NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, December 11, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1862, Major General Ambrose E. Burnside's Union army 
crossed the Rappahannock River to launch the Battle of Fredericksburg, 
which ended two days later in General Robert E. Lee's most one-sided 
Civil War victory.  Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County 
Battlefields Memorial National Military Park in Virginia contains the 
battlefield.

INCIDENTS

00-738 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Avalanche Fatality

J.T., 44, of Fairbanks, Alaska, was killed by an avalanche 
while snowmobiling in the park early on the afternoon of December 9th. 
J.T. and four companions were snowmobiling in a part of the park 
that was recently closed to all snowmobile use by special regulation. 
J.T. had just assisted a member of his group who had become stuck 
while attempting to descend a steep chute. After digging that 
snowmobile out, J.T. began descending the chute and was struck 
from behind by the avalanche, which buried him face down under four 
feet of snow. His companions used probes to locate him. CPR was 
performed for about 40 minutes. Others in the group went for help and 
tried to call Alaska state troopers by cell phone. Although cell phone 
coverage is minimal in the area, the state troopers' office in 
Fairbanks received a sketchy report and alerted a local trooper. The 
trooper called for EMS support and a military helicopter. By the time 
they arrived in the area, J.T.'s companions had brought him out to 
the highway. Rangers are investigating the accident. [Tom Habecker, 
Acting CR, DENA, 12/10]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Plan

The fifth National Fire Plan update - entitled "Workforce Planning 
Update" - has been transmitted by the Fire Management Program Center 
in Boise. The text follows:

The workforce planning group is tasked with developing and 
implementing an action plan to address the human resources aspect of 
the National Fire Plan. The group met in Boise from  December 5th to 
the 7th.  They drafted a detailed action plan to deal with associated 
issues, including classification, staffing, recruitment/outreach, and 
employee development.  It is anticipated that the final plan will be 
released on December 15th after consultation with the Fire Management 
Leadership Board (FMLB) and acquisition of additional information 
about specific positions and park/program staffing needs.  Critical 
information regarding position classification and the staffing process 
will be released around the same time as the action plan.  In order to 
avoid duplicated effort, it is important that members of the fire 
community do not begin staffing positions until this information is 
released.  

Everyone involved is acutely aware of the need to expedite virtually 
every aspect of the human resource process and the need to 
facilitate - not complicate - this arduous task.  To this end, we will 
be working closely with the Human Resources Franchise in Denver to 
provide for our classification and staffing needs.  The franchise is 
part of the NPS Administrative Program Center and is staffed to 
quickly process classification and staffing requests.  Parks will be 
able to use the franchise for all their fire staffing needs at no 
cost.  In addition, the workforce planning group will continue to make 
every effort to disseminate information and provide assistance in an 
effective and timely manner.

Please direct any questions  you may have via cc:Mail to group manager 
Paul Menard.  There are two Paul Menards on cc:Mail, so please be sure 
to address your messages to Paul Menard at NP-OLYM.

Park Fires

None reported.

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

Criteria for submissions to this section have been a little hazy, but 
will be clarified in an upcoming revision to the overall Morning 
Report format. One of the objectives has been to report on 
interpretive events that don't quite qualify as events under NPS 
incident reporting criteria. The following is an example...

