NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, February 9, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-041 - Obed W&SR (TN) - Search and Rescue

On the evening of January 28th, the Morgan County Sheriff's Office 
received a report of an accident on Daddy's Creek within the park's 
boundaries. C.V. had cracked his kayak in The Rock Gardens; he 
attempted to continue paddling downstream, but was taking on water and 
became hypothermic. He and his partner, D.C., agreed that 
C.V. should stop and walk along the river while D.C. paddled out 
to get dry clothes. D.C. would then hike back and meet C.V.. By 
the time D.C. paddled out, though, it was too dark to safely hike 
up the river, so he contacted the sheriff's office. The Morgan County 
Rescue Squad, a ranger from Frozen Head State Park, and rangers from 
Obed responded. C.V. was found about three miles from the take out 
point by rescue squad members on ATV's. He had stopped and built a 
fire because he was cold and it was too dark for him to safely find 
his way down the river. [Kris Stoehr, Unit Manager, OBRI, 2/5]

01-042 - Canyonlands NP (UT) - Assist; Falling Fatality

A 29-year-old woman fell about 90 feet while free solo climbing in 
Indian Creek Canyon near the park's Needles District around 5 p.m. on 
the afternoon of February 4th. Friends of the climber saw her fall and 
were able to call 911 via cell phone within about 10 minutes. The 
local sheriff's department asked the park for assistance. Needles 
District rangers Fred Patton, Michelle Busbee and Daniel Habig 
responded. Busbee and Habig were first on scene at 5:45 p.m. By that 
time, the woman had been pulseless for about 20 minutes and CPR was in 
progress. She was lowered to the road via a 400-foot belayed scree 
evacuation. She had sustained major head trauma in the fall and was 
pronounced dead at the scene by the flight nurse from St. Mary's 
CareFlight. [Daniel Habig, CANY, 2/7]

01-043 - Intermountain Region - Special Event: 2002 Winter Olympics

The Intermountain Region - Midwest Region incident management team 
(Denny Ziemann, IC) has been activated to provide coordination of NPS 
activities associated with the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. 
The team will be organizing and positioning numerous NPS resources 
between now and the onset of the games next February. The team will 
establish mechanisms for recruitment in the near future and advertise 
them to employees. Updates will be available through the Morning 
Report and other sources. [Larry Frederick, IO, GLAC, 2/1]

01-044 - Blue Ridge Parkway (NC/VA) - Poaching Arrests

U.R. was arrested with 17,800 galax stems taken from the 
park's Pisgah District on January 24th. U.R. is an illegal alien and 
had no identification. He appeared before a federal magistrate, 
entered a guilty plea, and was sentenced to 45 days in jail and two 
years' probation. The wholesale value of the galax was about $800, 
with a retail value of over $4,000. Four days letter, an investigation 
stemming from a citizen tip led to the arrest of five people taking 
galax from park lands in the Highlands District. Ranger Ken Gochenour, 
state wildlife officers and a county deputy sheriff seized 2,700 galax 
stems at the time of the arrests. All five were released on bonds. 
[John Garrison, Protection Specialist, BLRI, 2/2]

01-045 - George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) - MVA with Fatality

Park Police officers responded to an accident on the parkway near 
Turkey Run Park just after 8:30 a.m. on February 3rd. A Chevrolet Geo 
heading south on the parkway left the roadway, entered the medium, 
reentered the parkway, flipped over, and came to rest on its hood. The 
vehicle was occupied by five people. Four were taken by ambulance to 
Fairfax Hospital; the fifth was flown there by USPP helicopter. The 
operator of the Geo was later pronounced dead. The four passengers 
were admitted with non-life-threatening injuries. [Sgt. R. MacLean, 
USPP, NCR, 2/6]

                  [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Plan

On February 7th, Secretary of the Interior Norton approved the release 
of Section 7 consultation funds to the Fish and Wildlife Service in 
support of the National Fire Plan. Section 7 of the Endangered Species 
Act directs all federal agencies to conserve threatened and endangered 
species, and, in consultation with the Fish & Wildlife Service and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service, to ensure their actions do not 
jeopardize listed species or destroy or adversely modify proposed 
critical habitat. BLM, as fund manager for Interior's wildland fire 
management account, entered into agreement with the Fish and Wildlife 
Service to fund, on a reimbursable basis, up to $4 million in ESA 
Section 7 consultation services for hazardous fuel and treatment 
projects. Under this agreement, the Service will make formal 
determinations about the effects on species of the mechanical, 
chemical, biological, and fire treatments that constitutes Interior's 
fuels management program.

[Debee Schwarz, NPS Fire Information, WASO]

Park Fires

No fires reported.

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Regulations Update - There's been considerable action on the 
regulations front with the change of administrations:

o       The Yellowstone/Grand Teton snowmobile rule made it into the 
        Federal Register as a final rule on Monday, January 22nd, and 
        has garnered Congressional attention.
o       The Wupatki eaglet collection rule also went out as a proposed 
        regulation on January 22nd. Extensive public comment is 
        expected on this rule.
o       Ranger Activities has been providing the transition team with 
        issue updates and gathering all Federal Register notices from 
        throughout the NPS for presentation to the team reviewing 
        publications on behalf of the new administration.
o       The Wilderness Society has submitted an FOIA request for all 
        documents relating to PWC and snowmobile impacts throughout 
        the NPS. This will be a major project.

Updates on regulations will appear on a monthly basis in the Morning 
Report in the future. [Kym Hall, RAD/WASO]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No submissions.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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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