NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, August 10, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1927, the sculptor Gutzon Borglum began work on Mount 
Rushmore, South Dakota, and President Calvin Coolidge officially 
dedicated it as a national memorial.  Work continued on Mount Rushmore 
National Memorial, featuring the heads of Presidents Washington, 
Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, until 1941.

INCIDENTS

00-467 - Glacier NP (MT) - Death of Concession Employee

Concession employee C.W., 26, of Astoria, New York, died 
yesterday morning as a result of massive head trauma sustained in an 
accident that occurred late on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 8th. 
C.W. was swimming with other concession employees just below a 
waterfall in Swiftcurrent Creek when a 20-pound rock fell about 50 
feet and struck him in the head. Rangers were notified by other 
swimmers and responded quickly. They had to employ technical climbing 
methods to reach C.W. and raise him from the creek. He was then flown 
by air ambulance to a hospital in Great Falls, where he succumbed to 
his injuries. [Public Affairs, GLAC, 8/9]

00-468 - Independence NHP (PA) - Special Event

The Republican National Convention concluded in Philadelphia on August 
3rd. The convention brought over 2,000 delegates, 15,000 news media 
and numerous dignitaries to the city for the seven days from July 29th 
to August 4th. A total of 275 NPS personnel were employed to protect 
park resources and ensure visitor safety, including SET members from 
Northeast and Southeast Regions, 185 Park Police officers, a 14-person 
medical emergency team, and park administrative and maintenance staff. 
The operation was run under ICS (chief ranger Hollis Provins, IC). No 
significant incidents occurred in the park, although officers from the 
Philadelphia Police Department arrested 390 demonstrators during the 
period, including over 250 arrests from street protests that occurred 
just a few blocks from the park on the evening of August 1st. Numerous 
groups exercised their First Amendment rights in the park, but no 
problems occurred.  During the convention, the park was visited by 
many officials, including state governors and members of Congress and 
a group of over 100 ambassadors who were attending the convention. The 
incident planning team worked with an array of federal, state and city 
enforcement agencies to share information and coordinate protection 
services over the course of the week. (Phil Sheridan, PAO, INDE, 8/8)

                  [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE SITUATION

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level V

CURRENT SITUATION

Ten new large fires were reported yesterday; fourteen existing fires 
were contained. Most fires in the northern Rockies are exhibiting 
extreme fire behavior and large acreage gains and hundreds of 
residences have been evacuated. Initial attack yesterday was light to 
moderate nationwide, but is expected to increase due to forecasts for 
dry lightning and gusty winds in five states (see "Outlook" below).

The governor of Montana has ordered the closure of about 10 million 
acres of public and some private land in the central and southwestern 
regions of the state in an effort to prevent new fires there. 
According to CNN, the areas to be closed are the Flathead Reservation 
and all public lands, waters and private forested lands in Missoula, 
Ravalli, Mineral, Sanders, Granite, Powell and Deer Lodge counties. 
Portions of Silver Bow and Lewis and Clark counties will be off limits 
to visitors, though some lakes and campgrounds in those counties are 
exempted form the closures. Almost a thousand people have had to 
evacuate from areas in the Bitterroot Valley and more than 50 homes 
have burned. 

The governor of Oregon has declared a state of emergency, allowing 
National Guard troops to be called up for firefighting duty. As many 
as 400 are likely to be called up over the next two weeks. The 
objective is to be ready for potential fires, as measurements of fire 
danger in Oregon indicate that the state is in the worst situation 
it's seen in 30 years.

The governor of Washington has also declared a state of emergency and 
called up 500 National Guard troops.

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from yesterday's numbers in parentheses): 552 crews (- 70), 
4,895 overhead (- 171), 860 engines (- 84), 188 helicopters (- 18), 
and eight air tankers (- 3).

Very high to extreme fire danger indices were reported in all eleven 
Western states and Texas.

For more national fire news, go to www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html, 
which also provides links to web sites for specific fires.

NPS FIRES

Mesa Verde NP (CO) - Pony Fire: 5,056 acres (+ 56), 53% containment (+ 
13%), Type I team, 494 (+ 32) FF/OH. Higher relative humidity levels 
led to reduced fire activity yesterday. Crews continue to make good 
progress towards containment goals.

Glacier NP (MT) - Parke Peak Fire: 1,400 acres, 20% containment, 20 
FF/OH. Suppression actions continue on the fire. Activity has 
decreased somewhat over the last few days due to the quarter inch of 
rain that fell on August 6th. Due to the high fire danger in northwest 
Montana, all state and federal land management agencies - including 
Glacier - are implementing Level IV restrictions, effective at 
midnight tonight. Under these restrictions, no campfires, charcoal 
fires, or candles are allowed, and portable cooking stoves are 
permitted only in designated areas and for holders of camping permits. 
Smoking is permitted only in vehicles, designated buildings, 
designated backcountry campground approved cooking areas, and 
frontcountry areas free of flammable material (defined as areas with a 
diameter of at least three feet that are free of debris).

For a listing of all fires, see www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.html. 

OUTLOOK

NICC has issued three RED FLAG WARNINGS and two FIRE WEATHER WATCHES. 
The warnings are for western and central Wyoming (dry lightning, gusty 
winds and low RH), southeast Idaho (dry lightning, low RH, high Haines 
index), and all of Washington (dry lightning); the watches are for 
west central and southern Montana (dry lightning, low RH, gusty winds) 
and northern Nevada (strong winds, low RH, isolated dry lightning).

Low pressure off the California coast will move inland over Oregon and 
Washington throughout the day. This will bring cooler and breezy 
conditions to the Great Basin, Pacific northwest and northern 
California, along with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of 
these storms will be dry. Lingering moisture around the edge of the 
Four Corners ridge will bring a chance of afternoon convection to the 
southwest and central Rocky Mountain states. 

High temperatures will range from the upper 70's to the mid 90's in 
most areas and up to 110 in the western deserts of Utah, Arizona and 
southern Nevada. Temperatures will be between 110 and 115 degrees 
across the deserts of southern California and southwestern Arizona.

Minimum relative humidity percentages will be in the low teens to 
upper 20's in most areas, except drier in the hottest deserts. Winds 
are forecast to be generally 10 to 20 mph during the afternoon hours, 
except higher gusts are expected in the Northwest, Great Basin and 
Northern Rockies Areas.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/10; CNN and Associated 
Press stories, 8/10; Public Affairs, GLAC, 8/9]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Submissions pending.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Submissions pending.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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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