NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, December 3, 2012

INCIDENTS

Eastern Areas

Majority Of NPS Sites In NYC Area Now Open

It was a month ago last Friday when Hurricane Sandy made landfall in southern New Jersey after roaring up the East Coast, damaging roughly 69 national parks and affecting over 600 NPS employees in some way. In the New York metropolitan area, every NPS site was affected, from Gateway's Sandy Hook Unit to St. Paul's Church (part of Manhattan Sites) and from Morristown to Fire Island

Initial work has been completed at many sites and the following park service units are now open - African Burial Ground, Federal Hall, General Grant, Hamilton Grange, St. Paul's Church, Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace, Sagamore Hill, Morristown (including New Jersey Brigade, Cross Estate, Fort Nonsense, Washington Headquarters Museum and Ford Mansion), Thomas Edison, Hamilton Beach and Frank Charles Park, Great Kills Park and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

National Park Service employees across the agency have responded. Since the beginning two incident management teams have overseen the response and have been stabilizing parks. More than 925 personnel from 160 parks and from all 47 states, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico, have helped with cleanup and stabilization in the parks and in some cases employee homes. Currently, there are 328 employees working on the incident. To date, approximately 70 local park staff have also been assigned to the incident.

NPS staff not only answered the call to assist with the recovery efforts by physically coming out to help but also responded overwhelmingly to the uniform donation request. The uniform crew stopped counting after they reached 2,000 shorts and pants, mounds of boots and shoes, and much more. Thank you for your generosity but please STOP sending uniforms. Your efforts have clearly shown how members of the NPS family support one another in a time of need.

More information on the response can be found at these websites:

Hurricane response and recovery - A HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=1168&lv=3" webpage with current information on the NPS response to Hurricane Sandy.

Resource needs shopping list - A HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=1168&id=10935" ”shopping list” HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/documents/SHOPPING%20LIST%2011-5.pdf" of incident management team positions that still need to be filled, updated daily.

Hurricane Sandy relief fund - E&AA has set up a HYPERLINK "http://www.eparks.com/_" relief fund web page where you can make donations in support of employees who were affected by the storm.

Facebook - A HYPERLINK "https://www.facebook.com/HurricaneResponseNPS" Facebook page managed by the IMT with updates on the response.

Twitter - A HYPERLINK "http://mobile.twitter.com/NPS_Sandy?" Twitter page managed by the IMT with updates on the response.

Flickr - A HYPERLINK "http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandyresponsenps/sets/72157631954446291/" Flickr page managed by the IMT with images of the response.

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Glen Canyon NRA - On Monday, November 19th, dignitaries and spectators watched as the four bypass tubes of Glen Canyon Dam were opened up to release approximately 42,300 cfs (cubic feet per second) of water. This “high-flow experimental release” is part of a new long-term protocol designed to benefit downstream resources in both Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon.

Rocky Mountain NP - The Fern Lake Fire, which has been burning in the park since October, expanded in size to over 3,500 acres yesterday. A Type 1 incident management team is managing the fire.

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings, newly introduced bills, and the status of legislation of interest to the National Park Service. This report covers the period from November 17th to November 30th.

Denver Service Center - Mike LeBorgne, chief of the WASO construction program management division, will retire in December after more than 38 years with the National Park Service.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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