INCIDENTS

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Biscayne National Park (FL)
Cuban Migrant Smuggling on the Rise

On the morning of May 10th, a visitor reported that there were Cuban migrants on the ocean side of Elliott Key. Three rangers responded and found 19 Cuban migrants who had been dropped off by a smuggling vessel around midnight. Among the group was a three-year-old child. Rangers and Miami Dade Marine Patrol officers transported the migrants to the mainland. Two days later, the pilot of a civilian aircraft reported seeing migrants, once again on the ocean side of Elliott Key. Rangers found ten migrants, three of whom were young children. This group had been dropped off by a smuggling vessel two days previously. They were found in a remote section of the key with dense mosquitoes and heavy plant growth. Members of the group had sustained bruises and lacerations and were suffering from dehydration and hunger. They were treated by rangers and Miami Dade Air Rescue personnel. This group was also transported to the mainland. Under this country's "wet foot, dry foot" policy, Cubans reaching any US territorial land are processed into the United States. Border Patrol officers took both groups to Miami for processing. Calm summer weather provides favorable conditions for smuggling and for immigrants to raft to the US mainland.
[Submitted by Holly Rife, Chief Ranger]

Hot Springs National Park (AR)
High Speed Chase Culminates in Arrest on Multiple Charges

Ranger Jeff Johnson came upon an unsecured and unoccupied white Chevrolet truck parked on the West Mountain Summit Loop on the afternoon of May 6th. He saw numerous personal items inside the truck, including a plastic baggie in plain view that contained what appeared to be narcotics (six rocks of crack cocaine). Johnson called for backup and kept the area under surveillance. Within two minutes, he saw the truck leave the area, with a male driver and a female passenger inside. As he pulled behind the truck, the driver immediately accelerated. The truck headed down West Mountain, crossed into oncoming traffic, and nearly struck ranger Coby Bishop's vehicle head-one at about 80 mph. It then continued down the mountain and reached Prospect Avenue. After skidding through a stop sign, it almost hit another oncoming vehicle before running onto a lawn and flipping over. The driver got out and refused all commands to surrender. It took the combined efforts of the two rangers and a Hot Springs city officer to place him under arrest. The female passenger was trapped underneath the truck and had to be extricated. She was treated for minor injuries. The driver was arrested on numerous charges, including a confirmed no-bond warrant. Felony charges pending against him include possession of a controlled substance, fleeing with injury, and aggravated assault.
[Submitted by Dennis Stock, Senior LEO]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Monday, May 16, 2005

Preparedness Level 1

Initial attack remained light nationwide yesterday. All but three of the 44 newly-reported fires were caught by initial attack. Another two large fires were contained in the Southwest.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona and Texas.

Weather Forecast

A low pressure system will be moving into the Great Basin and Northwest, while a ridge of high pressure continues over the Southwest. In Alaska, an upper low in the Gulf of Alaska will continue to spread some moisture into the southern and interior portions of the state.

Warnings and Watches

No warnings or watches have been issued for today.

NPS Fires

For a brief supplemental narrative on each fire, click on the bar with the arrow. Internal NPS readers can link directly to full reports on each fire by clicking on the notepad icon; public readers of the Morning Report can obtain similar information by going to http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

Park	State	Fire	Type	Acres	Percent Contain	Est. Full Contain
Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve	AK	BS4V Chapman Creek Fire -ref#164	Wildland Fire	Total acres is 158,500.		10/30/2005
	Latest Narrative: Anticipated clouds and rain are expected to limit fire activity today. Two hotshot crews and 5 Type 2 crews remain on the fireline, mopping up and securing the nothern edge of the fire. Three helicopters remain on duty in order to support the crews. Resources are beginning to be released due to the decreasing threat of fire.
Dinosaur National Monument	CO	Jack	Wildland Fire Use	0.2	N/A	N/A
	Latest Narrative: This lightning caused fire began on 6/29/05. It sits in a fairly inaccessable portion of the monument. Current size is approximately 0.2 acres.

National/State Team Commitments

Newly listed fires (on this report) appear below in boldface. Changes in the status of a fire (type of team, change from a fire to a complex, etc.) are also noted in boldface.

Fires are sorted by type of team; teams are listed in alphabetical order within each type by the IC's last name.

State	Agency	Team	IC	Fire and Location	5/15	5/16	% Con	Est Con
AK	State	T 2	Jandt	Island Lake, Tok Area	1,200	1,300	35	5/22

National Resource Commitments

Day	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Mon	Tue	Mon
Date	5/3	5/4	5/5	5/6	5/9	5/10	5/16
Crews	7	8	15	10	24	27	26
Engines	12	14	41	71	83	47	59
Helicopters	4	4	3	8	4	4	10
Air Tankers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Overhead	46	54	62	88	178	155	109

Further Information

This report is meant to present just highlights of the current fire situation. Two other NIFC sites provide much greater detail:

Full NIFC Situation Report (PDF file) — http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf
National Fire News — http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html

Information on NPS Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) and on park fires can be found at:
FAM — http://www.nps.gov/fire
Park fires — http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

OPERATIONAL NOTES

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Visitor and Resource Protection
Visitor and Resource Protection Chief of Staff Selected

Cameron H. Sholly has been selected as the chief of staff for the Associate Directorate, Visitor and Resource Protection (VRP), Washington Office. This critical position will provide coordination, guidance, and oversight on a broad range of operational, organizational, and programmatic matters essential to Visitor and Resource Protection. Sholly will also be responsible for executive oversight of the VRP budget and will serve as a primary liaison between Congressional and Department of the Interior staff members, as well as the WASO Directorate, regions, and parks.

