NPS Morning Report - Sunday, July 29, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Sunday, July 29, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-348 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Follow-up: Flash Flooding

On July 8th and 26th, heavy rains caused serious flooding throughout 
southern West Virginia, including New River Gorge. A Type III IMT 
(Rick Brown, IC) is currently managing recovery operations in the 
park. The resource assessment team will have a draft of its report 
ready for review by park management on Monday. The team continued its 
work on about 50 specifications yesterday, including mitigating risks 
to cultural resources, re-routing trails, keeping invasive species out 
of slide areas, and preparing to tell the story of this largely 
natural event to the public through interpretive media. Weather is and 
will be an issue for park and incident operations through the weekend. 
A flood watch has been posted for the entire area through noon today. 
[Barbara Stewart, IO, IMT, 7/28] 

01-386 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Search

G.C., the food and beverage manager for the Ahwahnee 
Hotel, was reported missing from work on the morning of July 12th. The 
car he'd driven to work that day was also missing. Statewide BOLO (be 
on the lookout) messages were broadcast, and highways were searched by 
helicopter both within and outside the park in case he'd been the 
victim of a motor vehicle accident. The next day, Reena Rauchwerger, 
an assistant manager at the Ahwahnee, also disappeared. Rangers and 
special agents canvassed the local community for clues and interviewed 
friends and relatives of both G.C. and Rauchwerger. On July 
18th, the families of both employees received phone calls from them 
from southern California. G.C.'s vehicle was found where it had 
been abandoned near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and was 
impounded by the Park Police. The reason for the disappearances is 
still under investigation. [Jeff Sullivan, Supervisory SA, YOSE, 7/24]

01-387 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Search and Rescue

On Sunday, July 15th, a concession employee called dispatch and 
reported that his roommate had gone hiking three days before and had 
failed to return. The hiker had obtained a permit for the Bright Angel 
campground on the night of July 13th, but never made it to the 
campground. During the ensuing investigation, another friend of the 
hiker was contacted and recalled him saying that he was planning on 
hiking down the Grandview trail and across the Tonto trail, then 
pressing on to Phantom Ranch - all in the same day. The total distance 
for this route is about 27 miles. Temperatures were above 100 degrees 
during the period, and there is little or no water along the trail at 
this time of the year. Since the hiker had been overdue for over 24 
hours, the park began a search by helicopter. He was spotted on the 
trail late on Sunday afternoon, having traveled only 15 of the 27 
miles. He had only a sleeping bag and flashlight with him and had not 
had any food or water for the previous 48 hours. Similar incidents 
have resulted in fatalities. [Hunter Bailey, IC, GRCA, 7/26]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 2

Five new large fires were reported on Saturday - three in the 
Northwest, one in northern California and one in the Great Basin. Five 
others were contained. Initial attack was heavy in northern 
California, moderate in the Northwest and eastern Great Basin, and 
light elsewhere.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, 
California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, 
Washington and Wyoming.

NICC has issued two RED FLAG WARNINGS for today - one for wind, low 
relative humidity, dry fuels and warm temperatures in eastern Idaho, 
the other for the same conditions in western and central Wyoming.

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

National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)

                        Wed     Thu     Fri     Sat     Sun
Date                    7/25    7/26    7/27    7/28    7/29

Crews                   83      123     171     176     199
Engines                 78      141     178     300     222
Helicopters             37      63      81      64      85
Air Tankers             0       9       8       14      16
Overhead                542     674     859     742     938

Park Fire Situation

No new reports.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme         Joshua Tree NP, Dinosaur NM
Very High       Lake Mead NRA, Hawaii Volcanoes NP
High            Mojave NP, Zion NP, Big Bend NP

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 7/28; NICC Incident Management 
Situation Report, 7/29]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Public Health Service Update - A new web site has been established 
with information on the NPS public health program, including DO-83 and 
associated reference manuals on drinking water, wastewater, food 
sanitation, diseases, disease-causing organisms, and recreational 
waters. Also available at the site are tri-fold brochures, PowerPoint 
presentations and papers, downloadable files in multiple formats, and 
numerous links to other relevant agencies and web sites. The site for 
those with DOINet connections is www.nps.gov/public_health/intra/; the 
site for the general public is www.nps.gov/public_health/. These sites 
will only be as good as you help make them, so please tell us your 
needs. [Paul Schwarz, SEKI]

FLERT Update - Effective July 1st, DOI's Firefighter and Law 
Enforcement Team (FLERT) became a part of DOI's Office of Personnel 
Policy. The FLERT team was established in 1997 through an inter-bureau 
agreement in order to review requests for special retirement coverage 
and make coverage recommendations to the Department. It was previously 
hosted by BLM. The team will continue to be funded by the affected 
bureaus and will remain in Boise. Current FLERT members are Marcia 
Scifres (team leader), Donna Birch (case examiner), Michael Gilmore 
(case examiner), Marilee Posphala (case examiner), Matt Wagers (case 
examiner), Toni Orth (paralegal) and Karen Sexsmith (PT student). 
[John Combs, DOI; Denis Burnett, RAD/WASO]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Rocky Mountain NP (CO) - Jane Drechsler will retire on August 3rd 
after more than 37 years with the National Park Service. Jane began 
her career in NCR in 1964. Her career took her to Yosemite, Isle 
Royale, Glen Canyon, Jefferson, the Southern Arizona Group, and Rocky 
Mountain. She has asked for a very informal going away/retirement 
gathering. It will be held in Estes Park on August 4th; details are 
still being worked out. If you'd like to attend or send a message or 
other memento to be presented to her, please contact either Gregg 
Yarrow at 970-586-1217 or Jan Galger at 970-586-1210. [Gregg Yarrow, 
ROMO]

Sitka NHP (AK) - The park is advertising for a GS-0401-9/11 biologist. 
The vacancy closes on July 31st. The announcement can be found at 
www.usajobs.opm.gov/wfjic/jobs/IV3930.htm. [Charles Olin, SITK]

Petroglyph NM (NM) - The park is recruiting for two GS-9 protection 
rangers through direct reassignment. Both positions are covered by 6c. 
If necessary, travel and relocation may be postponed until  after 
October 1st. No government housing is available. The park is seeking 
rangers who are "self-motivated, flexible, creative and patient 
individuals who can work independently and as team players." 
Applications must be received by August 13th. Questions should be 
directed to chief ranger Michael Quijano at 505-899-0205 ext. 233. 
[Christie Porter, PETR]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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" 

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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