NPS Morning Report - Saturday, September 1, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Saturday, September 1, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-483 - Denali NP (AK) - Suicide Interdiction

Ranger/pilot Tom Betts landed near a guest lodge on the Chitina River 
on August 30th while en route to investigate a wrecked boat on the 
Chitina River. During his visit with the proprietors, he was informed 
of a problem with a couple of the guests. M.B. and C.O. 
of New Jersey had won a trip to the lodge while playing on a 
TV game show, and were flown out to the lodge on August 28th.  On the 
night of August 29th, they got into a domestic dispute in which 
C.O. received minor injuries. On the morning of the August 30th, 
C.O. was flown back to Anchorage without M.B., since the two 
were still fighting.  Over the course of that morning, M.B. made 
several comments to the lodge owners about killing himself. He also 
had reportedly consumed quite a bit of vodka and a couple of unknown 
pills. Shortly after Betts arrived at the lodge, he was informed that 
M.B. was suicidal and had disappeared. With the Chitina River so 
close to lodge, it was feared that M.B. would not be found. After 
about 25 minutes of searching for signs of M.B., Betts found him in 
the woods, face down and passed out. Betts was able to awaken him and 
get him up, and found a folding knife underneath him. M.B. had no 
apparent injuries, but continued to make statements about killing 
himself. The lodge is located on private land within the park and 
falls under Alaska state trooper jurisdiction.  Betts called 
ranger/pilot Jim Hannah and asked him to fly to the lodge with a state 
trooper who could take M.B. into protective custody and transport 
him to the Glennallen holding facility. M.B. would only be civil 
with the lodge owner's wife, so Betts had her talk with him during the 
two-hour response time. Hannah and the trooper arrived in an hour and 
forty-five minutes. M.B. was secured and placed in the aircraft with 
minimal resistance. He spent the night in the holding facility before 
being released. The lodge is located almost 100 miles up the Chitina 
River and is accessible only by aircraft. [Tom Betts, DENA, 8/31]

01-484 - Chaco Culture NHP (NM) - Search and Rescue

On August 27th, the park conducted a search for a missing hiker. M.M., 
57, of New Orleans, Louisiana, started out on a hike to 
Penasco Blanco trail with a female companion at 7:30 a.m. that 
morning. At some point, his companion decided to wait for M.M. while 
he continued his hike. When M.M. failed to return to a prearranged 
location after several hours, his friend hiked out and reported him 
missing to visitor center staff at 5:30 p.m. She also reported that 
M.M. had an existing medical condition, that he had not taken his 
prescriptions with him, and that he had only 16 ounces of water with 
him. A hasty search led to discovery of the location where M.M. had 
left the trail. Three search teams consisting of park employees, local 
SAR volunteers, trackers and New Mexico State Police officers tracked 
M.M. over difficult terrain until just before daylight. Three search 
dog teams were inserted at 8 a.m.; Air Care 1, a medical services 
helicopter, arrived an hour later. Around 10 a.m., chief ranger Gordon 
Ellison spotted M.M. from the helicopter. He was several miles from 
any established trail. M.M. had tried to descend from the mesa top 
and was located on a rock terrace 100 feet below the rim. After 
several attempts, the helicopter was able to safely land and pick him 
up. M.M. was in good condition. This was the first "large scale" 
search for most of the park staff and proved to be a learning 
experience. The chief ranger served as incident commander. [Russ 
Bodner, Acting Superintendent, CHCU, 8/31]

01-485 - Padre Island NS (TX) - Illegal Immigrants Arrested

On August 29th, rangers received a report of an abandoned boat that 
might be leaking fuel, which was washing ashore from the Gulf of 
Mexico eight miles south of the visitor center. Responding rangers 
found a shark boat - a long narrow hulled vessel with a large outboard 
motor attached - at that location.  In the boat were two 55-gallon 
fuel drums, one empty and one filled with gasoline. The rangers knew 
from past experience that smugglers frequently carry large quantities 
of fuel on board to increase the range of their boats into United 
States waters from Mexico. Coast Guard and Customs officials were 
notified and responded. No trace of the occupants was found. Because 
of bad weather in the area overnight and the amount of fuel remaining 
on board, there was concern that the vessel's occupants had fallen 
overboard. The boat was impounded and towed to park headquarters, 
where a hazmat team took the fuel drums off it. About two hours later, 
a visitor reported several suspected undocumented aliens hiding in the 
dunes near the visitor center. Rangers apprehended nine undocumented 
aliens in the Malaquite Beach campground and an additional six who 
fled into the dunes. A Border Patrol agent came to the park and took 
custody of the 14 men and one woman. Six were from Brazil; the others 
were from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. One of the Mexicans was 
known to Border Patrol officials from previous incidents. He has been 
charged with illegal entry into the United States. It's been 
determined that the 15 undocumented aliens were brought to Padre 
Island in the shark boat, which left Mexico the previous evening. 
After travelling at night through rough seas, the smugglers were 
forced to land at the park when a mechanical problem occurred in the 
engine. Once on shore, the smugglers told their passengers to walk 
north, then abandoned the group and the boat.  The smugglers have not 
been found. [Tom Crowson, PAIS, 8/31]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 5

One new large fire was reported in northern California; four other 
fires were contained. Initial attack was moderate in northern 
California and the eastern Great Basin and light elsewhere.  

