NPS Morning Report - Thursday, September 6, 2001
- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, September 6, 2001
- Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 09:53:36 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, September 6, 2001
INCIDENTS
99-731 - Kaloko-Honokohau (HI) - Follow-up: Murder of Park Ranger
The trial of F.E.B. III, the suspect in the murder of
ranger Steve Makuakane-Jarrell, has been continued until January 30th.
The federal grand jury in the District of Hawaii returned a true bill
on a superseding indictment against F.E.B. which charged him with two
firearms crimes related to the murder of Makuakane-Jarrell. Pre-trial
preparation and investigation is on-going by NPS rangers and special
agents, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. [Scott Hinson, SSA,
LAME, 9/5]
01-451 - Lassen Volcanic NP (CA) - Follow-up: Property Theft
In early August, park maintenance employees reported that a
refrigerator was missing from the construction site of the new
residence and ranger station at Juniper Lake. A brief investigation
led to the discovery that NPS seasonal maintenance employee James
Hughes had returned to the ranger station after hours, loaded the
refrigerator into his private truck, and taken it home. Hughes
subsequently pled guilty in magistrate's court to a CFR violation of
unlawful possession of another's property. He received a fine and
probation from court and was terminated from employment. [John Roth,
CR, LAVO, 9/5]
01-491 - North Cascades NP (WA) - Rescue
On Sunday, September 2nd, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office asked
for park's assistance with the rescue of three injured climbers from
the Coleman Glacier on Mount Baker in the neighboring Mount
Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. A four-person rope team from British
Columbia was climbing near the mountain's 8,600-foot level on Sunday
morning when one person slipped, dragging the entire team
approximately 100 to 200 feet down the glacier and into a crevasse.
One member died of a skull injury, one suffered a probable fractured
spine and leg, the remaining two sustained fractured wrists. The
survivors were able to climb out of the crevasse and waved down an
American Alpine Institute guide who was descending from the summit
with two clients. A cell phone call to 911 provided the initial
report. Rangers Kelly Bush and Galen Stark and Dr. Don Slack (park
VIP) were flown to the scene by a contract helicopter. They
immobilized the spinal fracture victim and transported him to a lower
elevation. One of the injured climbers had already hiked out. The
rangers and doctor spent the blustery, rainy night on the mountain
with the other two injured persons, then joined about 40 people from
several volunteer mountain rescue organizations and American Alpine
Institute mountain guides in evacuating the two injured persons off
the mountain the following day. [Galen Stark, DR, NOCA, 9/5]
01-492 - San Antonio Missions NHP (TX) - Special Event
On Wednesday, August 29th, President and Mrs. Bush visited the park to
dedicate the restored 1794 grist mill at Mission San Jose. The site
was closed to the general public for the event while the president
spoke to the invited membership of Los Compadres (the park's friends
group) and other dignitaries, including Fran Mainella, director of the
National Park Service. President and Mrs. Bush then opened the sluice
gate to divert water from the historic acequia to the now fully
operational grist mill. Two Intermountain SET teams provided perimeter
security and assisted park staff, San Antonio Police Department and
the U.S. Secret Service in controlling access to the site until the
president's departure. The incident was managed under unified command.
[Dan Steed, CR, SAAN, 8/30]
[Additional reports pending....]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 4
Two new large fires were reported yesterday in the Rockies. Eight were
contained - two in the Great Basin, five in the Rockies, and one in
the Northwest. Initial attack was light nationwide. Today's NICC
report does not include a listing of states with very high or extreme
fire danger.
NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for winds, warm temperatures, a
dry unstable air mass, and possible dry lightning for northwestern
Colorado.
For the full NICC report, see http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.
National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Date 9/2 9/3 9/4 9/5 9/6
Crews 508 571 496 510 453
Engines 606 674 496 546 466
Helicopters 137 146 141 135 142
Air Tankers 2 8 1 5 1
Overhead 3,745 3,538 2,693 2,647 2,676
Area Command Team 2 2 1 1 1
Type 1 IMT 4 3 4 4 4
Type 2 IMT 7 6 4 4 2
State IMT 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Use Team 1 1 1 1 1
Park Fire Situation
Glacier NP (MT) - The Moose fire (64,000 acres, 15,000 within the
park; 5% contained, no estimate for full containment; Type 1 team
w/1,060 FF/OH committed - including 34 crews, 16 engines, 10
helicopters) is burning both near and within the park. Rain fell on
the fire yesterday, permitting more detailed recon of the fire due to
extreme fire behavior and heavy smoke. Efforts to protect structures
continued in Home Ranch Bottoms and at the north end of Lake McDonald.
