NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, June 2, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1886, President Grover Cleveland married Frances 
Folsom in the Blue Room of the White House, the only time a president 
was married in the executive mansion. The White House is now a unit of 
the National Park System.

INCIDENTS

90-109 - Gulf Islands (MS/FL) - Follow-up on Murder of Ranger

On Sunday, May 28th, J.W., one of the two men convicted of the 
1990 murder of Gulf Island NS ranger Bob McGhee, escaped from the 
state penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi. Considerable efforts have 
been made over the past 48 hours to assist the state of Mississippi in 
capturing J.W.. Yesterday, the FBI opened a "fugitive from justice" 
case and assigned two special agents to the operation. The bureau's 
violent crimes unit is also assisting. If J.W. escapes into another 
state, the FBI will take the lead in his apprehension. A federal 
arrest warrant was issued yesterday. The NPS has been in contact with 
the deputy commissioner for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, 
offering the agency's assistance. He said that the state needed 
forward-looking infrared (FLIR) equipment for nighttime spotting. 
Captain Kevin Hays, regional LES, has made arrangements with Customs 
to employ one of their FLIR-equipped aircraft. NPS special agent Dan 
Wirth and an NPS FLIR unit from the Arizona border will arrive in 
Mississippi today. [JR Tomasovic, GUIS, 6/1]

00-242 - Buffalo NR (AR) - Storm Impacts

Heavy rains caused the river to quickly rise 13.5 feet, leading to 
numerous rescues:

o       Upper District - Rangers were called out at 4:30 a.m. by a 
        report of stranded visitors with vehicles on the south side of 
        Mt. Hersey. One of the vehicles got stuck, had to be 
        abandoned, and was overtaken by flood waters. Rangers rafted 
        from Steel Creek to Pruitt, picking up nine stranded canoeists 
        who'd lost their canoes due to the river's rapid rise. Later 
        that morning, the park received a warning that a wall of water 
        eight to ten feet high was going to pass through the Erbie 
        campground, which had to be evacuated. Rangers also retrieved 
        a man struck in a tree at Ponca in the earlier afternoon.

o       Middle District - The river rose very quickly in the early 
        morning hours. Gravel bars were checked for campers and 
        vehicles, with several being moved to higher ground. Rangers 
        went out on the river to check for anyone needing assistance. 
        All tributary creeks were flooded; trees and power lines fell 
        across park roads. Two people stranded in the middle of the 
        river near Tyler Bend launch were rescued, and were three 
        people and a vehicle on an island of high ground above Woolum 
        near Blue Hole.

o       Lower District - At 5:30 a.m., a ranger checked remote 
        monitoring sites via computer and discovered a four-foot rise 
        at Highway 14 and a four-foot rise at Ponca. Eighteen people 
        were moved from Water Creek. Campers at Rush campground were 
        warned of the rising water and evacuated. While helping 15 
        people wade across Rush Creek, rangers and county SAR 
        personnel became trapped for some time by rising waters. 
        Rangers escorted another 13 people out of Cedar Creek. 
        Numerous concession boats were secured, along with gear and 
        private boats.

Overall, 38 visitors were stranded by the fast-rising waters and 
rescued by park staff. [Carl Hinrichs, BUFF, 6/1]

00-246 - Arches/Canyonlands NP's (UT) - Assist; Manhunt 

P.T., an inmate at the Grand County Jail in Moab, Utah, 
escaped from a cellblock through a ventilation shaft on the evening of 
May 31st. He'd earlier been overheard saying that he was going to 
escape and that he would kill anyone who got in his way. All available 
law enforcement personnel in the region were asked to help assist in 
securing the area. Eight rangers from the two parks were assigned to 
roadblocks and perimeter security duties. P.T. was stopped at a 
roadblock near Monticello. He turned his stolen vehicle around and 
fled at a high rate of speed, with state and city officers in pursuit. 
He left the highway and headed down a dirt road, but crashed the 
vehicle, suffering extensive injuries. He was taken into custody and 
is currently in a hospital in Salt Lake City. [Jim Webster, CR, ARCH, 
6/1]

                        [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III

CURRENT SITUATION

New large fires were reported in Colorado and Florida yesterday. Minor 
initial attack was reported in California, the western Great Basin, 
the Southwest and the South.

