NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, September 11, 2000

                                  *** NOTICE ***

The Morning Report will be coming from the Discovery 2000 Conference in St. Louis 
throughout this week. Much of the normal format will be replaced by reports from the 
conference, beginning today. 

ALMANAC

 On this date in 1850, P. T. Barnum presented Jenny Lind, the "Swedish Nightingale," in her 
American debut at Castle Garden, a converted fort at the tip of Manhattan Island.  More than 
6,000 people paid at least $3 to hear the famous singer.  The old fort is now Castle Clinton 
National Monument.

INCIDENTS

00-570 - Everglades NP (FL) - Clean Water Act Arrests, Convictions

On April 27th, a park neighbor reported that an extremely large pile of domestic trash had been 
dumped in the park in the East Everglades District. The pile, which contained between 40 and 
50 cubic yards of trash, was processed for evidence. Rangers recovered addresses of several 
local residences and businesses. The orderly sequence of addresses, the size of the piles and 
the fact that the trash had evidently been compacted pointed to a commercial collection 
company. On May 2nd, rangers discovered a second pile of about the same size adjacent to the 
first pile. On May 4th, rangers Jim Sanborn and Mike Foster began surveillance of a 
neighborhood identified through addresses found in the trash. They watched and videotaped a 
trash compactor truck operated by Faircloth Sanitation collecting from many of the identified 
addresses. The rangers then returned to the park and set up concealed surveillance of the 
previous dump sites. Late that afternoon, the same compactor trunk entered the park and 
dumped a third pile next to the first two. Sanborn, Foster and ranger Doug Murphy intercepted 
the vehicle and arrested J.C. and L.F. In videotaped interviews, J.C. 
admitted that he and L.F. had dumped all three loads, then split the cash dumping fee that 
would have been paid to the regular landfill. On May 23rd, an "outraged" grand jury watched 
the videotape, then indicted each man on three counts of violations of the Clean Water Act and 
three counts of degradation of park property. The two men pled guilty to a one count of Clean 
Water Act violations in federal district court on August 17th. They will be sentenced in October. 
Each faces a fine of up to $50,000 and three years in prison. Faircloth Sanitation was cleared 
of any involvement in the dumpings. As a gesture of good faith to the park, they cleaned up all 
three dump sites at considerable expense. [Jim Sanborn, DR, East Everglades District, EVER, 
9/5]

00-571 - Zion NP (UT) - Rescue

A.G., 26, and Q.C., 25, were rescued from a slot canyon on North Creek 
on Wednesday, September 6th. A.G. and Q.C. headed out for a three-day canyoneering 
trip down the right fork of the creek on September 2nd. By mid-morning on the 3rd, they realized 
that they were off-route in a difficult slot canyon with numerous pools. Once they realized that 
they were lost and that they were unable to either climb back up or continue down the canyon, 
they stopped and waited for rescuers. They were reported overdue when they failed to appear 
for work; the park was notified late on Tuesday afternoon. A helicopter search was begun and 
they were found after a space blanket was spotted in the bottom of the narrow canyon. The 
helicopter landed nearby and rangers rappelled to the pair. They were uninjured but out of 
food and water (their water filter had clogged). Rangers taught them how to ascend a rope and 
assisted them out of the 400-foot-deep canyon. Five rangers and two helicopters were used in 
the operation. Canyoneering is a sport requiring special equipment and a variety of skills, 
including map reading, rappelling, ascending ropes, and prior experience. Said ranger Kurt 
Spears: "Rappelling is not the only skill needed to safely negotiate these canyons. We're seeing 
a lot of people without skill or experience. You can't rely on just reading a route description." 
[Denny Davies, PIO, ZION, 9/7]

00-572 - Lake Meredith NRA (TX) - Gas Pipeline Fire

On the morning of Saturday, September 2nd, a park neighbor reported that there was a gas-fed 
fire shooting flames into the air in the Sanford area of the park. Chief ranger Bill Briggs was 
the only NPS person in the vicinity. He and members of an engine crew from the Fritch Fire 
Department were able to shut down the ruptured pipe and put the fire out within 30 minutes. 
In spite of the intense heat of the burning gas and extreme fire conditions, only a few square 
yards around the well burned. The well is located in a 6,500-acre unit that was burned in April 
and park of the park's prescribed fire program. The reduction of fuel is what kept the well fire 
spreading into a major conflagration that would have threatened homes, ranches, wells, tank 
batteries, and businesses. There are 175 active oil and gas wells within the park. [Bill Briggs, 
CR, LAMR, 9/5]

[Additional reports pending....]

FIRE SITUATION

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level IV

CURRENT SITUATION

Three new large fires were reported yesterday, but containment goals were reached on seven 
others. Initial attack was light throughout the United States. Scattered showers and high 
elevation snow can be expected today across eastern Montana, Colorado, and parts of Wyoming 
due to a trough of low pressure that is moving into the northern plains. 

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, 
Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. 

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday (changes from last Friday's 
numbers in parentheses): 217 crews (- 92), 2,406 overhead (- 921), 251 engines (- 99), and 88 
helicopters (- 33).



NPS AND NPS-RELATED FIRES

No reports.

OUTLOOK

NICC has issued a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for low fuel moisture for the entire state of 
Mississippi.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/10]

DISCOVERY 2000

The National Park Service's Discovery 200 Conference convened this morning at the Regal 
Riverfront Hotel in downtown St. Louis and just up the hill from Jefferson National Expansion 
Memorial and Gateway Arch, the 630-foot arch that symbolizes both the gateway to the 
American West and "the soaring mind" of Thomas Jefferson. The event began with a reception 
at the base of the Arch on Sunday evening that was hosted by the park and its cooperating 
association and attended by most of the approximately 1200 conference participants, but the 
formal opening did not occur until this morning. 

Director Stanton laid out the rationale for this millennial conference in a message sent out 
earlier to all participants: 

"At the dawn of the 21st century, the National Park Service faces challenges never imagined by 
its founders. In addition to the spectacular scenery and outstanding natural and cultural 
resources entrusted to our care, we now are responsible for urban recreation areas, free-
flowing rivers, long-distance trails, historic sites, and partnerships with other nations, 
agencies, tribes, states and the private sector.

"The turn of a century and a millennium is a rare milestone in human history that has 
provoked people to be both reflective and forward thinking. Where will this new century take 
us? How different will it really be? What will be the hazards, and what will be the reasons for 
hope? What are the obstacles, and what are the opportunities?

"The National Park Service must ask itself such questions. Our traditions provide a cherished 
foundation upon which to build, but we know we cannot just continue building with the same 
tools in the same way. And we know that the 21st century will regard the national parks not by 
themselves, but as key elements in a national mosaic of conservation efforts engaged in 
accomplishing a larger common mission."

The director also enumerated the three primary goals of the conference:

*	To develop a vision of the National Park Service's 21st century role in the life of the nation.
*	To inspire and invigorate the Service, its partners and the public about this vision.
*	To develop new leadership to meet the challenges of the future.

There is a separate theme for each of the first four days of the week - cultural resources today, 
natural resources on Tuesday, education on Wednesday, and leadership on Thursday. Friday is 
reserved for closing comments and plenary sessions.



Each daily session opens with a keynote speaker:

*	Cultural Resource Stewardship - Dr. John Hope Franklin, professor of legal history at Duke 
University Law School and James B. Duke professor emeritus of history. Dr. Franklin is 
widely known for his writings, which include "The Emancipation Proclamation," "The Free 
Negro in North Carolina," "The Militant South," and "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of 
African-Americans," now in its seventh edition.
*	Natural Resource Stewardship - Dr. Edward O. Wilson, internationally regarded as the 
preeminent biological theorist of the late 20th century and one of the great naturalists in 
American history. Among his seminal works are "On Human Nature," which won a Pulitzer 
Prize, "The Diversity of Life (Questions of Science)," which has been named as one of the 
outstanding books of the century, and "The Theory of Island Biogeography," which provided 
the scientific foundation for all subsequent discussion of the decline of ecosystems. In 
1996, he was named one of the nation's 25 most influential people by Time magazine.
*	Education - Maya Angelou, a St. Louis native and highly regarded poet, dramatist and 
biographer. She has written five biographical works, the first of which was "I Know Why the 
Caged Bird Sings." The book was nominated for the National Book Award and is read and 
taught widely at schools and universities. She has taught at several universities and holds 
the lifetime chair as Reynolds Profess of American Studies at Wake Forest University. She is 
only the second poet to be invited to speak at a presidential inauguration.
*	Leadership - Peter M. Senge, a senior lecturer at MIT and chair of the Society for 
Organizational Learning, a global community of corporations, researchers and consultants 
dedicated to the "interdependent development of people and their institutions." He is the 
author of the widely acclaimed book, "The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the 
Learning Organization." 

Each of these keynote addresses is followed by several rounds of workshops on a wide array of 
provocative topics. Director Stanton has charged participants with fully and actively engaging 
in discussion on critical issues in the workshops: 

"(These sessions will) consider plausible future scenarios and what the Service might do to 
prepare for them. Every session addresses a subject of profound importance. Every session 
offers challenges. The intent is to produce thinking that will guide us for several decades 
beyond our gateway of discovery here in St. Louis."

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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