NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, August 22, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, August 22, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-154 - Point Reyes NS (CA) - Follow-up: Resource Damage

On February 4th, rangers contacted three men who were building an 
illegal mountain bike trail on Golden Gate NRA lands administered by 
Point Reyes. The three men - M.M., 47, W.M., 50, 
and N.D., 46 - were subsequently indicted by a federal grand 
jury in San Francisco on felony charges of conspiracy (18 USC 371) and 
causing injury to federal property (18 USC 1361). M.M. was also 
charged with unlawfully cutting trees on federal property (18 USC 
1853),  a misdemeanor.  M.M. was a member of the Marin County open 
space and trails committee, but resigned the post on February 5th. 
According to the indictment, the defendants and others agreed to 
construct an illegal bicycle trail in the park in an area not open to 
bicycles. Construction of the illegal trail entailed cutting down 
trees and bushes, cutting branches, removing and destroying plants, 
and digging and moving soil.  Rocks were gathered and stacked to 
create retaining walls and trees were cut and moved to create a "jump" 
area. The route was even marked with flagging. As part of a plea 
arrangement, the trio pled guilty on August 1st to destruction of 
federal property, a class A misdemeanor. M.M. also pled guilty to 
cutting the trees. The three were sentenced to pay $34,360.78 in 
restitution, perform a total of 800 hours of community service 
(supervised by the NPS), and serve three years' probation. During the 
term of their probation, they are banned from entering any area 
administered by the National Park Service, except to fulfill their 
community service obligations. Each of the defendants also wrote a 
statement apologizing for his actions for publication. The prosecution 
stemmed from inter-divisional and interagency cooperation and the 
outstanding efforts of AUSA Davina Pujari. [Karyl Yeston, DR, PORE, 
8/20]

01-450 - Cape Cod NHS (MA) - Follow-up: Beach Closure

Coast Guard Beach was reopened to swimming late on the morning of 
Sunday, August 19th, after the park received acceptable water quality 
results for samples taken the previous two mornings. Heavy rain fell 
on Sunday night; on Monday, the park took regular weekly water samples 
at all beaches and determined that all were well below the public 
health standard for concern. The cause of the high bacteria count that 
resulted in the closure of the beach from Thursday to Sunday remains 
undetermined. [Mike Murray, Deputy Superintendent, CACO, 8/21]

01-460 - Rocky Mountain NP (CO) - Rescue

On the afternoon of August 16th, park SAR staff were preparing to 
debrief from a search that had just concluded when a report came in of 
a fallen climber near the top of the descent route from Sundance 
Buttress along Lumpy Ridge. T.D., 44, was descending with a 
guide from the Colorado Mountain School when he fell and sustained 
multiple facial and skull fractures, a partially collapsed lung, and a 
broken arm and leg. Due to the extent of his injuries, it took 
four-and-a-half hours for 25 rescuers from the park, Larimer County 
volunteer SAR, and the Colorado Mountain School to lower T.D, over 
2,000 feet of scree to a medevac helicopter. The operation concluded 
around 1 a.m. The IC was Tim Phillips. [Joe Evans, CR, ROMO, 8/21]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 5

Two new large fires were reported yesterday - one in the northern 
Rockies, the other in the South. Another eleven were contained. 
Initial attack was moderate in the eastern Great Basin and light 
elsewhere. 

A total of 184 fires were reported in the West yesterday; together, 
they burned 14,355 acres over that 24-hour period. The following notes 
were taken from today's National Incident Information Center morning 
report (http://www.fs.fed.us/news/fire/mornrpt.html): 

Northwest - Evacuation orders remain in effect along portions of Route 
155 on the Virginia Lake Complex Fire.  Okanogan County remains in a 
state of emergency.  The Rex Creek Complex and Spruce Springs/Dome 
Complex have mandatory evacuations in place.  Structures are 
threatened on the Monument Complex and Tonasket Complex fires.  

Southern California - Evacuations have been ordered for the 
communities of Jackass Ridge and Groveland on the Creek Fire. An 
evacuation order has been issued for Cuneo.  The Leonard Fire has an 
evacuation order in place. Evacuation plans are being developed for 
areas adjacent to San Andreas. Highway 180 in the Sequoia NF is closed 
due to the Highway Fire.

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

NICC has not posted any fire watches or warnings for today.

For the full NICC report, see http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.

National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)

                        Fri     Sat     Sun     Mon     Tue
Date                    8/18    8/19    8/20    8/21    8/22
        
Crews                   767     774     800     805     809     
Engines                 1,053   1,115   1,228   1,299   1,289
Helicopters             190     193     92      93      239
Air Tankers             11      24      4       3       2
Overhead                4,151   4,670   4,913   4,785   5,028
Area Command IMT        1       1       1       1       1
Type 1 IMT              6       7       7       10      11
Type 2 IMT              9       11      13      12      11
State IMT               7       7       8       8       7
Fire Use Team           --      2       2       3       3

Park Fire Situation

Yosemite NP (CA) - The Hoover Complex (5,560 acres, 46 FF/OH) is ten 
miles southeast of Yosemite Village. It consists of the Hoover, Clark, 
Kuna, Cold Creek and Lyell Fires and is being managed for resource 
benefits. Zimmerman's fire use management team has been assigned. The 
Hoover Fire is the only one of the five that is currently active. 
Cooler and slightly more humid weather has slowed the fire's rate of 
spread. Fire movement has been to the north and east. Favorable 
weather, lighter fuels, and  the shading effects of smoke should keep 
the fire from spreading rapidly. The fire is burning to the east and 
south of Glacier Point Road in lodgepole pine, red fir, and western 
white/Jeffrey pine forests. Mitigation actions have been taken to 
limit the rate of spread to the northwest and to lessen the amount of 
smoke coming into Yosemite Valley. Smoke from this and other fires in 
the area continue to affect visibility and air quality throughout 
Yosemite and on the western side of neighboring national forests. The 
Buena Vista trail is closed from Mono Meadow junction to Buena Vista 
Lake and the Illilouette Creek trail is closed from the junction below 
Mount Starr King to Merced Pass Lakes.

Extreme         N/A
Very High       Hawaii Volcanoes NP, Grand Teton NP
High            Dinosaur NM

[Michele Morseth, YOSE, 8/22; NPS Situation Summary Report, 8/21; NICC 
Incident Management Situation Report, 8/22]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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