- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, June 21, 1996
- Date: Fri, 21 Jun 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, June 21, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
93-510 - Zion (Utah) - Follow-up on SAR-Related Court Case
On July 15, 1993, K.E., 37, and D.F., 28, leaders of a church-
sponsored expedition from Salt Lake City, drowned in two separate incidents
about an hour apart while attempting a hazardous route down Kolob Creek
drainage on Zion's northern boundary. After receiving a report of the
overdue party on July 18th (the last portion of the planned four-day trip was
covered under a backcountry permit), the park initiated an air search for the
party of eight and successfully completed a very hazardous rescue of the
surviving adult leader and five teenage males, who had halted their
expedition and were awaiting rescue. In January, 1994, attorneys for the
families filed a $24.5 million tort claim with the Department of Interior
solicitor in Salt Lake City. The claim was denied six months later. A civil
case for wrongful death was subsequently filed in U. S. District Court in
Salt Lake City against the United States and the Washington County Water
Conservancy District, which directs releases from Kolob Reservoir into Kolob
Creek. The jury trial was scheduled to begin on Wednesday, June 19th. On
June 17th, however, the water conservancy district entered into an out-of-
court settlement for an undisclosed sum. Based on a variety of factors, U.S.
attorney S.M., Jr., decided to also seek an out-of-court
settlement. The agreement reached on June 19th stipulated a cash settlement
of $1.49 million for the 13 claimants. Superintendent Falvey and key staff
who were briefed by S.M.'s staff prior to the announcement are convinced,
in view of the findings, that the they negotiated a superior but difficult
settlement. Because there was no trial or findings of contributory
negligence, this case neither has, nor establishes, any legal precedent. As
a result, the park's authority and mandate to manage backcountry operations
remains intact. The federal attorneys provided several suggestions for
operational improvements which will be implemented immediately. Specific
targets are internal communication issues. This case and settlement continue
to generate considerable public attention. Media reports reflect the fear
that there would have been considerable pressure to curtail backcountry/
wilderness travel on public land if the United States had lost this case. In
response, park staff has been stressing that this settlement is
administrative only and does not establish case law. The media contacts have
also allowed park staff to focus on the unique features of this case, which
involved artificial releases of water into a backcountry slot canyon by
another agency. Also stressed is that backcountry users bear the ultimate
responsibility for their own well-being and that possession of a permit is no
guarantee of safety. One newsman asked if we viewed this settlement as a
victory. In our opinion, there are no winners in this case. [Denny Davies,
PIO/CI, ZION]
96-304 - Monocacy/Antietam (Maryland) - Flooding
Heavy downpours early this week, particularly on Wednesday, June 19th, caused
rivers to rise throughout western Maryland. The National Weather Service
advised the staff at Monocacy that the Monocacy River was expected to crest
Wednesday afternoon at 27 feet, five feet higher than January's flood. The
visitor center was evacuated and all government property was removed by 1
p.m. with the assistance of staff from Antietam and the Historic Preservation
Training Center. The depth of the water in the visitor center reached a
maximum of 30 inches. It will probably remain closed until the middle of
next week. The Gambrill Mill trail, which had been almost completely
rehabilitated from damage incurred in January's flood, was again severely
damaged and will be closed indefinitely. Early damage estimates are set at
$18,000. Antietam Creek crested at about 10 feet, also on Wednesday
afternoon. Flood waters covered most of the Snavely's Ford trail, which was
heavily damaged during the January flood. The extent of new damage to the
trail has not yet been ascertained. Waters surrounded the eastern ramp to
Burnside Bridge and newly-installed post and rail fence, but the area
suffered only minimal impacts. River waters in both parks have subsided.
