NPS Morning Report - Saturday, September 15, 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 15, 2001 - Morning Edition

                            *** NOTICE ***

A number of collections of digital photos from the New York area and 
elsewhere taken by NPS staff in the course of the response to the 
terrorist attacks are being made available to WASO. Effective this 
afternoon, one or two will be attached to each edition of the Morning 
Report. The number will be limited because parks have often requested 
that Morning Report file sizes be kept as small as possible (remote 
parks often have marginal phone service, other areas lack high-speed 
modems). If you have received collections of these digital photos, 
please also be aware of the potential impact on our email system of 
passing them on widely, as they tend to run anywhere from 1 to 10 MB. 
The system can't handle that much traffic if they are propagated 
widely.

INCIDENTS

01-509 - Servicewide - Follow-up: Terrorist Attacks

The Department of the Interior has lost one of its own in the 
commercial jetliner crashes associated with the attacks. Richard 
Guadagno, refuge manager for the US Fish and Wildlife Service's 
Humboldt Bay NWR, was one of the people on board the hijacked United 
Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. He was returning from 
a vacation that he had taken with his parents, who were not on the 
plane. He leaves a sister and his parents. A photo of Rich and the 
following tribute can be found on the web at 
http://www.fws.gov/fallen.html:

"Rich was 38 years old and had worked as a biologist and manager in 
the Fish and Wildlife Service for 17 years. He began his wildlife 
career as a temporary biologist with the New Jersey Fish and Game 
Department and at Great Swamp NWR near Newark Airport in New Jersey. 
His first permanent position with the Service came in 1987, when he 
was hired by Law Enforcement as a wildlife inspector, stationed in 
Philadelphia. In 1988, he was a refuge manager trainee at Great Swamp 
and attended the basic refuge academy. Many of his academy classmates 
remember his passion for wildlife management. 

"Subsequent career moves brought Rich to Prime Hook NWR in Delaware, 
Supawna Meadows NWR in New Jersey, and Baskett Slough and Ankeny NWRs 
in Oregon. In 2000, Rich was proud to achieve his goal of becoming the 
project leader of a major refuge, Humboldt Bay NWR, in Loleta, 
California. In addition to his many successes in addressing refuge 
management issues, he was also the consummate refuge law enforcement 
officer. He never lacked the courage to do the right thing. 

"Rich was a sincere and dedicated employee, highly regarded by all who 
knew him, and his parents are deeply proud of his chosen career with 
the Fish and Wildlife Service. We carry his family, and Rich, in our 
thoughts and our hearts."

A colleague and friend who knew Rich well adds that he would likely 
have been right at the front of the group of passengers who evidently 
sought to take back control of the plane. The Morning Report will 
carry details on memorial services and condolences in future editions. 
[FWS web site; Steve Wunderley, USFWS, 9/14]

01-510 - Canaveral NS (FL) - Follow-up: Tropical Storm Gabrielle

On Friday, the park went to its highest level of hurricane 
preparedness, as the forecast path of Tropical Storm Gabrielle carried 
it over east central Florida. A tornado watch was also in effect in 
Brevard County. At the time of the report late yesterday afternoon, 
some tornadoes had touched down south of the park. All park areas have 
been cleaned up, loose items have been  secured, and vehicles and gas 
cans fueled. Heavy rainfall and high winds continued throughout the 
day. The storm was expected to pass over the park around 2 a.m. [CANA, 
9/14]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

Fire management reports have been suspended due to the drop to 
Preparedness Level 2. They will resume if warranted by conditions. For 
the full NICC report, see http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

WASO Move - The combination of the Washington Office's move to its new 
building on G Street and response to the terrorist attacks have led to 
some disarray and confusion. Here's where things stand at present: 
Administration and Natural Resources made their move last weekend 
(except for Sue Masica, Maureen Foster, Mike Soukup, Abby Miller and 
the NR secretary). Remaining WASO staff will not move until October 
and are still in Main Interior. Admin and Natural Resources will be up 
and running in the new building on Monday. As of this past Wednesday, 
phone numbers and voice mail in Main Interior for those two offices 
were both still working. The new phone numbers at G Street were also 
working, but there was no voice mail. [Betsy Chittenden, WASO]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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