NPS Morning Report - Monday, March 18, 2002



                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, March 18, 2002

INCIDENTS

00-447 - Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP's (CA) - Follow-up on Employee Murder

On February 22nd, B.K.M., 24, was sentenced to eight years in
prison for his role in the July 2000 murder of NPS maintenance employee
Doug Frizell. B.K.M. pleaded guilty to two counts of residential burglary
and one count of assisting a homicide after the fact. B.K.M. was originally
charged with murder and other crimes that made him eligible for the death
penalty.  Co-defendant J.S.R., 28, pleaded guilty last August
to murder and was sentenced in September to 50 years to life in prison. The
two sentences stem from the death of D.F., 52, who was found dead
inside his home in Pinehurst, which is near Kings Canyon National Park.
B.K.M. still faces charges in connection with the beating, robbery and
kidnapping of a 21-year-old man in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in July 2000.
B.K.M. plans to enter a plea agreement in that case that will result in a
sentence to be served consecutively with the one imposed in California.
[Bob Wilson, LES, SEKI, 3/15]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

The Southwest Coordination Center (SWCC) has prepared and disseminated an
interagency briefing on anticipated conditions throughout that region this
year.

The fire danger across the Southwest Area is expected to be much higher
than normal. This is due to low amounts of winter precipitation and a
general forecast of continued warm and dry conditions into early summer,
plus a continuance of multi-year drought in some areas.  The following
highlights are based on a consensus "most likely" scenario. Key factors for
this season are:

•     Above normal initial attack activity at all elevations through April,
May and June.
•     Above normal large fire potential all season.
•     Precipitation expected in March and April will only delay the season,
not reduce seasonal severity.
•     The chances for large-scale strong wind (red flag) events should be
below normal in may and June.
•     There will likely be a transition into an El Niņo pattern this year,
but it will not have any impact on this fire season.
•     There is no indication that annual monsoon condition s in the
Southwest will begin early or later or be especially weak or
      strong.
•     Annual and perennial fuels will be more susceptible to carrying
surface fire than would normally be expected.
•     There's a higher probability of fires starting from any ignition
source due to the state of both herbaceous and dead fuels.
•     It's expected that thousand-hour fuel moisture levels will reach
near-record lows by May.

Additional details on prognostications for the Southwestern fire season
will appear in subsequent Morning Reports. Situation updates and other
intelligence information from SWCC can be accessed through the internet web
site located at www.fs.fed.us/r3/fire/ beginning tomorrow. The National
Park Service FireNet website can also be accessed for updated information
at www.nps.gov/fire.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Alaska Regional Office (AK) - The region is recruiting for an associate
regional director for park operations and support. The person in the
position will serve as both ARD for park operations and as manager for the
Alaska Support Office. The duty station is Anchorage, Alaska.  The
announcement will be posted on USA Jobs beginning today and will be open
for three weeks. This position is being advertised as a GS-14/15 in both
the 025 and 340 series. For more information, please contact human
resources staff in the Alaska Support Office at 907-257-2574. [Marcia
Blaszak, Deputy Regional Director, ARO]

Carlsbad Caverns NP (NM) - Park staff recently discovered and documented
the park's 100th  cave. The park's cave and karst management plan defines a
cave as "must be traversable by a human, must be a minimum of 50-feet long
and its entrance cannot be as wide as the cave is long." While many caves
in the park barely meet this definition, the park's two most well-known
caves - Carlsbad Cavern and Lechuguilla Cave - definitely meet the
definition. A total of 30.9 miles of passages have been surveyed in
Carlsbad Cavern and 107 miles have been surveyed in Lechuguilla Cave.
[Bridget Eisfeldt, Public Affairs, CAVE]

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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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