[Thomas Kopczyk, CR, MONO; Ed Wenschhof, CR, ANTI]
96-305 - Ross Lake (Washington) - Falling Tree Fatality
On June 12th, J.S., 53, a power line right-of-way maintenance
worker for Seattle City Lights, died of injuries sustained while falling a
tree along the edge of the company's right-of-way on the north side of Diablo
Lake. A multi-agency investigation of the incident is being conducted by the
park, the company, the state's labor and industry office, and the county
sheriff's office. [Pete Cowan, CR, NOCA]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III
LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire IMT 6/20 6/21 Con Con
NM Gila NF LL Cx T1 8,578 15,350 0 NEC
State Ricardo -- 520 520 100 CND
MN Superior NF S. Temperance T2 1,890 2,450 50 6/22
UT Fishlake NF Pole Creek T2 1,700 3,200 95 NEC
Cedar City District * Ash Creek -- - 200 50 6/21
ID Boise District Jarvis -- 1,000 1,038 100 CND
NV Ely District * Maynard -- - 1,000 NR NEC
AL Alabama Nfs * Monkey -- - 100 75 6/20
FL State * Dynamite -- - 5,500 100 CND
CA San Diego RU * Egg -- - 1,000 100 CND
Heading Notes
Unit -- Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
Fire -- * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
strategy
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
FIRES AND ACRES BURNED
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 5 5 25 2 83 47 167
Acres Burned 3,237 42 4,697 86 16,963 2,374 27,399
COMMITTED RESOURCES
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 59 97 35 3 223
Non-federal 46 47 6 0 182
CURRENT SITUATION
Fire activity increased yesterday in the South, Northwest, Southwest and
Great Basin. Very high to extreme indices continue to be reported by
numerous units in the Southwest. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and
Quebec continue to report high fire activity.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for strong, gusty winds and possible dry
lightning in Nevada and northern and central Arizona. Increased initial and
extended attack operations are possible in the Southwest, Great Basin and
Rockies.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/21]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Uniform Program - As was noted in the May 3rd Morning Report, a dark green
fleece jacket has been introduced into the uniform program and is now
available from the uniform contractor for both Class A and Class B uniformed
employees. There has been some confusion as to who can procure and wear the
jacket. The jacket is authorized for all uniformed employees in both Class B
categories and in all Class A categories except formal and semi-formal (see
NPS-43, chapter 7). Flyers with particulars on ordering were shipped to all
parks on May 1st. [Bill Halainen, Servicewide Uniform Committee Chair, DEWA]
Org Code Review - The Washington Office has completed a first draft of a
master listing of new organization codes which integrates all of the codes
currently in use in the two largest administrative systems, Pay/Pers and FFS.
They are seeking field assistance in reviewing the final version. The
information is available in three files - a WP 5.1 file with the org codes
listed numerically, a WP 5.1 file with the org codes listed alphabetically,
and an Excel 5.0 spreadsheet with the entire database. Interested parties
can obtain these files for review by sending a cc:Mail message to Betsy
Chittenden with the single word ORGALPHA on the subject line. The three
files together total 186K. [Betsy Chittenden, WASO]
Fishing Closure - The National Marine Fisheries Service has closed
recreational fishing for bluefin tuna in federal waters along the east coast.
The action was effective on March 17th. Under this closure, it is illegal to
keep bluefin tuna longer than 73 inches. Anglers may catch and release fish
and keep one per day under 73 inches. The restrictions apply to all fishers,
including charter boats and private vessels. The four metric ton coast-wide
quota for bluefin tuna was reached this spring and the fishery will remain
closed until next January. [Frank Panek, WRD/WASO]
Correction - The reporting parties listed for two incidents from Redwood
yesterday were incorrect. The reporting ranger for the incident involving
the barricaded gunman was listed as Jeffery Black, who was, in fact, the
gunman. Byron Scott, the listed reporting party for the motorcycle accident,
was in actuality the victim. Both reports were submitted by Dana Sullivan.
We regret the error.
MEMORANDA
Submission pending.
EXCHANGE
Boating Plans - Cape Lookout is updating and revising its boating plans and
would be interested in receiving copies of other parks' boating plans. If
you can help out, please contact Laurie Heupel at CALO Administration at NP--
SER.
MEETINGS, CONFERENCES AND EVENTS CALENDAR
Two calendars alternate in the Morning Report on Mondays - this one, which
contains meetings, conferences and events, and a second, which contains
workshops and training courses. If you know of a conference, meeting,
workshop or training session with Servicewide interest and implications,
please send the information along. Entries are listed no earlier than FOUR
months before the event, EXCEPT in instances in which registration dates
close much earlier. Asterisks indicate new entries; brackets at end of entry
indicate source of information. Brevity is appreciated.
7/4-10* -- American Library Association Conference, New York, New York.
Contact: ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL, 60611; 312-280-5000.
[Diane Vogt O'Connor, CSD/WASO]
7/9-12 -- "Wetlands '96: Forming Fair and Effective Partnerships,"
Association of State Wetland Managers National Symposium,
Washington, DC. There will also be a session on wetland, flood
plain, and river on-line services and GIS applications. Contact:
518-872-1804. [Leslie Kreuger, AQ/WASO]
7/10-12* -- "Educating for Sustainable Watersheds," University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MI. Sponsored by the Global Rivers Environmental
Education Network (GREEN). Contact: GREEN, 313-761-8142. [Frank
Panek, WRD/WASO]
7/14-18* -- International Congress on the Biology of Fishes, San Francisco
State University, San Francisco, CA. Sponsored by the American
Fisheries Society. Contact: Don MacKinlay, Fisheries and Oceans,
Vancouver, BC, at 604-666-3520. [Frank Panek, WRD/WASO]
7/17-19 & 22-23 -- Annual Conference, Society of Ecological Restoration,
Brunswick, NJ. Contact: 608-262-9547. [Sheila Lee, T&GD/WASO]
7/21-24 -- Rocky Mountain Field Trip on Environmental Issues in Oil and Gas
Operations, Hovenweep and nearby areas, CO. Participants on the
trip, jointly sponsored by BLM, the Colorado School of Mines and
the Service's Geologic Resources Division, will visit
environmentally and culturally sensitive areas which have oil and
gas exploration or production issues. Contact: Bruce Heise at
NP-WASO-GRD or 303-969-2017. [Bruce Heise, GRD/WASO]
8/4-7 -- 28th Annual Meeting, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation,
Sioux City, IA. Contact: Robert Gatten, 910-334-5391, or Joy
Vogt, 605-945-3452. [Sheila Lee, T&GD/WASO]
8/13-16* -- "The Delta: Connecting Points of View for Sustainable Natural
Resources," Cook Convention Center, Memphis, TN. Contact:
National Association of Conservation Districts, 202-547-NACD.
[Frank Panek, WRD/WASO]
8/13* -- "Wildlife Management in the U.S. National Park System: The Self-
Regulation Theory Revisited," discussion session to be held at
the annual meeting, Ecological Society of America, Rhode Island
Convention Center, Providence, RI. Contact: Mary K. Foley, 617-
223-5024; Ronald Hiebert, 402-221-4856; or Dan Huff, 303-969-2651
(all are on cc:Mail by name).
8/14-18 -- Oregon-California Trails Association Annual Convention, Elko, NV.
Contact: Helen Sundall, 402-397-9794. [Sheila Lee, T&GD/WASO]
8/24-26 -- Meeting, African American Museum Association, Tampa, FL.
Contact: 513-376-4611 (phone), 513-376-2007 (fax). [Diane Vogt
O'Connor, CSD/WASO]
8/25-29 -- Annual Meeting, American Fisheries Society, Dearborn, MI.
Contact: Frank Panek, 703-358-1856. [Sheila Lee, T&GD/WASO]
8/27-9/1* -- Annual Meeting, Society of American Archivists, San Diego, CA.
Contact: SAA at 312-922-0140 (phone), 312-347-1452 (fax),
info@saa.mhs.compuserve.com (Internet), or http://volvo/gslis
/utexas/edu/~us-saa/. [Diane Vogt O'Connor, CSD/WASO]
9/11-14* -- Annual Meeting, American Association for State and Local History,
Nashville, TN. Contact: 615-255-2971 (phone) or 615-255-2979
(fax). [Diane Vogt O'Connor, CSD/WASO]
9/18-21 -- "Strategies for Battlefield Preservation and Partnerships," Third
National Battlefield Preservation Conference, Chattanooga, TN.
Co-sponsored by the American Battlefield Protection Program and
Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP. Contact: Hampton Tucker via
cc:Mail or at 202-343-3580. [Tanya Gossett, ABPP/WASO]
OBSERVATIONS
"Everyone needs to play and to play out of doors. Without parks and without
outdoor life, all that is best in civilization will be smothered. To save
ourselves, to prevent our perishing, to enable us to live at our best and
happiest, parks are necessary. Within national parks is room - glorious
room - room in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream
and plan, to rest and resolve."
Enos Mills, "Your National Parks",
1916
Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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