NPS Morning Report - Friday, July 13, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, July 13, 2001

                            *** NOTICE ***

Last night, Fran Mainella was confirmed by the Senate as the new 
director of the National Park Service. She is to be sworn in on 
Monday, July 16th, in an informal ceremony with all the other Interior 
Department nominees who were confirmed by the Senate at the same time. 
Director Mainella has extended her thanks to everyone in the Service 
who worked hard in preparing for her confirmation.

INCIDENTS

01-350 - Padre Island NS (TX) - Death of Employee

Visitor use assistant Ron Carpeno passed away on Friday, July 6th, 
following a battle with a rare form of leukemia. He was 56. Ron was 
first appointed as a temporary motor vehicle operator in 1991 and 
accepted the positions as visitor use assistant at the park entrance 
station in 1998. Condolences may be sent via the park to his wife, 
C.C., and his family. [Jock Whitworth, Superintendent, PAIS, 7/10]

01-351 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - Significant Resource Damage

On June 6th, ranger David Van Nest received a visitor report of 
possible illegal ORV use near Clay Hills Crossing, a remote 
backcountry area on the San Juan River. An overflight by N2PS, the 
park plane, confirmed the report. Van Nest contacted a group of seven 
adults and six juveniles with several MX-type motorcycles and 
all-terrain vehicles camped near the river takeout area. The group was 
hostile towards Van Nest from the outset. Two members of the group 
refused commands to stop and fled the scene. Van Nest was able to 
issue mandatory appearance citations to Elizabeth Bergman, 37, and 
Steven Atencio, 36, both of Parker, Colorado, for off-road travel, and 
also identified most of the other individuals before he chose to 
release the group due to the lack of available backup. The full extent 
of the damage became apparent the next day when a follow-up overflight 
was conducted. At least three oval areas resembling racetracks and 
multiple other new trails covering more than eight square miles were 
observed on a mix of NPS and BLM lands. Resource management personnel 
are currently conducting a full assessment of the damage to vegetation 
and archaeological resources.  Additional charges are pending. 
[Richard Moore, PR, Halls Crossing, GLCA, 7/12]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level II

Five new large fires were reported yesterday - three in Oregon and one 
each in Idaho and New Mexico. One large fire in Montana was contained. 
Initial attack was heavy in the Northwest and northern California, 
moderate in the eastern Great Basin and Southwest, and light 
elsewhere.  Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in 
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, 
Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. 

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

National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)

                        Mon     Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri
Date                    7/9     7/10    7/11    7/12    7/13
                        
Crews                   99      80      111     174     225
Engines                 178     142     302     439     421
Helicopters             50      34      48      78      74
Air Tankers             1       2       4       3       7
Overhead                452     306     351     882     1,257

Park Fire Situation
 
Lassen Volcanic NP (CA) - Thunderstorms on Monday and Tuesday started 
about five fires in the area immediately surrounding the park and 
three within the park itself. Numerous lightning strikes on Tuesday 
and Wednesday were expected to produce sleepers that will appear in 
the next few days as the weather continues to become warmer and drier. 

Park Fire Danger

Extreme         Hawaii Volcanoes NP
Very High       Crater Lake NP
High            Joshua Tree NP, Lava Beds NM, Lassen Volcanic NP, 
                Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs, Grand Canyon NP, Zion 
                NP, Dinosaur NM, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Guadalupe 
                Mountains NP, Big Bend NP

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 7/12; NICC Incident Management 
Situation Report, 7/13]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

