NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, January 14, 1997

Broadcast: By 1000 ET (DELAYED)

INCIDENTS

96-707 - Western Areas - Follow-up on Winter Storm Impacts

Two additional reports on the impact of the winter storms of early January
have been received:

o Yosemite NP (California) - The Service's Type I all risk incident
management team (Steve Holder, IC) assumed overall management of the
post-flood incident from the Forest Service on Saturday.  Water and
sewer systems remain inoperable, and only a few people are being
allowed to stay within the valley.  Members of an inter-disciplinary
team from the Denver Service Center and Federal Highway Administration
are working to develop comprehensive damage and cost assessments for
the park's roads, utilities and structures.  Attention is being focused
on caring for park personnel impacted by this disaster, and on
returning some semblance of normalcy to both displaced and otherwise
impacted part staff, to park operations, and to the park's
infrastructure.  Considerable effort is being made to communicate
updates to evacuated employees, area residents, business owners, and
local, state and federal officials.  Meetings have been held in El
Portal, Mariposa, Oakhurst and Yosemite Valley.  Representative George
Radanovich toured the area by helicopter on Thursday and met with
residents from his home district (Mariposa) at a town meeting that
evening.  On Friday, park managers met with nearly 200 community
residents and business leaders at a town meeting sponsored by the
Oakhurst Chamber of Commerce.  Mild weather facilitated some progress
toward resuming limited sewer and water service within Yosemite Valley
before new snowfall hampered operations on Sunday.  At this time,
there's no projected date for the resumption of water and sewer system
operations, and not projected date for reopening the park.

o John Muir NHS (California) - Heavy rain caused several creeks in the
city of Martinez to overflow their banks and flood the area.  Franklin
Creek, which runs through the park, overflowed on New Year's Eve. 
Debris, including chunks of cement as large as a cubic yard, flowed
down creek and became lodged in the creek bed.  One large tree stump
and trunk became caught under the Franklin Bridge, threatening to cause
the creek to overflow to the west and flood several homes.  Maintenance
workers and contractors were able to dislodge and remove the stump
before flooding occurred.  The Mt. Wanda natural area suffered flooding
from creeks and runoff.  The fire road and barbed wire fencing were
washed out.  Several tons of debris are scattered throughout the area.

[Amy Vanderbilt, IO, "Highwater 97" Incident, YOSE; Chief of Administration,
JOMU]

97-10 - Badlands NP (South Dakota) - Winter Storm Impacts

The park was closed on January 10th due to blizzard conditions, including
temperatures of between 5 and 20 degrees below zero and winds reaching 65
mph.  The state police closed I-90; park roads were relatively clear, but
blowing snow made travel conditions difficult.  The park reopened at noon on
the 11th when the interstate was reopened.  [Marianne Mills, PIO, BADL]

97-11 - Mojave NP (California) - Train Wreck

A Union Pacific train carrying corn and grain derailed near the historic
Kelso Depot on the afternoon of Saturday, January 12th.  A total of 68 cars
and tons of corn were piled in a huge heap.  Miraculously, there were no
injuries, and no hazardous materials or fuels were spilled.  The wreck
occurred within the railroads right-of-way, so there was little disturbance
of park resources.  The Kelso-Cima Road, a primary route through the park,
will remain closed for three days to aid cleanup efforts.  The cause of the
accident is under investigation, but speed and break failure are probable
contributing factors.  Death Valley rangers assisted in the investigation. 
[Sean McGuinness, CR, MOJA]

                   [Additional reports pending...]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Director Kennedy Resigns - Director Kennedy announced his resignation
yesterday.  It will not take effect until a successor has been confirmed by
the Senate, a process which could take several weeks or months after a
successor has been nominated by the President.  Director Kennedy had this to
say: "Four years ago, I promised Secretary Babbitt that I would do my best to
serve him, the President, and the National Park Service for a full four-year
term.  Having fulfilled that commitment, I have expressed to him my desire
once again to retire.  Since he has asked me to remain in office until a
successor can be confirmed, I have agreed, grateful to serve a great
Secretary and the splendid, patriotic people of the Service itself."  [Mike
Gauldin, Office of the Secretary]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

EXCHANGE

No submissions.

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.

