NPS Morning Report - Monday, December 3, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, December 3, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-043 - Intermountain Region - Follow-up: Special Event - 2002 Winter 
         Olympics

The Intermountain-Midwest incident management team remains very active 
in supporting the NPS commitment to the Winter Olympics, which begin 
on February 8th in Salt Lake City and will conclude on February 24th. 
The team has incorporated personnel from other agencies (USFS, BLM and 
Utah State Parks) into its organization in order to serve interagency 
needs during the games. Selections have been made for most NPS 
assignments (including alternates) for this event - a total of 105 
Level I commissioned rangers (and six alternates), six information 
specialists (and four alternates), and eight media relations personnel 
have been notified of their assignments, some beginning as early as 
January 28th. Still to be notified are NPS employees who will staff 
the Discover Navajo 2002 exhibit. There was tremendous interest in 
these assignments and the team extends its appreciation for the high 
level of support offered by many field personnel and their managers. 
The NPS will provide commissioned rangers for a security detail under 
the direction of the Secret Service, primarily in the alpine venues 
around Park City. The Service will also staff the host city visitor 
center in downtown Salt Lake City daily throughout the games, along 
with BLM, USFS, and Utah State Parks. The host city VC opened on 
October 31st and features exhibits on America's public lands that were 
designed, fabricated and installed under the direction of Harpers 
Ferry Center and NPS Olympics coordinator Bob Van Belle. The center 
will also feature an interpretive sales area organized by a consortium 
of Colorado Plateau cooperating associations. The NPS will have staff 
at three different media centers in Salt Lake City and Park City at 
various times throughout the games. Park  staff from Golden Spike NHS 
will work under a USFS IMT providing information on public lands at 
Snow Basin Ski Area. Staff from Timpanogos Cave NM will provide the 
same information at Soldier Hollow, where Nordic events will occur.  
The Service's trails program will also have an exhibit on the Pony 
Express at Soldier Hollow, with support provided by National Pony 
Express Association volunteers. This demonstration area, within easy 
view of the Nordic events, will feature buffalo, wild horses, Native 
Americans and other western Americana icons and will be managed 
through a cooperative state and federal effort. The Olympic torch 
relay begins on December 4th and enters Utah on February 4th, with 
visits to Arches NP, Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP (all on the same 
day).  The torch will pass through a total of 22 NPS sites across the 
country, with major events scheduled at four or five of those areas. 
For additional information, see the following web sites:

NPS involvement (Intranet only): http://im.den.nps.gov/den_olyDR.cfm
Visitor information: www.saltlakeinfo.org
Interagency public lands information: www.fs.fed.us/r4/2002/apl 
Information on nearby NPS sites: www.npsolympics2002.org
General Olympics information: http://www.slc2002.org

Additional updates will appear in future Morning Reports. [Larry 
Frederick, IMT, 11/29]

01-627 - Rocky Mountain NP (CO) - Commercial Use Violations

Over the past six months, rangers and the park's concessions 
management specialist have been monitoring Internet sites for 
potential illegal commercial activity in the park. Several companies 
have been found to be advertising for commercial activities in the 
park without permits. Appropriate letters have been sent to advise 
these companies of park regulations. After being warned, W.L., 
owner of Rocky Mountain Photo Adventures, was cited for conducting 
photography workshops in the park without an incidental business 
permit. On November 9th, W.L. pled guilty to the charge of engaging in 
a business operation in a park without a permit (36 CFR 5.3). He was 
fined $500 plus a $25 victim's assessment fee and was suspended from 
the park until the fine is paid. [Kyle Patterson, ROMO, 11/28]

01-628 - Gateway NRA (NY/NJ) - Apparent Suicide

A fisherman discovered the body of a 19-year-old Asian woman along the 
shore east of Canarsie Pier on the morning of Sunday, November 25th. 
USPP officer Steven Wade found that she was fully clothed and wet, and 
that there were no wounds or obvious signs of trauma on her. A 
laminated suicide note was pinned to her chest, and large stones were 
found in her coat pockets. The victim's feet were bound with a sock 
and her hands were loosely bound with a second sock. The note 
indicated her intention to drown herself.  A business card for a 
counseling center was found among her personal effects, which were 
piled neatly nearby. The victim has been tentatively identified, and 
investigators learned that she'd been reported missing to NYPD earlier 
that morning. The woman had been involved in a family dispute with her 
parents on Friday evening and had not been seen since Saturday 
afternoon. A second suicide note was found at her home. Based upon the 
condition of the body, it appears that death occurred six to eight 
hours prior to discovery. Although this was evidently a suicide, 
classification of the death is pending the autopsy and toxicology 
reports. USPP ID technician Jack Piccolo processed the crime scene. 
The incident is being investigated jointly by USPP detective Eddie 
Ramos and NYPD detectives. [Lt. John Marigliano, USPP, GATE, 11/25]

HOMELAND SECURITY

No reports.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Fire Management Program Center (ID) - Rick Gale, deputy chief ranger 
for the National Park Service, will retire from the NPS on January 3rd 
after 41 years of service. Rick began his career as a fire control aid 
at Lava Beds NM in 1958, and subsequently served in a variety of fire 
and ranger jobs at Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Coulee Dam (now 
Lake Roosevelt), Glacier, Lake Mead, Grand Canyon, Santa Monica 
Mountains, the Fire Management Program Center and in Ranger Activities 
in the Washington Office. A party will be held in Boise on Saturday, 
January 5th, to celebrate his retirement. If you'd like details or 
want to attend, please contact Eileen Salenik at Esalenik@aol.com or 
208-343-2412. RSVPs to attend need to be made by December 15th. Rick 
has asked "that no plaques be presented, that no maudlin letters be 
written, and that only the good stories be shared."  If you have one 
(or more) you'd like to share and you cannot attend, please send it to 
one of Rick's daughters - Beth Spencer at mespencer@fs.fed.gov, Cindy 
O'Neill at Olympic, or Sarah Gale at Glacier. [Eileen Salenik]

