NPS Morning Report - Thursday, October 4, 2001
- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, October 4, 2001
- Date: Thu, 4 Oct 2001 05:47:25 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, October 4, 2001
INCIDENTS
01-509 - Servicewide - Follow-up: Terrorist Attacks
Eastern National has established a "Recovery and Remembrance Fund" to
benefit the national parks of the New York and National Capital Region
areas and their staffs. The events of September 11th had a marked
impact on the many NPS employees working in these areas who witnessed
the events first hand, helped with the evacuations, provided first
aid, and assisted with recovery and clean up efforts. Northeast Region
RD Marie Rust has noted that it will take considerable effort to
mitigate the impacts of these events: "People from all over the nation
have reached out to help their fellow employees. Unfortunately, there
is still much that remains to be done." In response to this need,
Eastern National, a non-profit partner of the Service, came forward
with an offer to assist the parks and their employees. RD's Marie Rust
and Terry Carlstrom, together with the superintendents involved, have
identified three specific areas of need that this fund will be used to
support:
o Employee Assistance: Provide additional support to the
employees who witnessed and who have been severely affected by
the tragic events of September 11th.
o Oral history project: Provide support to document the oral
histories of the park employees who witnessed and have
supported the recovery efforts.
o Interpretation: Provide support to create waysides,
interpretive material and educational programs about the
September 11th events and the NPS involvement.
Donations are tax deductible and will be acknowledged in an upcoming
issue of The Arrowhead, the newsletter that Eastern publishes for the
NPS. Send your donation to Eastern National, Park Recovery and
Remembrance Fund, 470 Maryland Drive, Suite One, Ft Washington, PA
19034. [Jason Scarpello, Eastern, 10/1]
01-540 - Whiskeytown NRA (CA) - Marijuana Cultivation
Over the past several weeks, park law enforcement personnel have
worked with the Shasta County Sheriff Department's marijuana
eradication team investigating two cultivation sites on Grizzly Gulch
on the north boundary - one in the park, one immediately adjacent to
the park's boundary. On September 20th and 21st, over 2,100 plants
weighing 1400 pounds were eradicated. The site within the park
contained 900 plants. The sites were related, and the investigation
has revealed that its highly likely that they were being cultivated by
Mexican nationals, as has been the case at other locations on public
lands in the area. No suspects were located, possibly due to a recent
and unexpected influx of park staff engaged in research and
maintenance operations in the area. Evidence that may help identify
the identities of the growers was found at the sites. [Alan Foster,
SA/Acting CR, WHIS, 9/24]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 2
Two Type 1 teams are assigned to FEMA to support operations in New
York City:
o Lohrey's team is managing warehouse operations at Pier 36 and
three distribution centers in New York City. A fourth
distribution center is being completed and will be stocked in
the near future.
p Bateman's team is operating in two separate locations - one
group is at the Duane Street Fire Station and is involved in
activities that include documentation and mapping support; the
other group is at the Javits Convention Center and is checking
in personnel and tracking resources at the World Trade Center
site.
Initial attack was again light everywhere on Tuesday. Two new large
fires were reported in the northern Rockies Area.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona,
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Texas,
Washington and Wyoming.
Park Fire Situation
Yellowstone NP (WY) - Three sizeable fires continue to burn in the
park; all are being managed for resource benefits:
o Sulphur fire (3,600 acres) - The fire was active on Tuesday,
with an associated spot fire found a mile-and-a-half out in
front of the main fire. Only about 40% of the area inside the
fire perimeter had burned, confirming that it is burning in a
mosaic pattern. Fire monitors were on the ground in several
locations and provided valuable information to the fire use
management team. Reconnaissance is continuing.
o Little fire (390 acres) - Reconnaissance flights were
conducted on Tuesday, The fire was active and grew by about 40
acres over the course of the day. Fire monitors were to be on
the ground at the fire on Wednesday.
o Flat fire (10 acres) - Three fire monitors are on the ground
to keep tabs on the fire. Fuel samples and weather
observations will be taken to provide information for improved
fire behavior predictions.
There's no new information on the Stone, Arthur or Falcon fires, none
of which were active.
Yosemite NP (CA) - A storm that passed over the park early last week
started 28 small fires and dropped less than half an inch of rain.
Twenty of these were suppressed due to life and safety concerns; the
remaining eight are being allowed to burn in wilderness areas for
resource benefits. Of the six fires that started earlier in the
summer, three are still active - the Hoover (8,588 acres), Kuna (25-30
acres), and Clark (25-30 acres) fires. The Hoover fire grew by 500
acres during the month of September. The remaining three fires were
not showing any smoke when last checked by air. All fourteen fires
will likely burn themselves out or be extinguished by rain. It will
take two or three days of moderate rain to extinguish the Hoover fire.
All are surrounded by rocks, ridges and other natural barriers and
pose little risk of escaping. Portions of two trails in the area of
the Hoover fire - the Illilouette and Buena Vista trails - are closed,
but there are no other closures in the park.
Glacier NP (MT) - Rehabilitation efforts continue on the Moose fire
(71,000 acres, 88% contained). Total resource commitment at present:
303 firefighters and overhead personnel, six engines, three
helicopters.
[Steve Patrick-Underwood, Acting Prescribed Fire Specialist, YELL,
10/3; Johanna Lombard, YOSE, 10/2; NICC Incident Management Situation
Report, 10/3]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Associate to the Director and AD/Legislative and Congressional Affairs
Named - Director Mainella has named two more people for her staff:
o Bill Walters, currently deputy regional director in Pacific
West Region, has been selected to serve in the position of
associate to the director, effective October 22nd. In this
position, he will concentrate on maintaining liaison with
organizational elements within the NPS and will consult with
the department, Congress and other outside groups on policy
matters that come before the director. He will be an
ex-officio member of the NLC and the regional/deputy regional
directors' group. Walters was AD for national recreation
programs in WASO before becoming DRD in Pacific West; before
that, he was director of state parks in Indiana for twelve
years.
o R. Clarke Cooper will be the new assistant director for
legislative and congressional affairs. As assistant director,
he will manage and coordinate the agency's legislative agenda
and congressional relations associated with both the 385 units
of the national park system and the agency's numerous internal
and external programs. Prior to his appointment with the NPS,
Cooper served as the deputy director of the state of Florida's
Washington office. As deputy, Cooper served as liaison for
Florida governor Jeb Bush and the state of Florida to Congress
and federal agencies. He analyzed legislation with a special
focus on the environment, natural resources, and agriculture.
Cooper also helped negotiate the comprehensive Everglades
restoration plan (CERP) and a Mineral Management Service lease
sale compromise. Prior to that, Cooper represented the
Miccosukee Tribe in Florida as its director of governmental
affairs and was involved in expanding tribal trust lands,
obtaining tribal education grants, and promoting tribal
self-governance and economic development. His legislative
background began when he served on the staff of Representative
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) covering the environment, natural
resources, and veteran's affairs issues.
[Loran Fraser, Dave Barna, WASO, 10/3]
* * * * *
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
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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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