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

A Boeing Vertol 107-II assigned to the Fridley Fire near Emigrant, 
Montana, crashed yesterday during a maintenance test flight. The 
accident resulted in fatal injuries to the command pilot, copilot and 
assistant maintenance crew chief. The National Transportation Safety 
Board has assigned two investigators. The following additional 
information on the crash was excerpted form an Associated Press story 
filed by reporter Susan Gallagher yesterday afternoon:

"A helicopter assigned to the largest wildfire in Montana crashed in a 
brushy ravine north of Yellowstone National Park on Friday, killing 
all three people aboard. The chopper assigned to the 25,500-acre fire 
went down during a maintenance flight to check its condition, Columbia 
Helicopters spokesman Jon Lazzaretti said from company headquarters in 
suburban Portland, Ore...The helicopter crash follows Monday's 
collision of two firefighting planes in Northern California that 
killed two pilots. 'Firefighting is a dangerous business,' said Warren 
Bielenberg, information officer for the Montana fire. 'We've got 1,200 
people involved with this thing. They've been here 10 days and there 
was one injury, before today.' The Vertol 107, with a 44-foot fuselage 
and a rotor at each end, was among the largest of the 15 helicopters 
assigned to the blaze. The company said those killed in the crash were 
pilot Rich Hernandez, 37, co-pilot Santi Arovitx, 28, and crew chief 
Kip Krigbaum, 45." 

NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH today for strong, gusty winds and 
low humidity in the northern Rockies.

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

National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)

                        Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri     Sat
Date                    8/28    8/29    8/30    8/31    9/1
        
Crews                   573     580     473     483     533
Engines                 594     627     604     575     555
Helicopters             187     163     165     150     138
Air Tankers             5       5       1       1       5
Overhead                4,968   3,929   4,349   3,805   3,972
Area Command Teams      1       1       2       2       2
Type 1 IMT              6       8       6       5       5
Type 2 IMT              8       5       7       7       7
State IMT               0       0       0       1       0
Fire Use Team           1       1       2       2       1

Park Fire Situation

Glacier NP (MT) - The Moose fire has (25,000 acres, 0% contained, Type 
1 team w/943 FF/OH committed) burned into the park. The following has 
been excerpted from an Associated Press story filed this morning by 
reporter Becky Bohrer:

"Racing against a forecast of strong wind, firefighters on the western 
edge of Glacier National Park dug in against a fast-spreading wildfire 
that jumped a river and crossed into the park.'This isn't a fire you 
just run in and put out. It's going to take a long time,'' said fire 
commander Larry Humphrey. 'This fire's going to get extremely large.'
On the western edge of Glacier National Park, Humphrey said, blustery 
winds had grounded helicopters Friday and cost crews much of the 
progress they had made against the blaze. Some campground buildings 
and other outbuildings were destroyed. Rain showers and lower 
temperatures were forecast for Saturday, but meteorologist Chuck 
Redman said, 'The bad news is the winds are going to be a lot 
stronger.' Humphrey said it would take a half-inch or more of rain to 
help. 'Frankly, this fire is going to burn until we get a weather 
event to slow it down,' he said."

Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Gary Cones' interagency fire use team is 
managing three lightning-caused fires on the North Rim for resource 
benefits. Fuels within the perimeter of the Vista fire (1,115 acres) 
continue to burn, but the perimeter itself has not grown. The Point 
Imperial Road, Cape Royal Road and Ken Patrick trail remain open. The 
Tower fire (10 acres) is burning near Kanabownits Canyon, eleven miles 
northwest of the North Rim's developed area. The Swamp Ridge fire (130 
acres) is burning in pine needle litter fifteen miles northwest of the 
developed area. Crews have prepared for a potential burnout to protect 
cultural resources at Swamp Lake. The fire has created unsafe 
conditions for the public, so Swamp Ridge Road has been temporarily 
closed from its intersection with Kanabownits Road to Swamp Point. 
Crews are monitoring the growth and spread of these fires and the 
associated smoke dispersal to ensure that air qualities are not 
exceeded. Smoke impacts are expected to be minimal, but backcountry 
and river travelers should expect short-term smoke impacts along the 
river corridor during late evening and early morning hours.

Yellowstone NP (WY) - Unforeseen high level moisture moved into the 
area on Friday, resulting in higher humidity and sufficient cloud 
cover to reduce fire activity. Since the moisture was accompanied by 
lightning (128 strikes in or near the park over a 24-hour period), 
it's likely that there will be new fires over the next few burning 
periods. No growth or significant activity was observed on any of the 
park's fires yesterday, although smokes were still evident on all 
fires. Acreages are as follows: Falcon fire (3,530 acres; 900 within 
the park), Sulphur fire (700 acres), Little Joe fire (789; 150 within 
the park), and Stone fire (116 acres).