1/28-31 -- Seventh International Zebra Mussel and Aquatic Nuisance Species
Conference, New Orleans.  Contact: Elizabeth Muckle-Jeffs,
Conference Administrator, 1-800-868-8776.  [Sue Jennings, SACN]

1/29  -- "New Visions" Seminar, American Association of Museums,
Cincinnati, OH.  Contact: 202-289-1818 (phone); 202-289-6578
(fax).  [Diane Vogt O'Connor, DCA/WASO]

2/5-8 -- "Monitoring Our Wildlife Heritage: What Do We Have, How Do We
Know?", Annual Meeting, Western Section, Wildlife Society, San
Diego, CA.  Contact: Dr. Reginald Barrett, 145 Mulford Hall,
Berkeley, CA 94720-3114; 510-642-7261 (phone); rbarrett@
nature.berkeley.edu (Internet).  [Kathy Jope, CCSSO]

2/16-21 -- 50th Anniversary National Meeting, Society for Range Management,
Rapid City, SD.  Topics include disturbed area reclamation,
rangeland assessment, inventory and monitoring, rangeland
wildlife, rangeland watersheds, coordinated resource management,
simulation modeling of rangeland ecosystems, livestock and
wildlife management issues, grazing management and livestock
production, rangeland ecology, and the history of range
management.  Cost: $165 for non-members before January 12th, $110
for members; costs after the 12th are $215 and $160,
respectively.  The two day rate is $30.  Contact: 1997 SRM Annual
Meeting, PO Box 575, Huron, SC 57350-2475; 605-352-1270 (fax). 
[Bruce Bessken, BADL]

2/17-20 -- "Integrating Spatial Information Technologies for Tomorrow," GIS
'97 Conference, Vancouver, BC.  Contact: Michael Rauscher, Forest
Service, Bent Creek Experimental Forest, 1577 Brevard Road,
Asheville, NC 28806; 704-667-5261 x 102 (phone); fswa/
s=m.rauscher/ou=s29a@mhs.attmail.com (Internet).  [Kathy Jope,
CCSSO]

3/6-8 -- "Museums and the Enlightened Tourist," American Association of
Museums, Charleston, SC.  Contact: 202-289-1818 (phone); 202-289-
6578 (fax).  [Diane Vogt O'Connor, DCA/WASO]

3/6-9 -- "Folk Art: Is It All Over?", Symposium, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 
Contact: Catherine Gray, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 902-424-7542
(phone), 902-424-7359 (fax).  [Diane Vogt O'Connor, DCA/WASO]

3/13-15 -- Second National Women in Historic Preservation Conference, Mesa,
AZ.  The pre-registration deadline is February 176th.  The
conference is made possible in part by special funding from the
Service's cultural resource training initiative and has been
approved as official training for NPS employees.  Contact: Eve
Carr or Claudine Barnes, Arizona State University, Women's
Studies Program, P.O. Box 871801, Tempe, AZ 85287-1801, or via
Internet at either of the following two addresses: ecarr@asu-edu,
cbarnes@asu.edu.  [Vivien Rose, WORI]

3/14-18* -- 62nd North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference,
Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC.  Contact: Richard McCabe,
Wildlife Management Institute, 202-371-1808.  [Frank Panek,
WRD/WASO]

3/17-21 -- "Making Protection Work: Parks and Reserves in a Crowded,
Changing World," 9th Conference on Research and Resource
Management in Parks and on Public Lands, Albuquerque Marriott,
Albuquerque, NM.  Sponsored by the George Wright Society. The
conference has been approved as official training for NPS
employees.  Registration fees vary; the return registration form
may be found at the GWS Web site at http://www.portup. com/~gws/
gws97.html.  Contact: GWS, 906-487-9722.  [Dave Harmon, George
Wright Society]

3/25-27* -- Meeting, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Review Committee, Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education,
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.  The agenda will include
discussion of the disposition of culturally unidentifiable
remains, compliance by federal agencies, and implementation of
the statute in the state of Oklahoma.  The meeting is open to the
public.  Contact: Frank McManamon, Archeology and Ethnography,
WASO, at NP-WASO-DCA.  [Federal Register, Vol. 61, No. 241, p.
65596]

4/1* -- Deadline for submission of abstracts for 14th International
Estuarine Research Federation Conference, to be held October 12-
16 in Providence, RI.  The theme of this conference is the state
of our estuaries.  Topics will include the consequence of human
development in the coastal zone, the recovery of bays and
estuaries, the effects of sea level rise on estuaries, and
phytoremediation.  [Susan Joffre, SEFO]

4/26-30 -- Annual Meeting, American Association of Museums, Atlanta, GA. 
Contact: 202-289-1818 (phone); 202-289-6578 (fax).  [Diane Vogt
O'Connor, DCA/WASO]

4/27-30* -- "Future Natural Resource Management: Science vs. Politics," 53rd
Annual Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference, Sheraton Tara,
Framingham, MA.  Papers in fisheries, wildlife, law enforcement,
information and education, and conservation engineering are being
solicited.  Contact: Rob Deblinger, program chair, 508-792-7270
ext 128.  [Frank Panek, WRD/WASO]

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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