NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, March 12, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-084 - WASO (DC) - Follow-up: Comprehensive Condition Assessment

In response to President Bush's commitment to reduce the National Park 
Service backlog of deferred maintenance, the Service is establishing a 
process and systems to validate and verify deferred maintenance cost 
estimates and to measure progress in reducing the backlog. The Park 
Facilities Management Division, WASO, has brought the Service's 
national Type I incident management team (Skip Brooks, IC) to 
Washington to begin a comprehensive condition assessment program for 
the Service. Yesterday, operations staff made preliminary 
determinations on criteria for determining which assets need to be 
assessed and on asset categories and asset attribute templates. A 
proposal was also completed for the National Academy of Science's 
Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment. There are 
currently nine overhead personnel and sixteen subject matter experts 
assigned to the incident, with more subject matter experts en route. 
[Greg Stiles, Planning Section Chief, IMT, WASO, 3/11]

01-086 - Arches NP (UT) - Rock Fall; Employee Injuries

On March 7th, a large rock fall occurred during a technical rock 
rescue training session being conducted in the park. Seventeen people 
were attending the training. The rock, estimated to be between 30 and 
40 feet long and weighing over one ton, fell nearly 300 feet from the 
top of a sandstone cliff. It struck a small protrusion near the 
beginning of its fall, causing a loud noise, then broke up on its way 
down. The noise alerted six people who were directly below, sitting 
down to take a lunch break. They scattered just before the rock hit 
the ground a few yards behind the lunch location and exploded. Two 
park employees were injured. Andrew Fitzgerald was knocked to the 
ground by flying debris and suffered a head injury and multiple 
lacerations; Lee Kaiser, who was not among the six, injured his leg 
slightly while trying to get away from the flying rock. Fitzgerald was 
treated for his injuries, secured to a litter, lowered over the side 
of a 100-foot cliff to a second team, then transported a quarter-mile 
cross-country to a waiting ambulance. His injuries turned out to be 
relatively minor, and he was released from the hospital later that 
afternoon. Rain had fallen off and on for several days prior to the 
training session. Examination of the release site at the top of the 
cliff revealed that a large sandstone flake had simply let go of the 
surrounding rock. The rain-weakened condition of the sandstone, an 
existing crack in the rock, and freeze-thaw conditions typical of late 
winter in the area are thought to have been the primary reasons for 
the natural release. The high-angle rock rescue training is a joint 
NPS - Grand County SAR session conducted annually before the visitor 
season begins. Those who were directly below the falling rock with 
Fitzgerald and therefore had a "near death experience" were Murray 
Shoemaker and Nathan Plants from Arches NP, Dan Habig from Canyonlands 
NP, and Bego Gerhart and Frank Mendonca of Grand County SAR. [Jim 
Webster, CR, ARCH, 3/10]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Plan

No new information. Please check the NPS Fire Management Program 
Center web page (www.fire.nps.gov) for further information on fire 
plan projects.

Park Fires

Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - The park conducted two small 
prescribed burns yesterday, both a tenth of an acre or less. 
Contingency resources were on hand.

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 3/11]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Submissions pending.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your 
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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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