NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, May 7, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-191 - Mojave NP (CA) - MVA with Fatality

On May 3rd, D.M. was driving northbound on Ivanpah Road in 
his rented Mitsubishi Montero when he lost control of the car and went 
off the road. The Montero rolled several times; D.M., who was not 
wearing a seatbelt, sustained internal injuries and died at the scene. 
His passenger was not seriously injured and refused treatment. 
Excessive speed was the primary cause of the accident. [Kirk Gebicke, 
MOJA, 4/30]

01-192 - Rocky Mountain NP (CO) - Suicide

Hikers reported the sound of a single gunshot near Gem Lake in the 
Lumpy Ridge area of the park on the morning of April 17th. Rangers 
investigated and found the body of a 32-year-old woman from Boulder on 
the shore of the lake. The evident cause of death was a gunshot wound 
to the head. Boulder police had reported her missing and suicidal 
earlier in the week. The body was turned over to the county coroner, 
who ruled her death a suicide. [Sharon Brubaker, ROMO, 5/1]

                   [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

No new fires reported.

Park Fire Danger

Very High       Big Bend
High            Great Smokies, Everglades

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 5/6]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Delaware Water Gap NRA (NJ/PA) - Bio-control of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid 

The park will again be releasing laboratory-reared Japanese ladybird 
beetles in the park this spring in its continuing effort to control 
hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA). Current plans are to release 5,000 to 
10,000 beetles at or near the same two sites where the beetles were 
released last year - one location in Pennsylvania, the other in New 
Jersey. The beetles will be released some time during the second week 
of May. The ladybird beetles being released have been found to be the 
most effective method for controlling HWA, a non-native insect that is 
slowly destroying hemlock trees throughout the area. Park staff have 
been monitoring the bio-control beetles and hemlocks at last year's 
release sites, but it is still too early to determine if the beetles 
have yet had the desired effect. HWA was first reported in the east in 
the mid-1950s and two years ago was documented in eleven eastern 
states from North Carolina to Massachusetts. Almost three-quarters of 
the hemlocks in Shenandoah NP have suffered defoliation and mortality 
from HWA; almost half of the hemlocks in New Jersey are suffering from 
moderate to severe infestations. The destructive effects of HWA 
infestations on hemlock forests are strongly influenced by other 
environmental factors, including climate changes and invasions of 
other exotic species. Hemlocks within the park and in nearby areas 
have been affected by a number of these factors, particularly the 
destructive hemlock borer beetle. This native beetle attacks severely 
stressed trees, a condition created by hemlock woolly adelgid. 
Although HWA-infested trees might otherwise survive for many years, 
they die within a year or two after being attacked by borer beetles. 
Eastern hemlock is an important part of the forest canopy in 141 
discrete stands covering about 3,000 acres of the park - many of them 
designated as "outstanding natural features_with high intrinsic or 
unique values." Many scenic waterfalls are associated with hemlock 
stands, and a number of recreational activities - hiking, 
trout-fishing, picnicking and bird-watching - are concentrated in 
these areas. HWA now threatens all these forest stands. A recent 
aerial survey by the U.S. Forest Service last year led to the 
discovery of 19 sites with hemlock discoloration and mortality. Direct 
assessments have shown that many trees are dying or severely stressed. 
You can find more information about HWA at the following website: 
www.fs.fed.us/na/morgantown/fhp/hwa/hwasite.html. [Rich Evans, DEWA]

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

Oregon Caves NM (OR) - Cave Interpretive Tours

In March, staff began conducting public interpretive tours of the cave 
for the first time in the 92-year history of the park. The park was 
created by proclamation in 1909 and originally administered by the 
U.S. Forest Service. In 1923, the Forest Service decided to contract 
all of the public cave tour functions to a concessioner. Although 
Oregon Caves was transferred to the Service through executive order in 
1934, a concessioner continued to provide all public tour access and 
collected and retained essentially all of the fees paid by visitors 
entering the cave.  The 1998 record of decision for the park's GMP 
directed that interpretation of and access to the primary resource 
appropriately resides with NPS staff. The general tour has been 
classified as an entrance fee, thus allowing holders of the National 
Park Pass and the three "Golden" passes admission to the basic tour. 
During the course of the first year of NPS operations, living history 
and caving tours will be added to the regular schedule of basic public 
tours.  The tours are being administered under the fee demonstration 
program. [Craig Ackerman, Superintendent]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Joshua Tree NP (CA) - Ranger Kathy Krisko received the Law Enforcement 
Officer of the Year Award from the local chapter of the International 
Footprint Association in March. Throughout her eleven-year career, 
Krisko has exhibited a strong commitment to protecting resources and 
the public. This commitment proved important to one man last spring. 
Krisko contacted him for driving off road and causing resource damage. 
Subtle statements made during the conversation led her to believe that 
he was self-destructive. She made an extra effort to build rapport 
with him and determined that he'd come to the desert to commit 
suicide. Krisko obtained help for him from the local community and was 
successful in getting him to reconsider his plans. He later said that 
Krisko's approach was critical to his change of mind. [Judy Bartzatt, 
JOTR]

FILM AT 11...

The Discovery Channel will air a show entitled "On the Inside - 
Rangers: 'Cops in the Woods'" on June 15th at 9 p.m. EDT.  The program 
features law enforcement problems in six parks, including border 
problems, poaching, and wildfire. [Dale Thompson, ORPI]

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       Operational Notes - Any information of consequence to the 
        field on operational matters.
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       Hot Links - Web addresses for NPS-related sites.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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