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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office Day/Date: Monday, December 17, 2001 *** NOTICE *** The Morning Report has appeared daily on the NPS web page despite the Internet shutdown through an improvised interim arrangement that has made it possible to at least post it for Intranet readers. Due to travel this week by both the editor and NPS webmaster, however, this arrangement won't work, so there will be no Morning Reports on Tuesday or Wednesday. The Morning Report will resume on either Thursday or Friday morning. INCIDENTS 01-640 - Natchez Trace Parkway (MS/TN/AL) - MVA with Fatality, Injuries M.H., 53, of Portland, Tennessee, was fatally injured in a two-vehicle accident near milepost 349 on the afternoon of December 8th. A Mercury sedan driven by Allan Linson failed to stop at the Piney Road intersection on the west side of the parkway; tire marks show that his vehicle skidded through the stop sign and collided with a van heading north on the parkway. The van, driven by Wanda Sparks, then suffered a secondary impact as it spun around and struck a stone retaining wall. M.H. was seated in the right rear seat of the Mercury. Two of the vehicle occupants had to be extricated, and seven of the other motorists who were subsequently involved in the accident sustained multiple injuries and were taken to various area hospitals. Foggy conditions and wet roads were contributing factors. Rangers Anthony Franks, Tim Morgan, and Kelly Roche responded. [Jackie Henman, ACR, NATR, 12/12] 01-641 - Sequoia/Kings Canyon NPs (CA) - Special Event The 76th annual "Nation's Christmas Tree" ceremony was held at the base of the General Grant sequoia in Kings Canyon NP on Sunday, December 9th. Approximately 450 hardy visitors braved the chilly temperatures (upper 20s) and snowy conditions to participate in the event celebrating the tree's dual honors - it was designated as the nation's Christmas tree in 1926 and established as the only living national shrine in 1976 to honor those who have given their lives in service to their country. The tree's only decoration consists of a large wreath laid at its base by park staff during the one-hour ceremony. The area received four to five inches of new snowfall on the morning of the event, and park staff had to work quickly to clear and sand the roads, parking lots, and the footpath to the base of the tree. The only injury occurring during the event was a probable broken arm sustained during a fall. [Kinsey Shilling, DR, SEKI, 12/12] HOMELAND SECURITY The National Park Service is continuing anti-terrorism details to numerous locations throughout the system and at other DOI sites. The Service has taken responsibility for about 80 security assignments at six Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) dams, seven highly symbolic and high risk NPS areas, and the Main Interior building in Washington. Those slots are being staffed continuously with rangers from across the agency. The U.S. Marshals Service is deputizing rangers assigned to BOR dams and to Main Interior in order to provide them with the requisite authority. So far, over 400 NPS law enforcement personnel have participated in this operation, and all of the regional SET teams have worked multiple assignments. The multi-region coordinating group (MRCG) set up by the Service to oversee this operation is working closely with parks and incident commanders at various locations to facilitate resource ordering and availability. Seasonal and subject-to-furlough personnel are being utilized wherever possible to reduce the commitment of permanent staff to the rotating 21-day detail assignments. NPS rangers and special agents are also working in several key overhead and liaison positions within the NPS and DOI to coordinate the complex interagency negotiations involved in these extraordinary assignments. [Chip Davis, SA, MRCG] PARKS AND PEOPLE Yellowstone NP/Grand Teton NP (WY) - New superintendents were named for the two parks on Friday, December 14th. Suzanne Lewis, a 22-year NPS veteran, will manage Yellowstone NP, and Steve Martin, who's been with the Service for 26 years, will become superintendent of Grand Teton NP and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway. Lewis, currently the superintendent of Glacier NP, began her NPS career as a seasonal ranger at Gulf Islands NS in 1978. During her 11 years at that park, she served in a variety of positions, including park technician, park historian, supervisory park ranger, and management assistant. She served on an international assignment to Haiti in 1988, then as acting superintendent for Christiansted NHS/Buck Island Reef NM in 1989. She was named the first superintendent to the newly-created Timucuan E&HP in 1990, and was the superintendent of Chattahoochee River NRA from 1997 to 2000. Martin is presently the superintendent of Denali NP&P. Prior to that, he was superintendent of Gates of the Arctic NP&P. He moved to Alaska from Yellowstone NP, where he was chief of concessions. Prior to that assignment, Martin was chief of resource management and visitor protection at Voyageurs NP. Other assignments included a number of years as a ranger at Grand Canyon NP, where he entered the Service in 1975, and stints as North District DR and Old Faithful DR at Yellowstone. Intermountain Region has also named an acting superintendent for Glacier NP. Retired superintendent Pete Hart, a 32-yar veteran of the National Park Service, will become acting superintendent in early February. Hart retired from the NPS earlier this year, and has agreed to come out of retirement to serve as acting superintendent until a permanent superintendent can be selected. [Rick Frost, PAO, IMRO] * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |