NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, September 13, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1635, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay 
Colony banished Roger Williams for having questioned its right to 
legislate in religious matters.  The following June Williams founded 
Providence, Rhode Island, where religious freedom was guaranteed to 
all faiths.  He is commemorated there by Roger Williams National 
Memorial.

INCIDENTS

00-577 - Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP (CO) - Rescue

On September 3rd, rangers were notified of an injured visitor 
somewhere along the Rim Rock nature trail on the south rim of the 
canyon. A.D., 21, of Arvada, Colorado, had scrambled and 
free-climbed off trail into the canyon with a friend and had fallen an 
unknown distance. Day was dazed and incoherent when rangers Marion 
Parker, Kris Davis and Luis Aragon found him on a narrow shelf on the 
west side of Amphitheater Draw several hundred feet below the rim. A 
multi-agency rescue involving approximately 40 people was begun. A.D. 
was raised 400 feet to the canyon rim, taken to Montrose Memorial 
Hospital, then flown to St. Anthony's Central in Denver. Doctors 
determined that he'd sustained a closed head injury along with severe 
head and scalp lacerations and numerous other lacerations and 
contusions. The incident remains under investigation. Alcohol and 
drugs are believed to have been contributing factors. [Linda Alick, 
CR, BLCA/CURE, 9/8]

00-578 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Search

A large-scale search was begun on September 9th for a 30-year-old 
Virginia man who was discovered missing from his campsite around 8 
a.m. The man, who has the mental capacity of a five-year-old, was 
camping with an Easter Seals group at Dundo campground. Information 
gleaned from interviews suggested that he'd walked away from the 
campground around 6 a.m. A hasty search was undertaken, but no sign of 
him was found. Dog teams were deployed and field teams assembled when 
he walked out on his own just before 4 p.m. He was in good condition, 
with only a few minor scrapes and bumps. A total of 48 people were 
involved in the search - 18 from the park and 30 from outside 
agencies. Clay Jordan was IC. [Greg Stiles, ACR, SHEN, 9/11]

00-579 - George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) - Arrest, Hate Crimes 
         and Vandalism

Park Police officers have arrested R.B., a 41-year-old homeless 
man, for hate crimes which recently occurred in the area of Columbia 
Island in Washington and along the parkway. R.B. had previously served 
time for similar crimes committed in 1998 and was recently listed as a 
walk-away from a local halfway house. R.B. became a suspect when 
recent reports and photographs were compared with those from the 1998 
incidents. During interviews with USPP detectives, R.B. admitted to 
the recent acts of vandalism and defacing of property. He's been 
charged with both those violations and with hate crimes in both 
Washington and Virginia. [Dennis Maroney, USPP, 9/12]

                  [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE SITUATION

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level IV

CURRENT SITUATION

One new large fire was reported yesterday; three others were 
contained. Initial attack was light throughout the United States. 
There is a possibility of thunderstorms in California, Oregon and 
Washington due to subtropical moisture associated with Hurricane 
Linda. 

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

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from yesterday's numbers in parentheses): 128 crews (- 28), 
1,467 overhead (- 334), and 64 helicopters (- 9).

NPS AND NPS-RELATED FIRES

No reports.

OUTLOOK

No fire weather watches or warnings have been issued.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/12]

DISCOVERY 2000

The theme of the Discovery 2000 conference yesterday was natural 
resource stewardship. A trio of speakers began the day by laying out 
the threats and promises that will face the Service in coming years. 
Associate Director Mike Soukup warned that "we will lose the wildness, 
the very nature of our parks, if we don't understand them, speak 
authoritatively for them, and don't know how to restore them." In his 
comments, past Director Roger Kennedy offered this observation: 
"Resource protection that hides in the woods and does its thing shyly, 
silently and without explaining what it's doing is not protection at 
all. It will have no constituency." 

Kennedy and Soukup were followed by keynote speaker Edward O. Wilson, 
internationally regarded as the preeminent biological theorist of the 
late 20th century and one of the great naturalists in American 
history. 

Wilson said that he believes that this is a crucial time for the 
National Park Service and for the environment in general, adding that 
the 21st Century will be "the century of the environment."

If decisive action is not taken soon, "the planet could easily lose a 
quarter of its plant and animal species in the next 30 years."  
National parks will accordingly grow in importance in this country and 
elsewhere as places "for scientific research, education and the future 
of society."

Dr. Wilson used the acronym HIPPO to summarize the five major sources 
of threats worldwide to species and habitat - habitat loss, invasive 
species, pollution, populations, and over-cultivation.

Wilson firmly believes that "the national parks are our treasure house 
of the remnant natural ecosystems" and as such need to be thoroughly 
understood. He says that the "absurdly under-funded" Service is 
ideally suited for its role in protecting the nation's baseline 
ecosystems.

He foresees a future of increased research in collaboration with an 
academic world that increasingly recognizes the parks and the NPS as a 
major force in research. In his opinion, projects such as the 
comprehensive inventory of species being conducted at Great Smoky 
Mountains NP will help us recognize the importance of the smallest 
living organisms as we seek sustainable biodiversity.

Wilson advocates increased education to compliment research efforts. 
He said that "there's no better classroom than our national parks, and 
no more respected teachers" than the people of the National Park 
Service.

A second address on natural resource stewardship was given by 
internationally renowned botanist and Missouri Botanical Gardens 
director Dr. Peter Raven late in the afternoon. 

Raven urged the Service to make national parks accessible and 
meaningful to every segment of the population. He discussed the 
effects of discrimination on society, and made an observation that 
drew an ovation from the audience: "Discrimination, whether overt or 
covert, whether active or passive, is not only immoral or wrong, it is 
incredibly stupid."

He then made eight recommendations on ways of improving natural 
resource stewardship in the parks:

o       Bring on a scientific staff in every park, a critical need in 
        order to adequately manage resources.
o       Clearly and unequivocally adopt a goal of managing parks for 
        the greatest amount of biodiversity possible.
o       Pay special attention to invasive species.
o       Obtain adequate funding.
o       Increase coordination with other land management agencies and 
        the private sector.
o       Invest further in efforts to understand global climate change 
        and other forms of pollution coming from beyond park 
        boundaries.
o       Continue to promote efforts to educate the public, as the 
        greatest value of the national parks is going to be in the 
        educational arena.
o       Work with other countries to help them understand the similar 
        problems they are confronting.

Wilson and Raven then responded to questions submitted by conference 
participants. One of the observations made in response to a question 
to Dr. Wilson drew a particularly favorable response from the 
audience: "The national parks will be very vital for the long-term 
psychological health of the human species."

There were numerous workshops in between the two addresses. Topics 
included key trends in the near future, retention of knowledge and 
experience lost with retiring employees, working with park neighbors, 
ecological and natural resource restoration, and science-based 
decision making. Some brief excerpts from a few of them follow:

Urban sprawl - With 19 million acres of once rural lands becoming 
urban in the two decades between 1970 and 1990, urban sprawl and other 
nightmares are increasingly affecting parks. Presenters talked about 
increasing encroachments on parks and how park managers can work with 
communities to preserve both park and community values. Managers have 
a right to "have a seat at the table" on any project that influences 
the character of the land around a park.

Appropriate park uses - A group discussion on this issue brought out a 
number of suggestions on how to deal with inappropriate uses, 
including: better articulating why some park uses are appropriate and 
some are not; suggesting alternative locations to requesters; 
requiring requesters to explain why an activity or event must occur in 
the park and what will be done to prevent resource impairment; and 
working closely with communities to promote conservation, as 
activities outside boundaries affect parks as much or more than uses 
inside boundaries.

Wilderness protection - Nearly 55% of NPS lands are designated 
wilderness, with many more acres under consideration for designation, 
but NPS culture still resists the idea and requirements of wilderness. 
Participants debated if and how the Service has failed to protect 
wilderness values and resources. Among the issues that will dominate 
wilderness discussions in the future will be dealing with cultural 
resources and structures in designated wilderness areas, determining 
the meaning of the term "wilderness values," determining whether 
intrinsic values or human values have a higher priority, and deciding 
on whether to permit technology (such as GPS units and cell phones) in 
wilderness areas.

More information on the conference can be found on the web at 
www.nps.gov/discovery2000. To see the daily conference newspaper, 
click on "Daily Newspaper;" for photos, the text of keynote addresses, 
a list of workshops, and reports on other events, click on the daily 
"highlights' listings.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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