Yosemite NP (CA) - The Hoover fire (7,475 acres as of Friday) and the 
remaining four fires in the Hoover Complex are being managed for 
resource benefits. No changes are reported from yesterday's summary. 
Prospective or current visitors can get more information on the fires 
by calling 209-372-0200 or by checking the park's web site at 
www.nps.gov/yose. 

Extreme         N/A
Very High       Hawaii Volcanoes NP 
High            Joshua Tree NP, Lake Mead NRA, Lassen Volcanic NP

[Donna Nemeth, GRCA, 8/31; Johanna Lombard, YOSE, 8/31; Roy 
Renkin/Doug Wallner, YELL, 8/31; NPS Situation Summary Report, 8/31; 
NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/1]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Aniakchak NM/Katmai NP (AK) - Dinosaur Discoveries

In these two national parks, best known for bears and volcanoes, new 
discoveries are shedding light on ancient life on the Alaska Peninsula 
before the volcanoes were formed. This summer, paleontologists 
conducting surveys in the two parks found the first evidence of 
dinosaurs in southwestern Alaska. Prior to this summer's discoveries, 
the only evidence of dinosaur life on the Alaska Peninsula came from 
150 million year-old therapod tracks near Black Lake, discovered in 
the 1970s. In Aniakchak, paleontologists found the footprint of a 
hadrosaur, also known as the duckbill dinosaur. The footprint was 
embedded in the Chignik rock formation, a unit approximately 70 
million years old. The track represents the first evidence of 
dinosaurs of this age in the entire southwestern part of Alaska. "This 
find is especially significant," said Tony Fiorillo, curator of earth 
sciences at the Dallas Museum of Natural History and the researcher 
who discovered the footprint. "Not only does it tell us that 
hadrosaurs lived on the Alaska Peninsula, but combined with evidence 
of hadrosaurs in other parts of Alaska and as far away as Texas, we 
can get a better picture of dinosaur distributions during the late 
Cretaceous period." In Katmai, researchers discovered a fossilized 
bone - also a first for the park - in the Naknek Formation, 
approximately 150 million years old. Though it has not been identified 
yet, the bone is may prove to be the oldest dinosaur bone on the 
Alaska Peninsula. In addition to the dinosaur discoveries, 
paleontologists built on plant fossil work begun last summer by ranger 
Pavia Wald. Plant fossil evidence in Katmai is more extensive than 
researchers originally believed, and is helping them gain a better 
understanding of geologic events in Katmai. The fossils could be 
anywhere from 65 to 25 million years old, but are most likely about 50 
million years old, according to Fiorillo. "Our working theory is that 
these plants were part of an ancient river system formed during a 
period of mountain building," Fiorillo said. "As we work with these 
fossil specimens, we should get a better picture of the when the river 
system and mountains formed." Amanda Austin, natural resource 
management specialist at Katmai, added this observation: "This year's 
surveys have show the Alaska Peninsula has great potential for 
producing a variety of fossils, including the ever-popular dinosaurs. 
Continued work over the next few years should give us an even better 
insight into the area's complex geologic history." The paleontological 
surveys are a joint project of the Dallas Museum, the University of 
Alaska Museum and the National Park Service Alaska Region. [John 
Quinley, PAO, ARO]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Assateague Island NS (MD/VA) - A vacancy announcement has been issued 
for a GS-11/12 supervisory park ranger (chief of interpretation). The 
chief of interpretation position serves as a key member of the park's 
management team.  Assateague Island is a beautiful 37-mile-long 
barrier island on the coast of both Maryland and Virginia. Annual 
visitation is approximately two million. Headquarters is located in 
the Maryland section of the park, approximately ten miles south of 
Ocean City.  The vacancy announcement closes September 10th. [Karen 
Burns, ASIS]

Gulf Islands NS (MS/FL) - The park is currently advertising for a 
GS-11/12 supervisor protection ranger. The announcement, which closes 
on September 21st, is open to current career and career-conditional 
federal employees within the Department of Interior and CTAP eligibles 
only. See announcement for details on special qualification 
requirements and conditions of employment.  The announcement number is 
GUIS P01-15. The position is located in the Mississippi District. The 
employee, who is duty stationed in Ocean Springs along the Gulf of 
Mexico near Biloxi, manages the protection operations of the 
Mississippi District and also supervises one visitor use assistant. 
The park manages several offshore islands in Mississippi which are 
only accessible by boat, and protection rangers are duty stationed on 
two of these islands. You can view or download a copy of the 
announcement at www.usajobs.opm.gov or by calling the park at 
850-934-2601 and requesting that a copy be sent to you. [Kitty Lewis, 
GUIS]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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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