NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                            MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Tuesday, May 22, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-228 - Denali NP (AK) - Rescues

On the afternoon of May 17th, rangers on Mt. McKinley rescued 
F.B., a 32-year-old American climber who had fallen at the 
base of the fixed lines at the mountain's 15,400-foot level. F.B. was 
attempting the popular West Buttress route when he fell about 30 feet 
on a steep snow slope, injuring his ankle. Although he fell below the 
lines, F.B. was able to self-arrest by using his ice axe. Since he 
was not able to walk, rangers and volunteers lowered him 900 feet, 
then placed him in a litter and skied him down to the ranger camp at 
14,200 feet. By that evening, F.B.'s condition had deteriorated, and 
he lost feeling in his toes and part of his foot. Meanwhile, another 
climber stricken with a severe case of high-altitude sickness arrived 
at the camp in need of medical treatment. He couldn't walk and was 
barely conscious when he arrived. Although rangers advise all climbers 
not to ascend more than a thousand feet a day above 10,000 feet due to 
the risk of such afflictions, the climber had ascended 7,000 feet in 
less than four days. Rangers determined that additional medical 
attention and air evacuation were in order. Skies were clear and 
windless, so the park's Lama helicopter was able to fly to the site 
and transport the climbers to the 7,200-foot base camp. They were 
picked up at that location by an Air National Guard Pavehawk 
helicopter and flown to a hospital in Anchorage. [Daryl Miller, DENA, 
5/21]

01-229 - Denali NP (AK) - Rescue

Rangers evacuated climber R.M., 51, of Denver, Colorado, on the 
morning of Sunday, May 20th. R.M. had completed a long day of 
transporting gear and provisions to the 16,200-foot level on Friday; 
when he returned to the camp at 14,200 feet, rangers there noted that 
he was unsteady on his feet and exhausted. When he woke up on 
Saturday, he had no feeling in his right foot and was treated by 
rangers for frostbite. After his foot thawed, he was unable to walk. 
Although such an injury does not normally warrant immediate transport 
off the mountain, weather forecasts indicated a significant decline in 
weather conditions until Thursday, during which clouds would close out 
the 14,200-foot camp to aircraft. He was accordingly flown off the 
mountain, then taken to a hospital by air taxi. There are 485 climbers 
on the mountain at present, with 283 checking in this week. A total of 
1,280 climbers have registered to ascend the mountain so far this 
year. [Daryl Miller, DENA, 5/21]

01-230 - Chickasaw NRA (OK) - HazMat Incident

On Saturday, May 19th, Broce Construction Contractors, working under a 
Federal Highway Administration contract, laid prime coat oil on the 
road reconstruction project along U.S. Highway 177 through the park. 
At about 5:30 p.m., before the material could cure, severe 
thunderstorms dropped heavy rains on the project, causing contaminated 
runoff to flow into Travertine and Rock Creeks.  Rangers identified 
the problem and took immediate action by placing absorbent booms 
across several areas of the creeks to mitigate further resource 
damage. Hull Environmental Services, a local company specializing in 
hazardous materials cleanup, was contacted and worked through the 
night to contain the spill. Containment activities are continuing, and 
cleanup operations were begun on May 20th. Affected areas of Rock 
Creek have been closed to swimming and wading until hazardous 
conditions can be assessed and mitigated. About two miles of riparian 
environment show signs of the spill. The Oklahoma Department of 
Transportation, the Federal Highways Administration, Broce 
Construction, and the National Park Service are involved in the 
cleanup operation. Regional and Washington office personnel have been 
extremely helpful throughout the incident. Media interest has been 
low, but is expected to increase with Memorial Day weekend rapidly 
approaching. (Mark Foust, Acting Superintendent, CHIC, 05/20]

                   [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

Initial attack was again moderate in the South on Monday and light 
elsewhere. A cold front will move into Georgia and Florida today, 
bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms.  A strong area of high 
pressure will remain stationary over northern California, bringing 
near record high temperatures and low relative humidity. Very high to 
extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

NICC has not posted any watches or warnings for today.

