NPS Morning Report - Saturday, June 30, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Saturday, June 30, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-320 -  Independence NHP (PA) - Stabbings

After bar closing hours on Saturday, June 23rd, two women were stabbed 
during an argument that followed a traffic dispute. An unidentified 
man standing in the traffic lanes of Walnut Street near its 
intersection with Third Street (adjacent to park property) spat on the 
female driver of a van as it passed him on the street. The van stopped 
and the three female occupants confronted the man. Friends of the 
spitter joined the argument. The dispute moved onto park property, 
where two of the three women from the van were knocked to the ground 
and attacked. One of the women received puncture wounds to her back 
and the other received puncture wounds to her chest and a laceration 
to her arm. The victims were admitted to a local hospital, where they 
underwent surgery for their wounds, the most severe of which was a 
pneumothorax. The assailant has not been identified, and the 
investigation continues.  [Hollis Provins, CRO, INDE, 6/25]

01-321 - Sequoia/Kings Canyon NPs (CA) - Falling Fatality

On the morning of June 23rd, the parks received a request from Inyo 
National Forest to assist in a search for A.P., 33, of Tucson, 
Arizona.  A.P. started a solo hike in the forest at Whitney Portal on 
the east side of the Sierra Nevada on June 18th. He planned to hike 
the main trail to Mt. Whitney (14, 495 feet) and exit from the area on 
June 20th via the North Fork of Lone Pine Creek. When he failed to 
return, his family contacted the forest. The park's contract 
helicopter was dispatched to the area and quickly located A.P.'s body 
on a snowfield at about 13,020 feet on the northwest face of Mt. 
Whitney. Due to the difficult terrain, the helicopter could not land 
at the site. Helicopter operations proved unfeasible for the remainder 
of the day, so plans were made to recover A.P.'s body early the next 
day. On June 24th, rangers were flown to the mountain and climbed up 
to the spot. His body was flown out and released to the county 
coroner, who determined that he died from multiple traumatic injuries 
sustained in a  long fall down a high-angle slope of rock and snow. 
The exact date of the accident is unknown. Lodgepole SDR Bonnie 
Schwartz was IC. [Bob Wilson, LES, SEKI, 6/26] 

01-322 - Rocky Mountain NP (CO) - Special Event: Bicycle Tour

Over 2300 bicyclists rode through the park from west to east on Trail 
Ridge Road on June 21st as part of the "Ride the Rockies" bicycle 
tour. This annual tour has taken different routes through the Colorado 
Rockies each year since 1988. This year's tour started in Crested 
Butte and ended in Boulder, covering 432 miles in six days. The 
event's passage through the park was managed under ICS, with ranger 
Bob Love as IC. Seventy park staff and VIPs assisted with the event. 
Trail Ridge Road remained open to motor vehicle traffic throughout the 
event. There were aid stations at four locations in the park. Six 
emergency medical incidents occurred, four of them bike accidents; 
four of these medical cases required ambulance transport. The tour 
also came through the park in 1993 and 1998. [Tim Devine, Planning 
Section Chief, IMT, ROMO, 
6/27]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level II

Five new large fires were reported yesterday - two others were 
contained. Initial attack was moderate in the Southwest and the 
Rockies. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, 
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, 
and Wyoming. 

The full NICC situation report for today can be found at 
http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.

National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)

                        Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri     Sat
Date                    6/26    6/27    6/28    6/29    6/30
                
Crews                   155     103     83      89      61      
Engines                 257     183     94      121     105
Helicopters             50      44      33      52      22
Air Tankers             4       1       0       0       2
Overhead                497     534     394     488     408

Park Fire Situation

Denali NP (AK) - The B288/Herron River Fire has burned 103 acres. Park 
fire personnel flew the fire on the 27th and the perimeter was mapped 
using GPS. The fire is located in black spruce in open to moderately 
dense forest. Approximately 50% of the perimeter was active. The fire 
was primarily smoldering along the perimeter; open flame was spotted 
in two locations along the line. At this point, the  fire has been a 
creeping ground fire with evidence of little torching. The head of the 
fire is the northeast flank, where a portion of the east flank is 
currently contained by a small creek and riparian vegetation. The fire 
is in an area that has seen little recorded fire. Should weather 
conditions change, there is potential for rapid fire growth. 

Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP - Progress continues with the Bear Hills 
Prescribed Fire. All fuels are burning well, and there have been no 
holding problems.

Big Cypress NP - Prescribed burns are continuing. No problems have 
been reported.

Rocky Mountain NP - The Alpine interagency hotshot crew is in the park 
and available. They've been ordered to pre-position at Mount Rushmore 
NP for the July 3rd fireworks there.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme         Hawaii Volcanoes NP
Very High       Lake Mead NRA, Rocky Mountain NP, Big Bend NP
High            Joshua Tree NP

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 6/29; Alaska Wildland Fire Situation 
Update, 6/30; NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/30]

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

San Antonio Missions NHP (TX) - America's Best Classroom Program
 
The park participated in the "America's Best Classroom Program" on 
June 23rd by hosting 55 children along with the Fort Worth Hispanic 
Chamber of Commerce. This program is a partnership among Albertson's, 
Unilever Bestfoods and the National Park Foundation which provides 
grant money to give kids across the country the opportunity to learn 
about and experience America's national parks. The children learned 
about life in the missions and the restoration of the 1794 grist mill 
while on guided tours with park interpreters. They also participated 
in hands-on activities with park volunteers at themed demonstration 
carts located around Mission San Jose. (Elizabeth Dupree, CI)

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP - The park is seeking applicants for a 
60-day detail as acting GS-12 chief of interpretation. The park is 
looking for someone with supervisory experience to manage the park's 
interpretive operation, which includes three interpretive districts, 
six visitor centers, and two interpretive canal boat operations. The 
detailee would also be overseeing the completion of a video and 
numerous waysides. Interested applicants should contact Keith 
Whisenant by cc:Mail or phone ( 301-714-2222). [Keith Whisenant, CHOH]

Gulf Islands NS - The park is currently advertising for a number of 
GS-025-7/9 protection rangers. There are two announcements - GUIS 
P01-13 for the Mississippi Islands district and GUIS P01-14 for the 
Florida district. Multiple positions may be filled from both of these 
announcements.  Both announcements opened on June 25th and close on 
July 16th. The area of consideration is governmentwide and special 
programs. These positions will also be advertised through OPM to all 
sources in the near future (probably within the next week). OPM will 
also open two separate announcements, one for each district, but will 
advertise them as GS-7 positions, with promotion potential to GS-9.  
There are a number of special requirements and conditions of 
employment, so it would be wise to review the full vacancy 
announcement prior to applying. If you would like to view or download 
a copy of the announcements, you can do so on USA Jobs at 
www.usajobs.opm.gov or call the park's personnel job line at 
850-934-2601 to request a hard copy be sent to you. You can get 
information on both districts of the park at 
www.nps.gov/guis/index.htm. [Nancy Wilson, GUIS]

Chaco Culture NHP - The park is seeking an employee interested in 
lateral reassignment to a GS-025-9 law enforcement position. 
Candidates should have a strong interest in archeological resource 
protection in both frontcountry and backcountry settings. 
Certification as an emergency medical technician is a strong plus, as 
is the ability to work as a member of the park team. This is a 
required occupancy position with 6c coverage for duties in law 
enforcement. Housing is a moderately priced modern duplex with two 
bedrooms and two full baths. If interested, contact Gordon Ellison or 
superintendent Butch Wilson at 505-786-7014 ext. 230, or 
administrative officer Mitilda Arviso at 505-334-6174 ext. 33. 
Year-round recreational opportunities are available within a two hours 
drive of the park. Send your applications to Aztec Ruins National 
Monument, 84 Road 2900, Aztec, NM 87410.  Applications must be 
received by Friday July 5th. [Grady Griffith, AZRU]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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