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from yesterday's numbers in parentheses): 155 crews (- 23), 
1,043 overhead (+ 25), 157 engines (- 110), 65 helicopters (+ 10), and 
36 air tankers (- 4).

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

NPS FIRES

Bandelier NM (NM) - An area command team and two Type II incident 
management teams remain committed to the Cerro Grande fire, which is 
98% contained (no change from yesterday). Rolling material on steep 
slopes caused additional fires and led to some containment problems. 
Rehabilitation work by the BAER team continues. Currently deployed are 
999 firefighters, overhead and BAER team personnel.

SIGNIFICANT NON-NPS FIRES 

Kaibab NF (AZ) - The Pumpkin fire (25 miles northwest of Flagstaff) 
has now burned 10,200 acres and is 55% contained. The fire has been 
lest active due to favorable weather and diminished winds.

Santa Fe NF (NM) - The Viveash fire (five miles northwest of Pecos) 
has burned 25,094 acres and is 20% contained. The fire received a 
tenth of an inch of rain from afternoon thunderstorms yesterday. Crews 
have begun to construct direct fireline on the east side of the fire. 
Pecos Canyon has been reopened to residents.

Vernal Field Office, BLM (UT) - The Sweetwater did not grow 
significantly yesterday. It's 30% contained.

OUTLOOK

NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for low relative humidity in west 
central Florida and the Florida Panhandle.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/2]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

NPS in the Media - This morning's Wall Street Journal has a long story 
on safety in the parks. NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw will 
reportedly run a similar story this evening. [WASO Public Affairs)

MEMORANDA

"Fiscal Year 2000 Funding Available for Alternative Fuel Vehicle 
Program," signed on May 25th by the Associate Director, Park 
Operations and Education, and sent to all regional directors. The 
reply due date is June 16th. The full text follows for your 
information:

"We are pleased to inform you that the Department of Energy (DOE) is 
making available, again this fiscal year, over $400,000 in funding to 
help us further our Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Program. DOE is 
currently accepting proposals from the National Park Service (NPS) for 
funding of incremental costs of AFV and related fueling 
infrastructures. 

"We have to move quickly to disseminate this information on this 
initiative to the parks so that they may evaluate their needs.  Please 
prioritize the parks in your region that are interested and are able 
to take advantage of this DOE funding.  Please forward your list of 
prioritized parks to  Terry Brennan, NPS Green Energy Parks Program 
Coordinator, Washington Office, via cc:Mail or at 202/565-1248 prior 
to June 16, 2000.

"The specific fuels under consideration include natural gas, liquefied 
petroleum gas, propane, methanol, biodiesel, bio-lubricants, 
electricity and ethanol (E-10 and E-85).  Priority consideration will 
be afforded to project requests that contain elements associated with 
ethanol infrastructure development and expansion. The funds will be 
directed to assist national parks with using alternative fuels in 
transportation-related vehicles.  Transportation vehicles are vehicles 
used as service vehicles, transit vehicles, maintenance vehicles, 
snowmobiles, marine vessels and boats.  Proposals for 
non-transportation applications of alternative fuels will be 
considered on an individual basis, but may fall outside the scope of 
this funding effort.

"Over 35 projects were funded from last year's allocation so please 
take advantage of this excellent opportunity offered to us by DOE 
again, which will greatly boost our AFV Program. Please direct any 
questions about this DOE program to Terry Brennan, Park Facility 
Management Division, at 202/565-1248."

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) - The park has a vacancy 
announcement posted for a GS-13 chief ranger until June 21st. While 
typically considered an urban area, the park includes diverse 
resources such as Great Falls Park, Arlington House, Dyke Marsh, Clara 
Barton NHS, and memorials to Presidents Washington, Roosevelt, and 
Johnson.  The position offers an opportunity for professional 
development, particularly in the areas of natural and cultural 
resource management.  For further information, please call Charles 
Richardson at 703-289-2500.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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