NPS Morning Report - Monday, April 8, 2002


                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, April 8, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-085 - Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania NMP (VA) - Follow-up on Death of
Employee

The funeral for G.K. will be held at Laurel Hill Memorial Park at
2 p.m. today. The cemetery is on Route 3 in Spotsylvania about ten miles
west of I-95. G.K.'s sons have asked that contributions be made in lieu of
flowers to American Legion Post #320, P.O. Box 51, Spotsylvania, VA 22553,
or to Lake of the Woods Rescue Squad, 104 Lakeview Parkway, Locust Grove,
VA 22508. [Barbara Krick, AO, FRSP, 4/6]

02-088 - Organ Pipe Cactus NM (AZ) - Drug Seizures

Since mid-March, rangers have made three seizures in the park, confiscating
a total of more than a half ton of marijuana (1,215 pounds). Two of the
seizures stemmed from vehicle stops, the third from interdiction of
backpackers. A total of eleven arrests were made. One of the vehicles
seized had escaped rangers a week earlier by avoiding three attempts to
spike its tires. The driver had changed the rear license plate from
California to Arizona on this trip, but forgot to remove the California tag
from the front of the SUV. That tag had come back as stolen during the
first attempt to stop him. The driver fled after rangers spiked the
vehicle, but was found hiding in a wash about a mile away by a Border
Patrol agent. A Customs Blackhawk helicopter assisted in the search and
arrest. The cases are being handled by customs. So far this year, rangers
have made eleven seizures, bagging just over two tons of marijuana. [Dale
Thompson, CR, ORPI, 4/4]

02-089 - Apostle Islands NL (WI) - Larceny

On the morning of Monday, March 25th, a park employee discovered that a
plexiglas display case housing a pair of antique binoculars had been
forcibly torn from the wall and that the binoculars had been stolen. A
donation box was also damaged and an undetermined amount of currency
removed. The binoculars had once belonged to lighthouse keeper Ed Lane, who
tended the Michigan Island lighthouse from 1902 to 1939. They are inscribed
with the name of a former owner, Preston C. Hudson, adjutant for the 85th
Illinois Infantry, and were reputedly carried by Preston during his service
in the Civil War. An investigation is underway, and a $500 reward has been
offered. [Greg Zeman, CRM, APIS, 4/5]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation

Preparedness Level 1

Initial attack was moderate in the Southwest and light elsewhere on
Saturday. Two new large fires were reported - one in the Southwest, one in
the South. Prescribed burning projects continued in the Northwest, East and
South.

A Type 1 team has been assigned to the 37,600-acre Middle Fire in the Gila
NF. A fire use management team is managing a 5,500-acre fire in Okefenokee
NWR in Georgia.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, and Texas.

National Resource Status

Date              4/3   4/4   4/5   4/6

Crews             17    12    32    27
Engines           38    30    45    39
Helicopters       8     10    10    10
Air Tankers       0     0     0     0
Overhead          173   251   228   249

Park Fire Situation

Everglades NP (FL) - The DOF 205/206 Fire started as a trash pile fire near
the intersection of 205th Avenue and 168th Street on Friday and spread into
cane grass. The park and county responded and controlled the fire at an
acre-and-a-half.

Delaware Water Gap NRA (PA/NJ) - The park is in a severe to extreme
drought. The year-to-date precipitation is 50% of normal, a deficit of six
inches. The total carryover deficit for the period from 1997 through 2001
is in excess of two feet.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme - N/A
Very High - N/A
High - Hawaii Volcanoes NP, Everglades NP, Delaware Water Gap NRA

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 4/7; NPS Situation summary Report, 4/7]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Safety Advisory - Mendocino National Forest recently lost a new pickup
truck in an otherwise innocuous prescribed fire in March when the fire
burned lightly under the vehicle. The truck had a plastic gas tank which
sprang a leak when heated; the subsequent leak hit the fire and had the
inevitable effect. Plastic gas tanks appear to becoming more frequent on
vehicles, so caution should be used when responding to wildland fires.
[Andy Ringgold, REDW]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Denali NP&P (AK) - The park is seeking a GS-025-5/7/9 ranger for a detail
in the Savage Subdistrict from May 1st to September 15th. Strong EMS skills
are a plus; housing is available; a 25% COLA applies. Outstanding
opportunities for wilderness recreation abound. Interested parties should
contact Savage SDR Ann Marie Chytra at 907-683-9527. [Ann Marie Chytra,
DENA]

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MEETING AND EVENTS CALENDAR

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

•     Entries are listed no sooner than FOUR months before an event, except
in cases in which registration dates close much earlier.
•     Brevity in submissions is required and appreciated.
•     Please send along web sites for additional information where
possible.
•     Asterisks (*) indicate new or revised entries.

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April 14 ? 19: DOI FACILITY MANAGERS CONFERENCE, Town and Country Hotel,
San Diego, CA. This 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, condition assessment, database
management, repair, renovation and rehab. Log on to
http://www.nbc.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]

April 11 ? 14: PRESERVING THE HISTORIC ROAD IN AMERICA, Omaha, NE. This
four-day national conference, the third of its kind, will focus on the
preservation and management of historic roads. It follows highly successful
meetings in Los Angeles in 1998 and Morristown in 2000 and continues the
dialogue on effective tools and techniques for balancing use and safety
with preservation. Sponsored by the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, the National Park Service, FHWA, the Nebraska Department of
Roads, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials, and the Nebraska State Historical Society. Information and
registration material can be found at http://www.historicroads.org.
Contact: Syd_scott@nthp.org . [Dena Sanford, MWRO]

April 23 ? 25: MANAGING EMPLOYEE SAFETY AND SECURITY IN THE NEXT DECADE,
Phoenix, AZ. This Servicewide conference will offer current information on
a variety of occupational safety, health and security issues, including
terrorism, biohazards and workplace preparedness; workers compensation case
management; federal recordkeeping; structural fire; job hazard analyses;
SMIS; and root cause analyses. Keynote speakers include Joe Avery,
superintendent of Manhattan Sites, who will speak about the park's response
to September 11th, and David Herbert of the National Safety Council, who
will speak on safety excellence in park operations. Two small-group
certification sessions will be offered for the American Heart Association's
"Heartsaver AED" course. Registration is $150. See
http://www.nps.gov/riskmgmt for further information on the conference.
Contact: Shirley Rowley at 303-969-2197. [Shirley Rowley, RMD/WASO]

May 30 - June 2: 'SAR SOUTHERN STYLE: 30TH ANNUAL NASAR CONFERENCE AND
EXHIBITION," Hilton-University Place, Charlotte, NC. For a full schedule of
events, go to http://www.nasar.org/sar2002sched.shtml; in order to register
on line, go to http://www.nasar.org/register.shtml.  For more information,
contact Mylea Wade, NASAR, at 703-222-6277. [Randy Coffman, WASO]

August 12 - 15: "FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY:
THIRD ANNUAL TRAINING CONFERENCE, WOMEN IN FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
(WIFLE)," Grand Hyatt Washington, Washington, DC. Registration before July
31st is $350 for members, $395 for non-members. The number for reservations
at the hotel is 202-582-1234; mention WIFLE to receive the
government/conference rate. On-line registration at http://www.wifle.org .
[Joni Jones]

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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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