NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Tuesday, May 1, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-178 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Assist; Theft of Explosives

On the afternoon of April 28th, a Pierce County deputy called the park
to request backup on a vehicle stop just outside the park. A passer-by
had notified the deputy that a pickup truck had been seen driving down
the road with a load of explosives and roles of fuse in the bed. When
the deputy stopped the truck, the two 23-year-old occupants jumped out
and ran into the woods. Ranger Bob Dopiriak, state troopers and fish and
wildlife officers responded; rangers Chris Trotter, Jill Wick and Steve
Clump helped with containment and the closure of two highways that cross
the park. The pickup truck was found to be loaded with 400 pounds of
explosives, about 2,500 feet of fuse, and assorted blasting caps. A bomb
squad was called in to secure the explosives, and search dogs were
brought in to search for the truck's two occupants. Investigators found
that the explosives had been stolen from a state DOT vehicle parked at
Chinook Pass, where avalanche crews were clearing snow for spring road
openings. One of the two men was found by a canine unit and arrested
that evening; the second was captured while attempting to steal a car in
nearby Greenwater the next afternoon. Ranger Uwe Nehring was driving by
when the latter stop occurred and helped the deputy with the arrest. The
mans questioned about the incident, and admitted to breaking into the
work area where the truck was parked, breaking into the panel truck for
the explosives, breaking into the Forest Service's Cottonwood work
center to steal fire tools, and breaking into a recreational cabin in
the Silver Creek area. DOT snow removal equipment had also been
vandalized and a mobile radio stolen. The two men are reportedly members
of a skinhead organization and have extensive criminal histories. They
are being charged with numerous state and federal violations. The FBI
and ATF are investigating. [Uwe Nehring, MORA, 4/30']

[Additional reports pending]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Plan

The Forest Service is currently circulating announcements for three fire
positions in its fire and aviation management office. The jobs are:
assistant director, aviation, GS-2101-15 (Washington, DC); chemical and
fire equipment manager, GS-401-14 or GS-801-14 (duty station to be
determined based on selection); and ground safety manager, GS-460-13/14
(Boise, ID). The announcements also will be posted on USAJobs.

Park Fires

Cumberland Gap NHP (KY/NC/VA) - The park reports a three to
four-acre wildfire. It has been contained, but drought conditions and
pine beetle-killed timber are slowing efforts to fully control it.

Great Smoky Mountains NP (TN/NC) - The Ekaneetlee Fire has burned
six acres and is being monitored. It is being managed for resource
benefits. The Smokemont Fire has burned 15 acres and is contained.

Shenandoah NP (VA) - The park conducted a resource management burn
of an 8.8 acre parcel of land on April 26th.

New River Gorge NR (WV) - The park reports more than 20 active
fires within a 30-mile radius of the park. NPS firefighters responded to
two small fires - one near the park, another burning a fifth of an
acre of park land.

Park Fire Danger

Very High	Hawaii Volcanoes
High		Joshua Tree, Great Smokies, Everglades

[Debee Schwarz, NPS Fire Information, WASO; Mike Warren, NPS FMPC, 4/30;
NPS Situation Summary Report, 4/30]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Yount Award - In a ceremony held last week in Washington, D.C.,
Hunter Sharp, chief ranger at Wrangell-St. Elias NP&P in Alaska, was
presented the Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for 2001.
Vice-President Richard Cheny and Interior Secretary Gail Norton praised
Sharp for his work at the ceremony, which was held in the Old Executive
Office Building adjacent to the White House. Hunter is a 27-year veteran
of the National Park Service; over his career, he has had jobs ranging
from seasonal lifeguard on the Gulf Coast to acting superintendent at
Wrangell-St. Elias. Hunter currently oversees rangers whose lifestyle
and duty requirements hearken back to earlier NPS days. Protecting 13.2
million acres of wilderness glaciers, rivers, tundra, mountains and
forest by aircraft, foot, boat and even dogsled requires the most
capable and the most skilled rangers. Hunter leads by example and his
skills and knowledge of the park ranger profession. Said Gary
Candelaria, superintendent at Wrangell-St. Elias: "Hunter's career has
been the perfect example of increasing challenge, responsibility, skill,
and experience, and sterling performance." Congratulations also go to
the regional winners of the Yount Award, a peer recognition award that
honors rangers whose record shows both tangible and intangible benefits
to the park ranger profession:

Pacific West Region - Ian Willams, ranger, Channel Islands National
Park National Capital Region - Keith Whisenant, chief ranger, C&O
Canal National Historical Park Southeast Region - Steve Kloster,
ranger, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Northeast Region -
Virginia Rousseau, chief ranger, Shenandoah National Park Midwest Region
- Robert Whaley, district ranger, Saint Croix National Scenic
Riverway Intermountain Region - Bryan Wisher, ranger, Grand Canyon
National Park.

[Gerry Gaumer, Public Affairs, WASO; John Quinley, Public Affairs, ARO]

UPCOMING IN CONGRESS

The following activities will be taking place in Congress during coming
weeks on matters pertaining to the National Park Service or kindred
agencies.

For inquiries regarding legislation pertaining to the NPS, please
contact the main office at 202- 208-5883/5656 and ask to be forwarded to
the appropriate legislative specialist. For additional information on
specific bills (full text, status, etc.), please check Congress's web
site at http://thomas.loc.gov.

HEARINGS/MARK-UPS

Thursday, April 26th 

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands (Hefley): 
Hearing on:

H.R. 1161, a bill to provide for the establishment of the Tomas G.
Masaryk Memorial in Washington, D.C.
H.R. 1384 (Udall, CO), a bill to amend the National Trails System Act to
designate the Navajo Long Walk to Bosque Redondo as a national historic
trail.

The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in 1334 Longworth.

LEGISLATION INTRODUCED

The following bills either directly or indirectly pertaining to the NPS
have been introduced since the last Morning Report listing of new
legislation (April 10th): 

H.R. 1592 (Thornberry, TX), a bill to amend the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to provide greater protection of private
property rights.
H.R. 1606 (Clyburn, SC), a bill to amend section 507 of the Omnibus
Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to authorize additional
appropriations for historically black colleges and universities, to
decrease the matching requirement related to such appropriations, and
for other purposes.
H.R. 1613 (Hinchey, NY), a bill to designate certain Federal land in the
State of Utah as wilderness, and for other purposes.
H.R. 1621 (McKinney, GA), a bill to establish the Arabia Mountain and
National Heritage Area in the State of Georgia, and for other purposes.
H.R. 1623 (Pickering, MS), a bill to provide for the preservation and
restoration of historic buildings at historically women's public
colleges or universities. 
H.R. 1628 (Rodriguez, TX), a bill to amend the National Trails System
Act to designate El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic
Trail.
S. 786 (Durbin, IL), a bill to designate certain Federal land in the
State of Utah as wilderness, and for other purposes.

NEW LAWS

The following bills have passed Congress and been signed into law by the
President:

No new laws.

ADDITIONAL SECTIONS

Regular sections not appearing today (due either to lack of submissions
or time constraints in preparing this edition) but are available at all
times:

o	Natural/Cultural Resource Management - Significant
developments in these fields.
o	Interpretation/Visitor Services - Significant developments in
these fields.
o	Memoranda - Memoranda from WASO to the field on all
operational matters.
o	Interchange - Requests or offers from any park or office for
materials, information or any other operational needs.
o	Parks and People - Reports on people (job openings,
retirements, etc.) and parks (significant happenings of any kind).
o	Hot Links - Web addresses for NPS-related sites.
o	Film at 11 - Reports on current or upcoming print or
electronic media stories on the NPS.

*  *  *  *  *

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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