Lake Meredith NRA (TX) - Superintendent John Benjamin has been named 
deputy superintendent at Everglades NP and will leave the high and dry 
plains of Texas for the subtropics of Florida in early January. A 
farewell party will be held on January 4th at the Borger Country Club, 
beginning at 6 p.m. Cards, comical stories, letters, and photographs 
are welcome. Please send them to Cheryl Fisher, Lake Meredith NRA, 
P.O. Box 1460, Fritch, TX  79036 by December 15th. If you are 
interested in attending the toast and roast send-off, please contact 
the park at 806-857-3151. [Rhonda Terry, LAMR]

New River Gorge NR (WV) - Retired superintendent Joe Kennedy, 67, died 
on November 27th. Joe's career began in 1960 at Kings Mountain NMP in 
South Carolina after a four-year stint as a Navy Seabee and four more 
years earning a college degree. Following a subsequent assignment at 
Fort Pulaski NM, Joe was in Washington for a couple of years in the 
Departmental training program, where, as he described it, he was " a 
spear carrier for Secretary of Interior Stuart Udall."  From there, he 
went to Everglades as assistant superintendent, Dinosaur as 
superintendent, and New River Gorge as superintendent, where he 
retired in 1995. He is survived by his wife, Jayne, their two 
daughters, Laura and Jill, and five grandchildren.  Condolences may be 
sent to Jayne at 5440 Bud Wilson Road, Gastonia, NC 28056. [Lorrie 
Sprague, NERI)

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MEETING AND EVENTS CALENDAR

This calendar appears every other Monday as an addendum to the Morning 
Report. Please note:

o       Entries are listed no sooner than FOUR months before an event, 
        except in cases in which registration dates close much 
        earlier. 

o       Brevity in submissions is required and appreciated.

o       Please send along web sites for additional information where 
        possible.

o       Asterisks (*) indicate new or revised entries. 

**********************************************************************

* March 8 - 10: "DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY: THE VICTORIAN HOME," 2002 
GETTYSBURG WOMEN'S HISTORY SYMPOSIUM, Gettysburg, PA. The symposium 
will be a celebration of Victorian life and manners during the middle 
1800s. It will be held in the park's Cyclorama Center from the 
afternoon of March 8th through noon on March 10th. The registration 
fee is $95. To register, send a check or money order for that amount 
to Gettysburg NMP Women's History Symposium 97 Taneytown Road, 
Gettysburg, PA, Attn: Becky Lyons. Make checks payable to Eastern 
National, Women's History Symposium, and submit them no later than 
March 1st. For more information, contact Becky Lyons or Terry Deal at 
717-334-1124 ext. 430 or 432, or send an email to Becky_Lyons@nps.gov. 
[Katie Lawhon, GETT]

* February 24 - 28: NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CULTURAL PROPERTY 
PROTECTION, Charleston, SC. Participants and speakers for this 
conference hail from institutions and professional security 
organizations worldwide, including the American Association of Museums 
(AAM), the FBI, and the American Society of Industrial Security 
(ASIS). The theme of the 2002 conference is "Celebrating 25 Years of 
Training Excellence." Several sessions have been scheduled on how the 
events that occurred on and after September 11, 2001have impacted the 
security of cultural institutions throughout the United States and 
abroad. The National Conference offers full and one-day registration 
packages for $425 and $125. To register on-line and/or download a copy 
of the brochure, please visit http://natconf.si.edu. The web site also 
provides extensive information about the history and purpose of the 
conference, as well as details concerning registration, payment, 
transportation and hotel accommodations. Questions should be directed 
to the conference registrar at 202-633-9466. [Hollis Provins, INDE]

* April 6 - 7: "LEADERSHIPS THAT INFLUENCED THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG," 
2002 GETTSYBURG SEMINAR, Gettysburg, PA. The seminar will explore some 
of the leaders, significant and otherwise, their military campaigns, 
and other events during the Gettysburg campaign and how they affected 
the outcome of the war. Attendance will be limited to 160 people. 
Registration is $65; after March 23rd, the late registration fee of 
$70 will apply. To register, send a check or money order to Gettysburg 
National Military Park, 2002 Seminar, 97 Taneytown Road, Gettysburg, 
PA 17325, Attn: Park Ranger Evangelina Rubalcava. Make checks payable 
to Eastern National: Year 2002 GNMP Seminar and send no later than 
March 23rd. For further info, call Evangelina Rubalcava at 
717-334-1124 ext. 447. [Katie Lawhon, GETT]

* April 14 - 19: DOI FACILITY MANAGERS CONFERENCE, Town and Country 
Hotel, San Diego, CA. his conference, sponsored by the Department of 
the Interior's Planning, Design Construction and Maintenance Council,  
will provide a forum for staff to meet and exchange information on 
facility management issues/topics and training related to facilities 
and infrastructure operation, maintenance, management, condition 
assessment, database management, repair, renovation and 
rehabilitation. Log on to http://www.doi.gov/conference/facilities/ 
for target audience and conference tracks.  Watch this web site for 
further developments including  training tracks and an on-line 
registration module. [Steve Hastings, HOAL]

                            *  *  *  *  *

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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