NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Friday, March 1, 1996

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

[This section contains reports of incidents required under reporting criteria
issued in December, 1995, by the Associate Director, Park Operations and
Education].

96-86 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Death of Employee

R.T., 49, an NPS trail crew member, was hit and severely injured by a
falling boulder while working in the Tapeats Creek area along the Colorado
River on the morning of Monday, February 26th.  Fellow employees who were on
scene provided immediate medical assistance, but evacuation was delayed by a
winter snowstorm.  A helicopter from the 66th Air Rescue Squadron at Nellis AFB
flew him to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas that afternoon, where he
remained in critical condition until he died late on Wednesday.  Randy had
worked both seasonally and permanently at Grand Canyon since 1984.  An
investigation of the accident is underway.  [Mallory Smith, MA, GRCA]

96-87 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Search and Rescue

Ranger Ken Gochenour received a report of two overdue hikers in the Hebron
Falls area near Boone, North Carolina, around 9 p.m. on February 25th. 
Gochenour began a search of the area in conjunction with members of a local
rescue squad.  The hikers, K.W. and L.G., were found about a
mile from the trailhead.  Both were cold but otherwise in good condition. 
Woolard said that they'd begun their hike at 4:30 p.m., had become disoriented,
and had been unable to find their way back.  [CRO, BLRI]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

[This section includes - but is NOT limited to - reports on notable resource
management projects or the attainment of significant benchmarks in such
projects; new threatened and endangered species listings, significant changes
in status to listed species, or new threats to listed species; significant
lawsuit pertaining to park natural or cultural resources; newly discovered
threat to park resources; reintroduction of a species to a park; any resource
management action or action affecting park resources which is inherently
controversial].

El Malpais (New Mexico) - Mite Species Discovery

A doctoral candidate at the University of New Mexico has determined that one of
the species of mites found in the park's caves produces a protein or enzyme
that makes them unattractive as a food source for predators.  This particular
species is also known to occur in Hawaii and Australia.  Further research is
needed to determine why this occurs and the exact nature of the protein or
enzyme.  [Ken Mabery, MA, ELMA]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - II

Preparedness Level II goes into effect when the following conditions are met:
One geographic area experiencing high fire danger.  Numerous Class A, B, and C
fires occurring and a potential exists for escapes to larger (project) fires. 
Minimal mobilization of resources from other geographic areas occurring.  The
potential exists for mobilizing additional resources from other geographic
areas. 

2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY 

                                                                      %   Est
State Agency  Area              Fire          IMT     2/28     2/29  Con  Con

 FL   NPS     Everglades    * Block B          --      300    3,100   10  3/1

 OK   BIA     Ada Agency    * Ada Cx           T1   33,256   32,063    -  NEC
      State   -             * NE Oklahoma Cx   T2        -        ?    -  NEC

HEADING NOTES:

     Fire    -- * = newly reported fire (on this report).
     IMT     -- T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team.
     % Con   -- Percent of fire contained.
     Est Con -- Estimated containment date.  NEC = no estimated date of
                containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report.

3) FIRES YESTERDAY -

                NPS     BIA      BLM     FWS    States     USFS      Total

Number            1       0        0       0        32        0         33
Acres Burned      2       0        0       0       475        0        477

4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -

               Crews     Engines     Helicopters     Airtankers     Overhead

Federal            9        40            8               8            243
Non-federal       NR        NR           NR               0             NR

5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
                                      CY 1996            Five Year Average
                                    Year-to-Date           Year-to-Date

Number of Fires                         8,439                      NR     
Acres Burned                          212,030                      NR

6) OVERALL SITUATION - Fire reports are running a bit behind.  Today's report,
which was prepared on February 29th, notes that fire conditions decreased
throughout the South on February 27th and that resource mobilization was
minimal yesterday.

7) OUTLOOK - Moderate activity was expected to continue.

[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 2/28]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

[This section contains brief summaries of important, practical operational
information which needs to be conveyed to the field or FROM parks to other
field areas].

o T-Shirt Regulations - The following statement appeared in "Clear Text",
Ranger Activity's electronic newsletter, on February 28th, and has proven
to be confusing: "The Solicitor's Office has determined that cooperating
associations and other similar friends groups may no longer sell T-shirts
in the parks.  Meetings were held last week on this issue and the policy
discussion continues".  NO DECISIONS have been made on this issue and
cooperating associations should continue business as usual.  The NPS
believes this to be a policy question and is not comfortable with the
"opinion".  The policy discussions will continue and cooperating
associations should continue selling T-shirts until they hear otherwise.
[Dennis Burnett, RAD/WASO]

EXCHANGE

[This section contains requests for and offers of information, material,
resources or assistance.  Anyone may make a submission, as long as the
submission is within the context of NPS operations].

o No submissions today.

MEMORANDA

[This section provides brief summaries of important memoranda which have been
issued from WASO to the field].

"Employee Express - At Your Fingertips," signed on February 23rd and
disseminated electronically from the Department of Interior to all employees on
February 27th.  The memo announces DOI-wide implementation of Employee Express,
a computer-based system that will allow employees to review and change their
federal and state tax withholdings, mailing addresses, direct deposits for net
paycheck, and allotments.  Implementation is planned for late April through
touch-tone phone access or via employee kiosks at certain locations.  Employees
wishing to try the system demo may do so by dialing 912-757-3080 and using one
of the following mock Social Security numbers and PINs: SSN 999-99-9991, PIN
1111; SSN 999-99-9992, PIN 2222; SSN 999-99-9993, PIN 3333.  [Lea Scow, HRM,
PISO]

OBSERVATIONS

[This section contains observations pertaining to either the National Park
Service or closely related issues, such as wilderness and conservation, and
should include the author and the date and source of the quote].  

Another in the series of quotes on specific parks.  Sorry, the name of the
person who submitted it was not on the file...

"It is but sixteen years since the Yosemite was first seen by a white man.
Several visitors have since made a journey of several thousand miles at large
cost to see it, and notwithstanding the difficulties which now interpose,
hundreds resort to it annually.  Before many years if proper facilities are
offered, these hundreds will become thousands and in a century the whole number
of visitors will be counted by the millions.  An injury to the scenery so
slight that it may be unheeded by any visitor now, will be one of deplorable
magnitude when its effect upon each visitor's enjoyment is multiplied by these
millions.  This duty of preservation is the first which falls upon the state
[of California] under the Act of Congress, because the millions who are
hereafter to benefit by the Act have the largest interest in it, and the
largest interest should be first and most strenuously guarded."

                               Frederick Law Olmsted, "The Yosemite
                               Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Big
                               Trees: A Preliminary Report," 1865

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
office and/or field area cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please address requests for
the Morning Report to your servicing hub coordinator.

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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