NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Sunday, June 3, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-244 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Search and Rescue

Park personnel were contacted around sunset on Sunday, May 27th, 
regarding an overdue group of day hikers on the Grandview Trail. 
Eleven members of a group holding a family reunion had headed down the 
trail. The hikers, who ranged in age from 17 to 34, planned to hike to 
Horseshoe Mesa and possibly go on to the Colorado River. That night, 
park personnel established containment points around the area, 
conducted hasty searches, and interviewed other backpackers. The inner 
canyon high temperature for the day reached 100 degrees at Phantom 
Ranch. During the day, seven other SAR operations were coordinated by 
SAR shift ranger Kristin Fey, including three medevacs. The search for 
the hikers resumed on Monday and was conducted by helicopter. The 
hikers were later located by searchers in the Hance Creek drainage. 
They had walked to Hance Rapids, normally a two-day journey, then had 
bivouacked there for the night. All were okay. Incidents like this one 
have previously resulted in hiker fatalities. It's probable that they 
survived because of several factors - drinking creek water, wearing 
hats for sun protection, eating cactus, and staying together. [Ken 
Phillips, IC, GRCA, 5/28]

01-245 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - HazMat Incident

On May 19th, the park's structural fire team responded to a report of 
a thousand-gallon liquid propane tanker leaking near the fuel dock in 
Wahweap. Visitors were evacuated from all of the nearby boat docks and 
road intersections were blocked within a half-mile radius. A local gas 
company was called to assist, but was unable to either stop the leak 
or pump the remaining propane in the tank to another tanker. Park 
staff consulted with the state hazmat commander and decided to tow the 
leaking tanker away from the developed area to an isolated location 
where they would be little potential of the leak igniting or the lake 
becoming contaminated. This operation forced the shutdown of the 
concession boat rental operation and disruptions to boat launching and 
recovery for about six hours. Officers from the county and state 
assisted with traffic control and road blocks. Ranger Eric Scott was 
IC. [Mike Mayer, ACR, GLCA, 6/1]

01-246 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - ARPA Warrant Executed

Rangers led by criminal investigator David Sandbakken and special 
agent Todd Swain executed an ARPA-related search warrant on the 
morning of May 17th and seized artifacts from the premises of a 
hunting guide who is well know in the area. This action marked the 
culmination of a two-year-long investigation which also involved the 
park's archeologist. Charges are pending with the U.S. Attorney's 
Office. Details to follow. [Mike Mayer, ACR, GLCA, 6/1]

01-247 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - Drug Arrest

Ranger Heather Yates, who is working in the park on a detail from 
Wrangell-St. Elias NP, contacted campers C.W. and his 
female companion in Crosby Canyon on the morning of May 18th and saw 
drug paraphernalia in plain view. During the subsequent search, Yates 
seized one and a half ounces of cocaine and 10 grams of marijuana 
along with various other drug paraphernalia.  C.W. was arrested and 
charged with state felonies for possession of controlled substances. 
[Mike Mayer, ACR, GLCA, 6/1]

01-248 - Independence NHP (PA) - Armed Robbery

Two park visitors were walking on Harmony Street behind park 
headquarters around 9 p.m. on May 27th when they were held up at 
gunpoint by three men. The robbers then fled from the area. The 
victims, who were not hurt, contacted a Federal Protective Service 
patrol unit that was traveling through the area and reported the 
incident. FPS was able to transmit a BOLO ("be on the lookout" 
message) in time to facilitate Philadelphia Police Department's 
capture of one of the suspects, a juvenile. The robbers stole $37. The 
incident is still under investigation.  (Calvin Farmer, SPR, INDE, 
6/1)

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

Fire Program Management

Reference Manual 18, Chapter 10, which sets the new parameters for 
prescribed burn plans, has been formally released. It is posted on the 
NPS Fire Net web page (www.nps.gov/fire/fire/policy/rm18/). Click on 
the table of contents, then click on chapter 10.  Also on the web page 
are instructions for downloading and printing the RM. Questions should 
be directed to national fire management officer Sue Vap at 
208-387-5225.

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level II

New large fires were reported on Saturday in New Mexico, northern 
California, Florida, Nevada and Idaho. Crews reached containment 
objectives on large fires in Nevada, Idaho and Florida.  Initial 
attack activity was moderate in northern California and the South and 
light elsewhere.   Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in 
Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.

NICC has posted:

o  A RED FLAG WARNING for strong winds in southern and central New 
   Mexico.
o  A FIRE WEATHER WATCH for strong winds in southern New Mexico.
o  A FIRE WEATHER WATCH due to high dispersion indices for portions of 
   northern Florida.

National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)

Date                    5/30    5/31    6/1     6/2     6/3

Crews                   113     112     112     105     80
Engines                 237     338     353     247     199
Helicopters             34      40      39      31      31
Air Tankers             0       0       1       0       2
Overhead                598     610     574     681     611

Park Fire Situation

Dinosaur NM (CO) - The three fires previously reported remain 
contained and are being monitored.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme         Crater Lake, Lake Mead
Very High       Grand Canyon, Zion
High            Joshua Tree, Mojave, Everglades, Hawaii Volcanoes, 
                Guadalupe Mountains

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 6/2; NICC Incident Management Situation 
Report, 6/3 - the full report can be found at 
http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Organic Act Interpretation - The Office of Policy now has a web site 
which details how the Service will implement the Organic Act's 
prohibition against impairing park resources and values. The policy on 
this was incorporated into section 1.4 of the new edition of 
Management Policies. The web site provides additional information 
about the policy and additional guidance on ways of distinguishing 
between adverse impacts in general and adverse impacts that are so 
serious they qualify as impairments. The address is 
http://www.nps.gov/protect. [Chick Fagan, Policy Office, WASO]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Coronado NM (AZ) - The park is recruiting qualified applicants for a 
lateral reassignment to its GS-9 chief of interpretation position and 
will also consider a detail assignment to fill this position 
temporarily for the next few months. Park housing is not available but 
many opportunities for rent or purchase are available in the Sierra 
Vista and Bisbee areas. Applicants should forward a résumé or 
application, along with a list of references, by mail (Superintendent, 
Coronado National Memorial, 4101 E. Montezuma Canyon Road, Hereford, 
Arizona 85615), by fax (520-366-5705), or by email 
(CORO_Superintendent@nps.gov) BY JUNE 12th. Please specify whether you 
are interested in a lateral reassignment or a detail assignment. 
Applicants for a lateral reassignment must have federal career or 
career-conditional status and be at the GS-9 or higher grade level. 
Please contact superintendent Jim Bellamy at 520-366-5515 ex. 21, 
Scott Sticha at ext 22 or administrative officer Queta Ramirez at ext 
24 if you would like more information. [Coronado NM)

                            *  *  *  *  *

The Morning Report solicits entries from the field and central offices 
for its daily and weekly sections (below). The general rule is that 
submissions, whatever the category, should pertain to operations, be 
useful to the field, and have broad significance across the agency. 
Additional details on submission criteria are available from the 
editor at any time (Bill Halainen at NP-DEWA, or 
Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). Ask for either incident reporting criteria 
(issued by WASO, June 18, 2000) or general criteria. 

Daily and weekly sections are available for news or significant 
developments pertaining to:

Field incidents                 Interpretation and visitor services
Natural resource management     Cultural resource management
Operations (WASO only)          Memoranda (WASO only)
Requests/offers of assistance   Park-related web sites
Parks and employees             Media stories on parks
Training, meetings, and events  Queries on operational matters  
Reports on "lessons learned" 

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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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