Ninety Six NHS (GA) - Anniversary Celebration

On November 18th and 19th, the park hosted the first 225th anniversary 
celebration of the American Revolution to be held in the South. 
Entitled "A Call to Arms," the event had been planned for two years 
and was the first of a series of commemorations of Southern battles in 
the Revolutionary War that will take place over the next eight years. 
The first Battle of Ninety Six was fought November 19-21, 1775. During 
that historic battle, over 2,500 patriot and loyalist soldiers fought 
the first land battle south of New England. There was a full program 
of activities to commemorate the occasion. Over a dozen chapters of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American 
Revolution and Children of the American Revolution laid wreaths at the 
memorial stone for patriot casualty James Birmingham. A special U.S. 
Postal Service stamp cancellation was produced as part of the event. A 
reproduction swivel gun (small cannon mounted on a post) was 
dedicated, unveiled and fired.  Patriot forces used four such swivel 
guns to hold off the loyalist attackers in the 1775 battle.  
Revolutionary War re-enactors from several states participated by 
portraying soldiers of the 1775 era.  Musket and rifle drill and 
firing demonstrations, fife and drum music, campfire cooking and 18th 
century living history skills helped to round out the weekend's 
celebration. [Eric Williams, CR, NISI]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Gulf Islands NS (FL/MS) - The park is currently advertising for a 
temporary GS-025-5 park ranger in the Florida District. The position 
will be filed for a maximum of nine-and-a-half months. The 
announcement is GUIS T01-05 and closes on December 21st. It's open to 
all sources. Applicants must possess or be able to possess a Type II 
commission; there are also numerous conditions of employment which 
apply. The work schedule is full time. The park is also seeking 
seasonal GS-189-3/4 lifeguards in the Florida District. Six positions 
will begin part-time in April, three more will come on in May, and all 
will be full-time beginning in May. All will work until Labor Day. 
Applicants must be currently certified in CPR, First Aid, and have had 
lifeguard training prior to appointment. The announcement is GUIS 
S01-01 and is open until filled. Tryouts for the positions begin in 
February, so applicants are encourage to apply early. See USAJobs for 
copies of the vacancy announcements, or call 850-934-2601 to request 
that a copy of the announcement be sent to you. [Kitty Lewis, GUIS]

Delaware Water Gap NRA (PA/NJ) - The Pocono Environmental Education 
Center, a park cooperator for the past three decades, is seeking a new 
executive director and CEO. The executive director is responsible for 
networking, fundraising, management, overall supervision of staff and 
consultants, long-range and strategic planning, fiscal oversight, and 
development of collaborative partnerships. Salary and benefits will be 
commensurate with experience. Interested parties should send the 
following to the search committee: a resume or vita; a letter 
describing how your education, experience and talents qualify you for 
the position; the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of three 
current professional references; and a salary history. Send to 
Chairperson, PEEC Search Committee, PEEC, RR 2, Box 1010, Dingmans 
Ferry, PA 18328. For more information, contact JackPEEC@aol.com. [Jack 
Padalino, PEEC @ DEWA}

FOOTNOTE

Now and then an event occurs that doesn't fit into any Morning Report 
categories but none the less warrants the attention of the NPS 
community. Such an incident occurred last month in Galapagos National 
Park and illustrates the dangers faced by park staff in many areas of 
the world. The following summary has been extracted from a letter sent 
by the Charles Darwin Research Station to the president of Ecuador: In 
the early hours of Friday, November 17th, the head of the park on the 
island of Isabela and the staff of the research station had to be 
rescued by military officers after they had taken refuge in mangroves, 
having been pursued and threatened with death by fisherman angry over 
constraints imposed on the lobster fishery in the Galapagos Islands. 
Park offices were set on fire; research station offices were sacked 
and all the contents destroyed; the house of the head of the park was 
also sacked and its contents - even down to his daughters' toys - were 
thrown into the street and destroyed by the fishermen. The Charles 
Darwin Foundation, the Galapagos Ranger Association, the International 
Ranger Federation, and other organizations called on the government of 
Ecuador to take strong and immediate steps to deal with this assault 
on park employees and researchers. The government has committed itself 
to employing "the full force of the law" to deal with "those who have 
infringed the existing rules and laws with unjustifiable acts and 
measure of violence." The government has also pledged to improve 
working conditions and the quality of life for island residents. 
Although we certainly have a host of issues to deal with in the 
management of our own parks, it's worthwhile to keep in mind the 
difficulties faced by our colleagues in parks around the world and 
offer them our support when and wherever possible. 

                             *  *  *  *  *

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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