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

National Resource Status

Date                    5/18    5/19    5/20    5/21    5/22

Crews                   29      23      13      12      52
Engines                 101     84      39      36      195
Helicopters             19      17      18      12      20
Air Tankers             0       0       0       0       0
Overhead                294     234     108     107     250

Park Fire Situation

Big Cypress NP (FL) - There's no new information on the Bear Island 
Fire (22,500 acres, 80% contained) on either NICC or NPS situation 
reports. The containment estimate comes from the national news. 
Several outbuildings and some vehicles have been destroyed.

Everglades NP (FL) - The Lopez Fire (8,533 acres, 26 FF/OH, one engine 
and one helicopter) is 100% contained. On Sunday, NPS firefighters, 
with helicopter support, completed mopping up a large hardwood 
hammock. There is still smoke in a few hammocks, but fires in those 
areas do not pose a problem to containment; they will be mopped up as 
needed. Patrol and monitoring continue. Incident command has 
transitioned from Bob Panko to Jeff Prevey. Severe fire conditions are 
expected to continue in the park and south Florida until significant 
rain has fallen. Summer rains usually begin in mid-May; however, the 
short-range outlook is for continued dry conditions. High temperatures 
and low relative humidities, along with other weather factors, are 
causing surface water to recede at a rate of a foot per week. There is 
little standing water in what are normally the wettest areas of the 
park. Soil moistures in the hardwood hammocks and the pinelands are 
approximately 64%, indicating the potential for significant fire 
damage.  Fuel moistures in the sawgrass and palmetto are reaching 
historic low levels. It is expected that new fires will be extremely 
difficult to control, especially if winds and dispersion levels are 
high. The NPS and USFWS have agreed upon temporary suppression 
strategies for the protection of the endangered Cape Sable seaside 
sparrow. These strategies include total suppression of naturally 
occurring fires in three of the sparrow's six separate ranges in the 
park. Under normal circumstances, only one range would be protected 
from naturally occurring fire. The park has received fire severity 
funding and is staging additional resources to support initial attack 
on any new fires in the park and south Florida.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme         N/A
Very High       Everglades, Carlsbad Caverns, Big Bend
High            Hawaii Volcanoes, Guadalupe Mountains

[Deb Nordeen, IO, EVER, 5/21; Mike Warren, NPS FMPC, 5/21; NICC 
Incident Management Situation Report, 5/22; NPS Situation Summary 
Report, 5/21]

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

Wednesday, May 23rd 

House Resources Committee (Hansen): Oversight hearing on balancing 
preservation of natural resources with recreational use of public 
lands. The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in 1324 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 (May 8th): 

o  H.R. 1841 (Filner, CA), a bill to amend the definition of a 
   law enforcement officer under subchapter III of chapter 83 and 
   chapter 84 of title 5, United States Code, respectively, to ensure 
   the inclusion of certain positions.
o  H.R. 1880 (Schaffer, CO), a bill to amend the Cache La Poudre River 
   Corridor Act to make technical amendments.
o  H.R. 1882 (Udall, CO), a bill to establish the Cultural Heritage 
   Assistance Partnership Program in the Department of the Interior, 
   and for other purposes.
o  H.R. 1887 (Morella, MD), a bill to amend the Law Enforcement Pay 
   Equity Act of 2000 to permit certain annuitants of the retirement 
   programs of the United States Park Police and United States Secret 
   Service Uniformed Division to receive the adjustments in pension 
   benefits to which such annuitants would otherwise be entitled as a 
   result of the conversion of members of the United States Park 
   Police and United States Secret Service Uniformed Division to a new 
   salary schedule under the amendments made by such Act.
o  H.R. 1906 (Mink, HI), a bill to amend the Act that established the 
   Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park to expand the 
   boundaries of that park.
o  S. 901 (Boxer, CA), a bill to amend the Outer Continental Shelf 
   Lands Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to cease mineral 
   leasing activity on the outer Continental Shelf seaward of a 
   coastal State that has declared a moratorium on mineral 
   exploration, development, or production activity in State water.
o  S. 903 (Allard, CO), a bill to amend the Cache La Poudre River 
   Corridor Act to make technical amendments.

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  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  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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