NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, May 14, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Parks
Preparations Continue, Midwest IMT To Replace West IMT
Preparations continue in parks all along the Gulf Coast for oil to come ashore from the spill following the sinking of the drill rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20th. Yesterday, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Tom Strickland visited DOI staff at the area command post in Robert, Louisiana. Director Jarvis returned to Washington for a few days and is expected back in Mobile on Sunday; during his absence, US Fish and Wildlife Region 4 Director Cindy Dohner will serve as acting DOI Incident Commander.
Padre Island NS - The park's baseline assessment continues.
Jean Lafitte NHP&P - Park staff have begun to choose sample sites and take baseline photos and samples of soil, sediment and water; this process will continue over the next few days. Although the NOAA oil spill "zone of uncertainty" has included Barataria Preserve this week and may do so again in the future, the preserve remains well outside the zone of predicted impacts. The park continues to work toward its objectives by coordinating with local partners and the West IMT at Gulf Islands.
Gulf Islands NS - All park sites remain open and operating normally. Some burned tar balls were found and removed by shoreline cleanup and assessment teams on Cat Island in Mississippi. A three-foot section of broken, oiled boom was found washed up on the north side of Cat Island, but no sheen or oiled or injured wildlife were found associated with the section of boom. The large compressed gas tanks were removed from the north side of Horn Island. The collection of archeological baseline data was completed at Fort Pickens. No oil was found on Perdido Key yesterday. The NPS Midwest IMT arrived in the park on Thursday to begin its transition with the Western IMT. After a day of shadowing today, the new team will take command of the incident on Saturday.
South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, DeSoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - A baseline assessment is underway at Dry Tortugas, where teams continue to assess the status of cultural and natural resources spanning a variety of ecological communities. It is anticipated that the assessment at Dry Tortugas will be completed by Friday evening. The natural resource assessment branch is currently determining trigger points at which to execute plans for Everglades, Big Cypress, and Biscayne. It is anticipated that recommended trigger points will be finalized by week's end. Big Cypress superintendent Pedro Ramos attended a meeting with US Coast Guard representatives to provide general incident information to special interest group and partners. The Coast Guard came away from the meeting with a list of volunteer groups that they could tap as resources. The South Florida IMT is committing resources to better integrate park efforts with the St. Petersburg unified command response. A public information officer has been assigned to support Dan Kimball, lead DOI official at the St. Petersburg Unified Command Center, and is scheduled to arrive today. Local media interest is currently low. A series of park-specific fact sheets that address response efforts is available on each park's respective website. A communications center continues to be staffed by a team of information officers, and can be contacted at 305-224-4215, or via email at HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/mailtSouthFloridaNPS@gmail.com__" SouthFloridaNPS@gmail.com.
For more information on the NPS, DOI and national oil spill responses and for a link to the BP online oil spill safety training needed by all incident staff, please see the following:
NPS Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm" http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm
DOI Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm" http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm
National Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com" http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com
Oil Spill Safety Training - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957
[Rudy Evenson, Lead Information Officer, Gulf Islands National Seashore Oil Spill Response]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Point Reyes NS - Once the delight and privilege of astronauts alone, the perspective of Earth from space can now be gained through a visit to Point Reyes National Seashore. A new exhibit called the Sphere, installed in the Bear Valley Visitor Center, gives visitors a window on the Earth and the forces that shape life on our planet.
National Park Foundation - As part of an on-going effort to connect young people to their national parks, the NPS is once again collaborating with the National Park Foundation on their electronic field trip series. On May 18th, the geological wonders and landscapes of Bryce Canyon will be brought to life for students from around the country through a live broadcast.
Steamtown NHS - Ranger Gregg Sandercock and his family were involved in a tragic boating accident last week in which his daughter died.
Midwest Region - Cheryl Brown Henderson, daughter of the namesake Supreme Court case plaintiff in the case of Brown V. Board of Education, will move into the position on June 6th. Photo.
Historic Preservation Training Center - Dan Brown, an exhibit specialist duty stationed at Point Reyes National Seashore, has received the inaugural Robinson Mentor award. Photo.
Servicewide Training Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. Added to this week's listing are a number of new FLETC offerings at their facilities in Georgia, New Mexico and Maryland.
To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):
NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify
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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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