NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, October 10, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, October 10, 2001

                           *** NOTICE ***

Flags are to be lowered to half-staff today in commemoration of the 
passing of former Senate majority leader Mike Mansfield. Twenty-four 
hour flags will remain lowered until Thursday at 12:01 a.m. All other 
flags will be returned to full staff on Thursday morning.

INCIDENTS

01-464 - Statue of Liberty NM (NY) - Follow-up: Parasailing Arrest

On the morning of August 23rd, Park Police officers saw a parasail 
powered by a motorized backpack flying in close proximity to the 
Statue of Liberty. The sail subsequently became entangled in the 
statue's torch, leaving the operator - later identified as T.D., 
a French national - dangling from the parachute lines along 
the arm of the statue. USPP officers rescued T.D. by lowering a line 
to him and hoisting him up. He was uninjured. T.D. was charged with 
reckless endangerment, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and air 
delivery. Investigators subsequently determined that he'd intended on 
landing on the torch, then bungee jumping to the ground. Deveaux 
pleaded guilty to the charges, and was sentenced on October 5th to 
three years' probation and a $7,000 fine. Attempts by the U.S. 
Attorney's Office to obtain a postponement from the court to properly 
assess damage for potential ARPA charges were denied. The assessment 
was delayed by the response to the World Trade Center attack. The park 
will receive $1,000 from the fine as damage recovery costs. As part of 
his plea, T.D. will forfeit his equipment, which will be sold off to 
pay his fine. The value of that equipment has been placed at about 
$12,000. T.D. was previously arrested at the Statue of Liberty in 
1994 when a planned bungee jump was foiled. At that time, he was 
charged with defacing a national monument, trespassing, and 
destruction of government property. T.D. paid a fine for those 
infractions. [Lt. John Marigliano, USPP, STLI, 10/9]

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

As previously noted in the Morning Report, the Department of the 
Interior 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. His family held private services for him in New Jersey, 
and at least one remembrance service was held in California by his 
friends in FWS. Fish and Wildlife has established a remembrance site 
for him, which can be found on the web at 
http://pacific.fws.gov/guadagno/memories.htm. [Steve Wunderley, USFWS, 
10/5]

01-546 - Canyon de Chelly NM (AZ) - Body Found

On October 5th, a Navajo guide reported that she'd found the body of a 
canyon resident within the park. Ranger Chris Blacksheep and Navajo 
Police Department officers responded. The body of L.P. was 
found outside his home, about a half-mile east of White House ruin. 
The cause of death is not yet known, but may have been from natural 
causes. Navajo police and a Navajo criminal investigator are leading 
the investigation. [William Yazzie, Acting CR, CHCH, 10/8]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 2

Two Type 1 teams are assigned to FEMA to support operations in New 
York City. 

Initial attack activity was light nationwide. Very high to extreme 
fire indices were reported in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
Montana, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming

Park Fire Situation

No new fires reported.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 10/9]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Yosemite NP (CA) - Bear Research Update

Researchers are wrapping up their second season studying bear ecology 
and visitor behavior with respect to the park's bear management 
program. Biologists are researching the types of habitat used, daily 
activity patterns, and food habits of bears in Yosemite Valley. 
Sociologists are studying how public education about storing food from 
bears affects the visitor's participation in keeping Yosemite bears 
wild. This four-year research project is made possible by a grant from 
the Yosemite Fund. This year, bears spent less time in the developed 
areas of Yosemite Valley. Bears mainly came to the valley to get water 
from the Merced River and to forage for natural foods. Bears did 
continue to investigate developed areas, but did not regularly obtain 
human food from them. Bear scat was collected throughout the valley 
and analyzed to determine what types of food bears were eating. 
"Trashy" scats were rare, and most contained natural food remains like 
berries and vegetation. The park has between 350 and 500 bears 
throughout its 1200 square miles. About a dozen bears permanently 
reside in Yosemite Valley, but many others pass through the area or 
take up residence for brief periods of time. Last year, biologists 
performed 455 "hazing" actions to scare bears out of Yosemite Valley's 
developed areas. Hazing, a harmless form of negative conditioning, had 
to be conducted only three times this year. The change in bear 
behavior is attributed to the efforts of park staff, park partners, 
and visitors in minimizing food and trash sources available to bears. 
The park launched an expansive public awareness campaign in 1998 to 
educate visitors about food storage and to reduce the availability of 
human food. That campaign is working. Visitors read park information 
about bears and then store their food in bear-proof containers. 
This is the third consecutive year that bear incidents and property 
damage have decreased. So far this year, there have been 204 bear 
incidents, which resulted in $29, 197 in property damage. This is an 
87% decrease in bear incidents and a 96% decrease in property damage 
since 1998. The decrease of bear incidents in campgrounds and parking 
lots did not occur in wilderness areas, where incidents continued to 
be frequently reported. The only way to reduce bear incidents in 
wilderness areas is through bear canister use. Backpackers are 
strongly encouraged to use bear canisters while on wilderness trips 
below 9,600 feet. Bear canisters are required for overnight trips 
above 9,600 feet. Canisters protect personal property and food, as 
well as the bears themselves. Continued public cooperation and support 
will eliminate the bear-human conflict. [Public Affairs, YOSE]

MEMORANDA

"Department of the Interior Security Awareness," signed on October 9th 
by P. Lynn Scarlett, assistant secretary for policy, management and 
budget, and sent to all DOI employees. The full text follows:

"In response to the heightened National security status necessitated 
by the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Department of the 
Interior will ensure all precautionary measures are in place to 
address potential areas of threat. It is reasonable to believe groups 
or individuals with untoward intentions may attempt to gain 
unrestricted access to sensitive areas.  It is, therefore, critical 
for the Department of the Interior employees to ensure items of 
official identification, badges, facility/office keys, access cards, 
key code numbers, vehicle access placards/decals, government license 
plates and/or government/emergency vehicles be afforded appropriate 
and necessary security.

"In the event of loss or theft of any item described above, immediate 
notification will be made to the Department of the Interior 24-hour 
Watch Office at 202 208-4108 or doi_watch_center@ios.doi.gov.  The 
notification will include circumstances of the loss or theft and 
unique identifiers of the lost or stolen government property.   This 
notification will be in addition to standard bureau, agency or office 
procedure relating to lost or stolen government property.

"In addition, bureaus, agencies and offices should canvass records of 
lost or stolen government property for the past six months and 
immediately report the loss or theft of official identification, 
badges, facility/office keys, access cards, key code numbers, vehicle 
access placards/decals, government license plates and/or 
government/emergency vehicles as outlined above.

"Of particular interest is the theft of government marked vehicles, 
i.e., marked police vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances and/or any other 
officially marked vehicle.

"Your cooperation in this critical matter is appreciated."

                            *  *  *  *  *

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
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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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