"Cam comes to us with a wealth of operational and management experience," said Associate Director Karen Taylor-Goodrich. "His demonstrated leadership in his current position, as well as in tackling a number of key park, regional, and national issues, will contribute greatly to the success of our Associateship. I look forward to working with him here in Washington."

A Desert Storm veteran, Cam has nearly 17 years of diverse federal and state service spanning three major organizations including the National Park Service, Department of California Highway Patrol (CHP), and the U.S. military. He served as the chief of operations and deputy chief ranger in Yosemite National Park for the past three years, managing one of the largest and busiest protection operations in the Service. He also has been the acting chief ranger in Yosemite since January 1, 2005, managing nearly 175 positions and a budget in excess of $7 million.

Cam has served in a full range of other positions ranging from supervisory park ranger to infantry team leader, backcountry ranger, frontcountry ranger, maintenance worker, and CHP field training officer. He worked as a lead instructor at the prestigious CHP Academy where he trained more than 1,500 people from 40 different organizations at the local, state and federal levels, and was chosen as a national spokesperson for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2001. He also worked as media relations officer for the CHP in one of the busiest media markets in the nation, and has extensive experience in policy and legislative development and analysis.

Cam possesses a bachelor's degree in management from St. Mary's College in Moraga, California, with graduate work in business administration from the University of Virginia. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, CHP Academy, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and numerous other operational, management, and leadership courses and schools.
[Submitted by Debee Schwarz]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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Chaco Culture National Historical Park (NM)
GS-025-7/9 Law Enforcement Ranger

Chaco Culture National Historical Park, located in northwestern New Mexico, is seeking applicants interested in a lateral reassignment for a GS-025-7/9 law enforcement ranger. Occupancy of on-site NPS housing is required.

If you are interested in such an assignment please submit the following to the Office of Personnel at Aztec National Monument, Attn: Gayle Lopes, #84 County Road 2900, Aztec, NM 87410 (505-334-6174 ext. 21). For consideration, applications must be postmarked by May 19th.

1. SF-171, Application for Federal Employment or OF-612, Optional Application for Federal Employment. Please include all experience, training and/or education related to the duties of this position.

2. Written responses to the following four KSA's:

• Ability to perform the full ranger of law enforcement duties in both front country and back country settings.
• Ability to perform the full range of emergency operations including EMS, SAR, ICS and wildland and structural fire.
• Ability to conduct natural and cultural resource protection and management activities such as identification and mitigation of impacts to natural and cultural resources, boundary trespass and land management issues, GIS, and special park uses.
• Skill and experience in developing and maintaining good working relations in a multi-cultural environment with the public, other agencies, other park divisions and other cooperating organizations.

3. A copy of your latest SF-50

4. A copy of your latest performance appraisal

Chaco Culture NHP is located in the Four Corners area of New Mexico. The nearest towns are Bloomfield, 65 miles northwest, Farmington, 75 miles northwest, and Aztec, 70 miles northeast. The nearest grocery store is located at Crownpoint, 39 miles to the south. Schools, shopping, doctors, hospitals, etc., are located in the three nearest towns (Bloomfield, Farmington, and Aztec). The park is accessed only by dirt roads. The primary entrance off of NM 550 and County Road 7900-7950 is 16 miles of dirt road; the secondary access from the south off of NM 9 and NM 57 is 19 miles of dirt. Precipitation for the area is minimal; however, at these infrequent times of heavy rain or snow, the dirt roads may become impassable. Occupancy of government housing is required. For information on the park, consult the website: http://www.nps.gov/chcu. For information on the nearby communities, consult: http://www.farmingtonnm.org, http://www.aztecnm.com, and http://www.epcog.org/nw/pdf/citbloo.pdf.
For questions about the position and the park, call chief ranger B J Ratlief at 505-786-7014 ext. 231 [Submitted by B J Ratlief, Chief Ranger]

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (DC,MD,WV)
GS-025-9 Park Ranger (LE)

C&O Canal NHP has a reassignment opportunity for a permanent GS-025-9 ranger (LE). Current permanent employees at the GS-9 grade level or higher may apply for this position. Coverage of PCS cost will be authorized. The duty station for this position is Hancock, Maryland. Send a 171 or 612 describing your work experience to the address below. Your resume must be received by the close of business on May 23rd. Fax or e-mail materials will not be accepted. For additional information concerning this reassignment, contact acting chief ranger Dwight Dixon at 301-491-6216 or 301-678-5795.

This reassignment opportunity is subject to the Department's CTAP requirements. Individuals who have special priority selection eligibility under the agency career transition assistance program (CTAP) must be well qualified for the position to receive consideration for special priority selection. Well qualified determinations will be based on the applicant's knowledge, skills, and abilities as determined by an evaluation of the applicant's resume. Submit proof of eligibility requirements of 5 CFR 330.605 (a) for CTAP consideration. This includes proof of eligibility, a copy of your most recent performance rating and a copy of your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location. Please annotate your application to reflect that you are applying as a CTAP eligible.

This position is covered by the law enforcement officer retirement provisions of 5 U.S.C. Section 8336(c) and 5 U.S.C. Section 8412(d). Proof of special retirement coverage MUST be provided with resume. Applicants who are currently covered should include a copy of a recent SF-50 documenting coverage.
Mail your resume to C&O Canal NHP, 1850 Dual Highway, Suite 100, Hagerstown MD 21740, ATTN: Administrative Officer. [Submitted by Dwight Dixon]

Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.