RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Wednesday, January 16, 1991
INCIDENTS
91-11 - Christiansted (Virgin Islands) - Demonstration
The large Arab community on St. Croix was planning on striking
in opposition to the United States' posture in the Middle East
yesterday, and the park was preparing for demonstrations in the
vicinity of the historic site. The staffs at both Christiansted
and Virgin Islands are maintaining contact with the FBI and
other law enforcement authorities and are on the alert for
possible threats. The park also reports that a large number of
troops are being deployed to protect the Hess oil refinery on
the island's south shore. The Hess facility is the largest oil
refinery in the Western hemisphere. [Joel Tutein, CHRI, via
telefaxed report from John Beck, RAD/SERO, 1/15]
91-12 - Glen Canyon (Utah/Arizona) - Sinking of NPS Vessel
At about 7:30 a.m. on the 15th, park staff discovered that an
NPS-owned, 56-foot-long, 1944 military landing craft used to
transport diesel fuel had sunk at the dock at Dangling Rope. On
the 14th, the vessel had been piloted from Wahweap to the remote
Dangling Rope marina, which is not accessible by road. The crew
left the vessel tied to the dock for the night, and intended to
pump the 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel on board into shoreside
tanks on the 15th. Some time during the night, the vessel sank,
and the 5,000 gallon diesel tank with the fuel on board, which
had been sitting loose on the deck, floated free and out into
the harbor. No fuel was lost from the tank, but a small
quantity of diesel fuel escaped from the boats tanks. ARA
Leisure Service and NPS crews are currently attempting to
salvage the tank and vessel. Park rangers are investigating the
incident. [CompuServe message from GLCA, 1/15]
91-13 - Everglades (Florida) - Military Aircraft Crash
A fully-armed F16 from Homestead AFB crashed and blew up about 14
miles northeast of park headquarters in mid-afternoon on the 15th.
The pilot was able to eject safely, and no one on the ground was
killed or injured. There was no fire. At the time of the crash,
there was severe weather in the area, and it may have been a
factor in the accident. [Keith Whisenant, ACR, EVER, via
telephone report from Steve Smith, RAD/SERO, 1/15]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No reports today.
OFFICE NOTES
1) Doug Barnard, chief ranger at Grand Teton, has completed his
cancer treatment and is back at work. Doctors are confident
that he is in complete remission from his lymphoma. Periodic
checkups will be made in the future to determine whether or not
this is the case. Doug thanks everyone who provided support of
any kind to him during this battle. [Teri Pancoast, GRTE]
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief: No travel scheduled.
Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Martin at regional chief
rangers' meeting, Arlington, VA (1/14-1/18); Coffey at Society for Range
Management annual meeting, Arlington, VA (1/14-1/17); Henry at meeting
with aircraft overflight research contractors, Harpers Ferry, WV
(1/14-1/18); Farabee at meeting on climbing bolting problems with
USFS, Phoenix, AZ (1/18-1/19).
Branch of Fire: Erskine at Zion (1/14-1/15) and museum curators'
workshop, Washington, DC (1/15-1/18); Gale at Zion (1/14-1/16) and review
of fire management for managers course, Denver, CO (1/16-1/17); Mattingly
at Zion (1/14-1/16); Farrel at museum curators' workshop, Washington, DC
(1/15-1/18); Botti at Western Region managers' workshop on fire effects
monitoring at Golden Gate (1/15-1/18).
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
Telefax: FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER (Branch of R&VP); WASO-FIRE-WO (Branch of Fire)
SEAdog: 1/650