Yellowstone NP (WY) - The park has five fires burning - two of them
being managed for resource benefits, three being suppressed. Cooler
temperatures, high relative humidity, and widely scattered light
precipitation helped minimize fire activity on Wednesday. There were
no acreage increases on any of the five fires :
o Stone fire (130 acres, managed for resource benefits) - Three
smokes were observed on the northeast corner of the fire and
one small smoke puffed up on occasion on the west flank.
o Sulphur fire (825 acres, managed for resource benefits) -
Smokes were evident all along the perimeter and in the
interior of the burn. Trees torched at one hotspot on the
northwest flank.
o Falcon fire (3,760 acres, suppression under a confinement
strategy) - Some smokes were seen on the east flank and one
heat pocket still persists at the top of the divide between
Falcon and Atlantic creeks. The west flank also continues to
hold some heat. The fire remained on the west side of
Yellowstone River.
o Little Joe fire (860 acres, suppression) - No smokes; fireline
rehab continues.
o Arthur fire (2,850 acres, suppression) - No smokes.
Extreme N/A
Very High Crater Lake NP
High Joshua Tree NP, Grand Canyon NP, Glacier NP
[Roy Renkin/Doug Wallner, YELL, 9/6; NPS Situation Summary Report,
9/5; NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/6]
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Carlsbad Caverns NP (NM) - The park is seeking a lateral transfer at
the GS-9 level for a law enforcement commissioned ranger. In addition
to the standard fare of visitor and resource protection duties, the
person in the position currently serves as the park's EMS coordinator.
There are ample opportunities for wildland fire assignments and for
work with the community in a variety of areas. The position includes
several collateral duties and the incumbent serves in a regular
rotation as acting chief ranger. The potential exists for a
dual-career opportunity with several anticipated vacancies in other
divisions. Occupancy required; the quarters are located 25 miles from
the city of Carlsbad, which offers a wide assortment of community
services and educational opportunities. Applications will be received
through the close of business on September 14th and should be mailed
to Pat Courter, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 3225 National Parks
Highway, Carlsbad, NM 88220. For more information, call chief ranger
Mark Maciha at 505-785-2232 ext. 372 or at 505-361-4408 (cell).
Ocmulgee NM (GA) - The park is currently advertising for a permanent,
full-time GS-025-5/7/9 interpretive ranger (SESO-01-111, closes on
September 20th). The incumbent is responsible for the full range of
duties associated with interpretation, plus an assortment of
generalist duties typical of small parks. The 702-acre site has an
annual visitation of over 125,000, including hundreds of school
groups. The site, which is considered one of the premier pre-historic
archeological sites in the Southeast, interprets the 10,000-year story
of Native Americans in the Southeast. Park staff work closely with
Native American groups in the Southeast and Oklahoma, including the
organization of an annual weekend celebration that brings in over 150
Native American peoples to interpret their culture to 15,000 plus
visitors. The perfect candidate for this position is a borderline
workaholic who loves working with school groups and teachers and is
comfortable dealing with the complex and often misunderstood story of
"America's forgotten minority." The position will be filled at any of
the grade levels. Government housing in the form of a three-bedroom
"Mission 66" house is available on a permitted basis. Macon, Georgia
is a full service community of 100,000, which offers full amenities.
For more park information see our web site. For more Macon information
go to www.maconga.org or www.maconchamber.com. [Guy LaChine, OCMU]
Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - The park currently has an opening for a
GS-0025-11supervisory park ranger (protection). The vacancy opened on
USA Jobs on September 4th and closes on September 28th. The person in
this position serves as the North Rim subdistrict ranger and is the
operations supervisor for the North Rim. He/she is responsible for
supervising and performing law enforcement operations to ensure the
protection and safe use of national park resources, and also
supervises and provides visitor services, emergency medical services,
search and rescue, and structural fire. The North Rim is 215 miles by
road from the South Rim (four hours by car). During summer months,
concession facilities are available. All facilities are closed in the
winter and access to the area is by snowmobile only. Incumbent must be
able to work in an isolated environment. Selectee will be required to
live in government quarters. For more information on this position,
please contact North Rim DR Kevin Cochary at 928-638-7873 or human
resource specialist Thomas Barth at 928-638-7721. The complete vacancy
announcement is available on the USAJOBS website at:
http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/wfjic/jobs/IW6704.htm. [Thomas Barth, GRCA]
* * * * *
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.
--- ### ---