NPS Morning Report - Saturday, September 8, 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 8, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-501 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Major Search for Fleeing Felons

Around 5:40 a.m. on September 6th, ranger Keith Gad noted that a 
pickup truck was parked out of bounds (camping outside a designated 
campground) in a pullout in Hayden Valley and stopped and contacted 
the three occupants - T.O., P.E. and a 
female juvenile. While in the midst of the contact, he received word 
that a vehicle check done on the 1996 Black Chevy pickup showed that 
it was stolen and associated with a "home invasion" incident in 
Minnesota. Gad decided to back off and follow them while backup was 
summoned and responded. He followed the truck to the Fishing Bridge 
area, where it stopped. Gad was out of sight of the vehicle for a 
short time while he waited for assistance. Because of concerns for 
public safety, several hundred park staff and visitors were 
immediately evacuated and the area was closed to the public. Law 
enforcement rangers from throughout the park responded to the area, 
and a tactical team from Gallatin County, Montana, was summoned to 
assist. Law enforcement personnel - about 40 all told - responded from 
the Park County Sheriffs Office, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Bozeman 
Police Department, and Grand Teton National Park. The Gallatin County 
tactical team arrived in the area around 1 p.m. At around 1:30 p.m., 
they approached the vehicle and found that the individuals had left it 
during the short time it was out of sight earlier in the day while it 
was still dark. An immediate search of Fishing Bridge and the 
surrounding area was begun. All vehicle traffic through Hayden Valley 
was stopped, and the Fishing Bridge area and East Entrance remained 
closed while the search continued. Entrance stations cautioned 
visitors entering the park about the situation, and vehicles exiting 
the park were searched. Around 4 p.m., visitors contacted Canyon 
rangers and stated that they had seen three people matching the 
suspects' descriptions near LeHardy Rapids, approximately 
three-and-a-half miles from Fishing Bridge. At around the same time, 
researchers in the park also reported that they had seen the same 
individuals in that area around 2 p.m. Rangers and other law 
enforcement officers immediately responded and began a search of the 
area. One of the trio was spotted, and all three attempted to flee the 
area. They were quickly apprehended. They offered no resistance, and 
no one was injured during their capture and arrest. They had a 
handgun, knife and a hammer in their possession. All were in good 
condition, although wet and cold. One is being held at facilities at 
Mammoth Hot Springs; the other two will be transported to either Cody 
or Jackson, Wyoming. The East Entrance, Fishing Bridge and Hayden 
Valley areas have reopened to the public. [Public Affairs, YELL, 9/7]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 3

The preparedness level has done down one step. Preparedness Level 4 
drops to Preparedness Level 3 when significant demobilization is 
occurring. Fifty plus crews are being released daily and sent to home 
units. One hundred rested crews are available for new fires. All 
military resources have been released. No red flag conditions are 
forecast for the next 24 hours and higher humidity or lower 
temperatures are forecast for the major fire areas.

No new large fires were reported; two existing large fires were 
contained. Initial attack was light nationwide. 

NICC has issued a RED FLAG WARNING for very low relative humidity and 
gusty winds for the northern Sacramento Valley and surrounding 
foothills, particularly the east side of the Coast Range.

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                    9/4     9/5     9/6     9/7     9/8
        
Crews                   496     510     453     277     309
Engines                 496     546     466     387     363
Helicopters             141     135     142     116     86
Air Tankers             1       5       1       1       0
Overhead                2,693   2,647   2,676   2,287   2,029

Park Fire Situation

Yosemite NP (CA) - The Hoover fire has burned 7,954 acres to date; the 
remaining fires in the complex have burned about 80 acres. The fires 
continue to burn as predicted. Northwest winds will bring an increase 
in fire activity as the Hoover fire moves to the east. All fires 
continue to be monitored on a regular basis. The interagency fire use 
team (Zimmerman) has departed; the park and a Type 3 team are now 
managing the fire. 

