numbers in parentheses): 116 crews (+ 40), 
703 overhead (- 70), 176 engines (+ 86), 61 helicopters (+ 23), and 30 
air tankers (+ 5).

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

NPS FIRES

Bandelier NM (NM) - The burned area emergency rehabilitation (BAER) 
team continues its work on the Cerro Grande fire. Some background on 
BAER operations is in order for those not familiar with such 
operations. Burned area emergency rehabilitation is defined as those 
emergency treatments that are required immediately post-fire to 
prevent loss of life and/or property and to reduce potential negative 
impacts to critical resources as a result of fire effects or the 
suppression of the fire.  Activities identified as emergency in nature 
are funded with emergency fire rehabilitation (EFR) funds.  The 
reestablishment of pre-fire conditions is not necessarily the intent 
of the program or an appropriate use of EFR funds.  The program is 
designed primarily to protect life and property and stabilize certain 
post-fire conditions. Appropriate treatments are those that will 
successfully mitigate the emergency, are cost-effective, meet 
management goals, and can be implemented before further irreversible 
damage occurs. Treatments may include watershed stabilization measures 
and notification of potential risks of flood and debris flows to 
downstream neighbors and recreational users. The DOI BAER team is an 
interagency, interdisciplinary team whose members are on call and who 
have committed to two assignments per season.  Team members represent 
BIA, BLM, NPS, USFS, and USFWS.  Team positions consist of the team 
leader, a hydrologist/geologist, an operations specialist, a wildlife 
biologist, a forester, a cultural resource specialist/archeologist, a 
vegetation specialist, an environmental protection specialist, a soil 
scientist, a GIS specialist, a computer/documentation specialist, and 
others as appropriate.  BAER teams are mobilized through normal 
dispatch procedures, defined in the national interagency mobilization 
guide. The team works within ICS and with the incident management 
team. There are two DOI BAER teams. The northern team, headed by Erv 
Gasser, NPS natural resource specialist, largely covers north central 
and northwestern states (WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, CO, UT, ND, SD, AK, and 
northern CA); the southern team, which currently does not have a 
leader, covers southwestern states (NM, AZ, NV and southern CA) and 
Hawaii. 

Due to the size and complexity of the Cerro Grande fire, the BAER team 
is comprised of approximately 100 resource specialists and support 
staff. The fire encompasses lands owned/administered by Santa Clara 
Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, both the city and county of Los Alamos, 
Santa Fe National  Forest, the Department of Energy, Bandelier 
National Monument, and Los Alamos National Laboratory.  The BAER team 
has also coordinated assessments and treatments with the U.S. 
Geological Survey, Natural Resource Conservation Service, New Mexico 
State Forestry and Department of Game and Fish, and Bureau of Indian 
Affairs. The Cerro Grande BAER team reports to the multi-agency 
coordinating group and agency administrators.  The team has completed 
its field surveys and data collection and has prepared a new 100-year 
floodplain and burn severity map. It is currently developing short- 
and long-term recommendations for treatment and is providing oversight 
of emergency rehabilitation activities using fire crews.  Final 
assessments and recommendations are due by the end of this week.

NON-NPS FIRES 

Kaibab NF (AZ) - The Pumpkin fire has burned 7,500 acres and has 32 
crews assigned to it. It's located about 25 miles northwest of 
Flagstaff. The fire is 30% contained, but there's no estimated date 
for full containment.

Santa Fe NF (NM)- A Type I team has been assigned to the 2,000-acre 
Viveash fire, burning in heavy fuels eight miles northeast of Pecos. 

Florida State - The state of Florida is dealing with a host of blazes. 
The Osteen complex consists of two fires that have burned a total of 
about 200 acres and a number of residences in Volusia County. The 
Green Swamp complex consists of all the state fires in Citrus, Sumter, 
Hernando, Pasco and Lake counties, with seven ranging in size from 100 
to 2,507 acres. The 7,000-acre Holey Land fire is burning in grass and 
swampland northwest of Fort Lauderdale. 

Colorado State - A Type II team has been ordered for the 340-acre 
Bosque fire, burning in a steep, narrow canyon 24 miles west of 
Trinidad.

Vernal Field Office - BLM (UT) - A Type II team has been ordered for 
the 700-acre Sweetwater fire, burning in pinyon-juniper near the Book 
Cliffs 50 miles southeast of Vernal.

OUTLOOK

NICC has posted a RED FLAG WARNING for low relative humidity and 
strong winds in southern Utah and FIRE WEATHER WATCHES for low 
relative humidity and strong winds in northern and central Arizona and 
for low relative humidity and unstable air in east central Florida and 
the Florida Panhandle.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/30; Sonya Capek, IO, 
BAER Team, 5/29]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Reports pending.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Death Valley NP (CA) - On May 29th, the official weather station at 
park headquarters at Furnace Creek hit a high temperature of 122 
degrees - a new record for the month of May. The previous record for 
May was 120 degrees.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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