-
Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, May 7, 2001
-
Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 06:39:14 -0400
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.
--- ### ---