Glacier NP (MT) - The Moose fire (68,000 acres, approximately 17,000 
within the park; 30% contained, no estimate for full containment; Type 
1 team w/525 FF/OH committed - including 21 crews, 13 engines, seven 
helicopters) is burning both near and within the park. There was 
little activity on the fire yesterday. Rehab plans are being 
developed. The acreage increase is due to better mapping.

Extreme         N/A
Very High       Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP
High            Joshua Tree NP, Grand Canyon NP, Grand Teton NP

[Kara Paintner, YOSE, 9/7; NPS Situation Summary Report, 9/7; NICC 
Incident Management Situation Report, 9/8]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

WASO Move - The first phase of WASO's move to its new offices on 1800 
G Street is currently underway. As of Monday, Administration and 
Natural Resources staffs formerly at Main Interior will be located at 
the new office. New phone numbers abound. You can lookup the numbers 
of those who moved in the first phase of this move on a web site: 
http://165.83.219.72/wapc/buildinglife.html. The mailing address 
remains 1849 C Street. The timing of the next two phases of the move 
remains subject to change due to the World Bank/IMF meetings later 
this month. The new office is within the perimeter that will be 
established around the meeting location in anticipation of 
demonstrations. It's possible that operations at either or both 
locations (C Street and G Street) will be affected by events 
associated with this meeting; additional details will be provided as 
they become available. As of now, it appears that the second phase of 
WASO's move will take place from October 12th to the 14th and the 
third from October 26th to the 28th. [Sue Masica, AD/Administration, 
WASO]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Death Valley NP (CA) - The park has announcements out for a detail 
opportunity and for a permanent full-time positions. The former is for 
a GS-13 supervisor ranger (LE), not to exceed six months. That 
announcement closes on September 14th. The PFT position is for a GS-13 
chief ranger. The vacancy announcement is on USA Jobs and closes on 
October 5th. Required occupancy. Death Valley NP is a 3.3-million acre 
park located in the northern Mojave Desert.  Temperatures are 
spring-like from late September to March/April and hot (120+) and dry 
in summer. School for K-6 is located in the Cow Creek housing area; 
intermediate/high schools are in Beatty, Nevada (45 miles and bus 
available), and Shoshone, California (60 miles and bus available). 
Grocery shopping and medical services are located in Pahrump,  Nevada  
(62 miles); major shopping and complete medical services are located 
in Las Vegas, (125 miles), Ridgecrest, California (128 miles), or Lone 
Pine, California (104 miles).  Recreation includes swimming, golf, 
tennis, volleyball, and hiking. Horseback riding, library, camping, 
four-wheel-drive and/or mountain biking over designated backcountry 
roads. Television reception is dependent on employee-purchase or 
rental of individual satellite dish.  Radio reception is limited to a 
single NPR station or obtaining signal over a satellite dish. [Mary E. 
Davis, DEVA]

Prince William FP (VA) - The park is seeking candidates for a lateral 
transfer for a permanent GS-9 park ranger (protection). The ranger 
will be responsible for daily LE patrols by foot, vehicle and on 
bicycle on the park's nine miles of roads and 37 miles of trails. 
Duties include campground management, entrance and user fee 
compliance, hunting and boundary patrols, physical fitness program 
coordination, participation in the park's Rangers Against Drugs 
program, and possibly bike patrol program management. The park offers 
outstanding training opportunities at the regional level, in the 
Washington area, and at the nearby FBI academy and local fire 
departments. A bike patrol program is being begun. The park, which is 
just 32 miles south of Washington and 22 miles north of 
Fredericksburg, features forests, 157 historic CCC structures, a 
100-site family campground, a six-site group campground, a permitted 
backcountry area, day-use areas, and trails. Annual visitation is 
about 250,000. Housing is not available. For further information, 
contact chief ranger Stuart West at 703-221-5004 or by pager at 
703-551-7718. [Stuart West, PRWI]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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.

                            --- ### ---