NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Saturday, May 12, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-203 - Gateway NRA (NY/NJ) - Boat Grounding

A fishing trawler named the "Lady Grace" ran aground on the tip of 
Breezy Point in the park's Jamaica Bay Unit on the morning of May 
10th, evidently due to a loss of power. Park, USPP, Coast Guard and 
USFWS personnel responded. The Coast Guard federalized the incident 
and called in contractors to pump out approximately 3,200 gallons of 
fuel, water and associated petroleum products and to salvage and 
re-float the trawler. Most of the fuel was removed by the following 
evening. A first attempt at towing was made, but was not successful. 
Another try is to be made today. All necessary precautions have been 
taken to ensure that pumping and salvage operations do not have any 
impacts on the park's endangered species and that resource damage is 
minimized. [Jose Rosario, CR, GATE, 5/12]

01-204 - Ulysses S. Grant NHS (MO) - Special Event

The park held an open house and ribbon-cutting on Saturday, April 
28th, to mark the completion of the restoration of four of the site's 
principle historic structures - the main house, summer kitchen, ice 
house, and chicken house. Over 300 people attended. Following opening 
remarks and a keynote address, visitors toured the house, also known 
as "White Haven," viewed exhibits displaying historic images and 
archeological artifacts from the site, and talked with park 
maintenance and interpretive staff. [Randy Wester, Site Manager, USLG, 
5/1]

01-205 - Gateway NRA (NJ/NY) - Special Event

On Sunday, May 6th, the park's Fort Wadsworth site again served as the 
terminus of the annual Bike New York - Great Five Boro Bike Tour. 
Almost 30,000 participants entered the park from the Verrazano Narrows 
Bridge plaza to find restrooms, food, entertainment and exhibitors. 
The event was managed under a special use permit; the weather was 
nearly perfect and no major injuries or incidents were reported. 
Numerous government agencies were involved in planning and overseeing 
the 42-mile tour, including the Park Police, Coast Guard, NYPD and New 
York City Parks and Recreation. [Marty O'Toole, Site Manager, Fort 
Wadsworth, GATE, 5/11]

                   [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.

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 1

Two new large fires were reported in Nevada on Friday. Moderate 
initial attack activity occurred in the Southwest, California, and the 
South.  Scattered thunderstorms in Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona will 
increase the potential for initial attack activity in those areas.  
Fire danger in northern California should moderate with slightly 
cooler temperatures. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported 
in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Florida, New Hampshire, and 
Vermont. 

The full NICC Incident Management Situation Report can be found at 
http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf

National Resource Status

Date                    5/8     5/9     5/10    5/11    5/12

Crews                   23      24      23      67      86
Engines                 63      50      58      101     156
Helicopters             12      12      12      23      27
Air Tankers             0       0       0       6       1
Overhead                131     105     112     204     359

Park Fires

Everglades NP (FL) - The Lopez Fire (8,033 acres, up from 8,000 on 
Friday) has been 35% contained. Full containment is expected on May 
15th. About 73 firefighters and overhead are assigned to the fire. 
There are no impacts on visitation. Summary: Activity on the fire, 
which is burning in sawgrass prairie and hardwood hammocks, decreased 
greatly on Thursday due to air attack and continued suppression 
efforts. The fire burned through part of an active Cape Sable seaside 
sparrow nesting area, but there may be some long-term habitat 
benefits. This area last burned in 1989. The Smoky Bear hotshot crew 
from the Lincoln National Forest worked along the northern flank of 
the fire on Thursday, dealing with hot spots in the hardwood hammocks 
that might escape into unburned vegetation. One engine crew continued 
to work along Context Road, holding the southern flank of the fire and 
mopping up in the hardwood hammocks. Other engine crews staged along 
the Main Park Road to hold lines and burnout if needed. A sprinkler 
system was set up at the Pa-Hay-Okee Overlook to protect the boardwalk 
there.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme         Wind Cave
Very High       Badlands, Everglades
High            Joshua Tree, Carlsbad Caverns

[Deb Nordeen, PIO, EVER, 5/11; NICC Incident Management Situation 
Report, 5/12; NPS Situation Summary Report, 5/12]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Foot and Mouth Disease - The National Park Service has developed 
prevention and response plans for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in 
response to the potential threat of an outbreak of FMD in North 
America. FMD has not been found in the United States since 1929, but 
the potential exists for it to enter this country and pose a threat to 
domestic livestock and wildlife. Susceptible wildlife species include 
deer, elk, bighorn sheep, bison, moose, javelina and mountain goats. 
The NPS is being proactive by making these plans available to parks 
now, before an emergency situation arises. The disease spreads 
rapidly; if an outbreak occurs, park managers may find themselves 
under intense pressure to make decisions quickly. These plans will 
help them formulate the management actions best for their situation. 
The interim prevention and response plans will be posted on the NPS 
Biological Resource Management Division (BRMD) website at 
www.nature.nps.gov/intranet/fmd and on the Internet at 
www.nps.gov/fmd. These plans are intended to provide guidance to parks 
by recommending actions to prevent the spread of the disease and 
respond to an outbreak in if one occurs in or near a park unit. 
Additional information on FMD is also available on the BMRD website, 
which has links to related sites. [Kris Fister, IO, IMT]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Big Bend NP (TX) - The park is advertising for a GS-12/13 supervisory 
protection ranger. The announcement is BIBE-01-14 and will be open 
until June 1st. This is a possible dual career opportunity, as a 
GS-6/7 secretary (OA) has also been announced. That announcement is 
BIBE-01-15; it closes on June 1st. [Personnel, BIBE]

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       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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