New NPS Basic Law Enforcement Training Program - There have been many 
recent inquiries about the new National Park Ranger Integrated 
Training Program (NPRITP). The old Land Management Training Program 
(LMTP) that was used by the NPS for its basic law enforcement training 
was a total of twelve-and-a-half weeks long and contained a total of 
487.5 hours of training. With the seven-day NPS Pre-Basic (NPS-PB) 
program (56 hours) added in, rangers attending the combined NPS-PB and 
LMTP received 543.5 hours of instruction and spent approximately 
fourteen weeks at FLETC. By comparison, the new NPRITP is 
approximately eighteen weeks in length and includes a course total of 
641.15 hours. Major changes to the program include the following: 
Sixteen additional hours of advanced interviewing courses; an 
additional twenty hours of driver and marine division courses, which 
include the National Traffic Safety Administration's certified 
"Driving Under The Influence Detection" course; and a new "Orientation 
to Marine Law Enforcement" course that includes eight hours of actual 
"underway" experience. 

The NPRITP also includes a modified twenty-eight hour "Archeological 
Resource Protection Act" (ARPA) course that will meet the mandated 
ARPA training for new Type 1 commissioned rangers. The firearms 
training program increases by eighteen hours and includes the NPS 
handgun, reduced light handgun, shotgun and M-16 rifle qualifications 
mandated by DM-446 and RM-9. The focus of the training is now more 
towards tactics against armed assailants, as the rangers will also 
receive a three-hour version of the Customs Service's "Mental 
Preparation for Armed Confrontation" course. The NPRITP also includes 
four hours of computer skills assessment and seven computer-based 
training courses that make it the responsibility of the rangers to 
access to prepare for examinations. The legal courses switch from a 
generic "police school" format to a more intense investigator-based 
format, with increased hours in Fourth Amendment and Fifth Amendment 
issues confronting NPS law enforcement rangers. Physical conditioning 
classes have been increased and occur continuously throughout the 
program, and the total number of hours in physical training increases 
from 80 hours to 98, including a new "Water Safety and Survival" 
course to teach rangers how to drown-proof themselves. A total of 
twelve hours were added for the use of non-lethal training ammunition 
so that rangers may practice "real-life" situations and practice their 
new skills in firearms and tactics against role players who may be 
armed and shooting back. The NPS courses previously covered in the 
NPS-PB are now integrated into the training program and are aligned to 
coincide with FLETC courses that support or emphasize the NPS 
subjects.  They include such offerings as tort claims investigations, 
extremist groups and search and rescue/situational awareness.

With this new program, rangers returning from FLETC will have attended 
eighteen weeks of outstanding training, be certified in DUI detection, 
have completed the ARPA requirements for Type 1 commissioned 
personnel, have a current firearms qualification for handgun, reduced 
light handgun, shotgun and M-16 rifle, and be current in theories 
involving search and seizure and the detention and arrest of suspects.

[Don Usher/Paul Henry, NPS/FLETC]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Midwest Region/Intermountain Region - The Midwest/Intermountain Region 
incident management team is currently recruiting for about 100 level 
one commissioned rangers with winter skills and 20 to 25 visitor 
services/public affairs personnel for details to the XIX Winter  
Olympics, which will be held in Salt Lake City next February. The NPS 
has been asked to assist with security at the games. Security will be 
coordinated by the Secret Service, and that agency has asked for NPS 
rangers as crucial law enforcement resources due to their technical 
expertise in winter and alpine travel. One of the major themes for the 
Olympics is "The American Experience," so the NPS - along with BLM, 
USFS and Utah State Parks - will staff the main visitor information 
center in downtown Salt Lake City and information centers at a number 
of athletic venues. The NPS will also be working with the media - 
9,000 media representatives will be in town for the Olympics. For more 
detailed information, please go to the NPS Olympic intranet site at 
http://im.den.nps.gov/den_olyDR.cfm (accessible only through DOI 
computers). You'll also find applications to participate in this event 
at that site. In order to download an application, click on the 
document title. If you do not have access to a DOI computer, send an 
email to Rick_Mossman@nps.gov and he will send a packet to you. The 
deadline for applications is August 3rd. If you have previously 
applied for something similar to this announcement, you need to 
reapply! [Rick Mossman, YELL]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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