NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, September 4, 2000 - Labor Day

ALMANAC

On this date in 1886, Geronimo and his Apaches surrendered to 
Brigadier General Nelson A. Miles.  Fort Bowie, now Fort Bowie 
National Historic Site in southeastern Arizona, was the focal point of 
military operations against Geronimo's band.

INCIDENTS

00-557 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Visitor Injured by Bear

A park visitor received minor injuries during an encounter with a 
grizzly bear in the Black Butte/Daly Creek area in the northwestern 
portion of the park on the afternoon of Friday, September 1st.  The 
encounter occurred when R.R. of Belgrade, Montana, rode his 
horse into the area and stopped along the trail near Black Butte Creek 
along the cutoff between Daly Creek and Black Butte Trails for a lunch 
break.  R.R.'s horse snorted, alerting him that something was wrong. 
When he turned to look, a grizzly bear was directly behind him.  The 
bear swatted him in the face and chest, knocking him into a tree.  At 
that point, R.R., who was face down, pulled out his bear spray, 
rolled over, and gave the bear a full shot of spray in the mouth.  The 
bear reacted to the spray by rolling off R.R. and coughing.  R.R. 
caught his horse and immediately left the area via Black Butte Trail 
and returned to his vehicle. R.R. received lacerations to the right 
side of his face and forehead.  He was transported to Bozeman 
Deaconess Hospital, where he was treated and released. R.R. said 
that the bear was definitely a grizzly and that it appeared to weigh 
about 300 pounds. He saw no other bears in the area. The bear did 
manage to make off with R.R.'s sandwich. The Daly Creek/Black Butte 
trails, including the Skyrim loop, have been closed, and Skyrim trail 
is closed beyond Shelf Lake.  The lake itself and associated campsites 
are still open and accessible. This closure will remain in effect for 
approximately ten days, at which time the area will again be checked 
for bear activity and evaluated for possible reopening. [Public 
Affairs, YELL, 9/2]

00-558 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (PA/NJ) - Drowning

A 40-year-old New York man drowned in the Delaware River near Hialeah 
picnic area on the afternoon of Sunday, September 3rd. A.T. 
of Corona, New York, had waded out to Woodcock Bar Island with 
friends. They then decided to float downstream. One of the juvenile 
members of the group evidently got into deeper water and panicked. 
A.T. attempted to make a rescue, but got into trouble himself. 
Although the youth was able to make it to shore, A.T. went under. 
His companions went for help. At 4:25 p.m., the park dispatcher heard 
Shawnee Fire Department units being dispatched to a possible drowning 
in the park over a scanner and notified rangers. River District 
rangers A.J. North and Mike Zirwas were on patrol in the area and 
responded to the point where A.T. was reportedly last seen. Shortly 
after arriving, Zirwas spotted A.T.'S body about 40 yards off shore. 
The two rangers brought him to shore and began CPR at 4:34 p.m. They 
continued CPR with members of the Shawnee Fire Department while 
carrying A.T. up the steep river bank. An ambulance from Bushkill 
Ambulance Service transported him to the Pocono Medical Center, where 
he was pronounced dead at 5:40 p.m. A.T. was reportedly a "weak 
swimmer" and was not wearing a lifejacket. Hialeah picnic area does 
not have a lifeguarded swim beach. Smithfield Beach, which is less 
than two miles upriver from the picnic area, was open and lifeguards 
were on duty at the time of the drowning. [A.J. North, DR, River 
District, DEWA, 9/3]

FIRE SITUATION

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level V

CURRENT SITUATION

Four new fires were reported in the South on Sunday; six others were 
contained. Initial attack was heavy in the South but light elsewhere. 
A large upper level low pressure system over the Pacific Northwest 
will bring a threat of light showers and high elevation snow to most 
of the northern tier of western states. A strong area of high pressure 
will remain over central Texas,  bringing continued hot temperatures. 

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from yesterday's numbers in parentheses): 540 crews (- 96), 
5,620 overhead (+ 23), 889 engines (- 161), and 195 helicopters (- 5).

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in the western states, 
North Dakota, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi 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 AND NPS-RELATED FIRES

Yellowstone NP (WY) - Spruce Complex (6,425 acres, 0% containment, no 
estimated containment date, 18 FF/OH). No new developments reported.

Glacier NP (MT) - Sharon Fire [450 acres, 0% containment, no estimated 
containment date, six FF] and Park Peake Fire [2,100 acres, 75% 
containment, full containment expected by October 15th, two FF]. Fire 
activity has been low on both fires.

Grand Teton NP (WY) - Teton Complex (15,723 acres, 0% containment, no 
estimated containment date, Type II team, 115 FF/OH). Crews are making 
good progress on fireline construction and mop-up. Portions of the 
fires are in patrol status.

Great Basin NP/Humboldt-Toiyabe NF (NV) - Phillips Ranch Fire [2,600 
acres, 50% containment, no estimated containment date, four FF). 
Mop-up continues.

Jewel Cave NM/Black Hills NF (SD) - Jasper Fire (83,500 acres, 80% 
containment, full containment expected by September 4th, Type I team, 
733 FF/OH). Although the relative humidity was low, winds were less 
intense yesterday. Suppression and rehabilitation operations continue.

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

OUTLOOK

NICC has issued a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for gusty winds and low relative 
humidity for the western deserts and central valleys of Utah.

A strong area of high pressure will continue over central Texas. This 
will bring continued hot conditions, with only widely scattered 
afternoon thunderstorms. Highs will be in the mid 90's to around 110, 
with relative humidity 25 to 45 percent. Winds will be southwest to 
northwest from 10 to 15 mph.

A large upper level low pressure area over the Pacific Northwest will 
bring a threat of light showers and high elevation snows to portions 
of the Pacific Northwest, Intermountain West, Great Basin and northern 
Rockies. The central Rockies and Southwest will have partly cloudy 
skies with isolated showers and thunderstorms.

Temperatures in the north will generally be in the 50's to mid 60's in 
the mountains and mid 60's to 80's elsewhere. Temperatures in the 
southwest and central Rockies will be in the 60's and 70's in the 
mountains and 80's to near 100 in the valleys. Winds will be from the 
west to southwest at 15 to 30 mph.

Relative humidity will be in the mid teens to upper 20 percent, except 
in the single digits across the warmer deserts. In portions of the 
north, relative humidity of 40 to 60 percent is expected.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/4]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Water Use Regulations - Lake Mead NRA was recently challenged legally 
be a neighboring county agency regarding the adoption of state water 
use laws. Under 36 CFR 3.1, state laws govern water use and are 
adopted by parks in conjunction with regulations in CFR. Water use has 
been deemed to mean those activities pertaining to swimming and other 
non-boating uses. Under Nevada state law, Lake Mead would be required 
to provide lifeguards every 100 feet. To avoid this requirement, it 
has been proposed that the words "water use" be removed from 3.1 
through an emergency rule. Ranger Activities needs to hear from parks 
regarding two pertinent questions: Have any parks faced similar 
situations in which they've been required to implement undesirable 
state laws? Would removing the provision about adopting state water 
use laws have negative impacts on any parks? If either of these 
pertain to your area, please contact Kym Hall in Ranger Activities as 
soon as possible. [Kym Hall, RAD/WASO]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Ninety Six NHS/Cowpens NB (SC) - Retired superintendent Sibbald "Sib" 
Smith has been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease. 
His condition is grave and the prognosis is not promising. You can 
send words of encouragement to him at P.O. Box 557, Cherokee, NC 
28719. [Farrell Saunders, Superintendent, NISI/COWP]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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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