- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, September 16, 1997
- Date: Tues, 16 Sep 1997
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, September 16, 1997
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
97-541 - Capitol Reef NP (UT) - Follow-up on Flash Floods
An evaluation of flood-damaged roads and trails in the park's more heavily
used areas has resulted in several closures. Scenic Drive and three roads
accessed from the drive are closed and will require major road work before
reopening. Four popular trails are also closed, as well as a switchback
portion of another loop trail. Estimates of the cost for repairs of roads
and trails from the September 4th flood exceed $355,000. The assessment of
the damage to backcountry roads and trails continues. Closures may remain in
effect until a shift in the monsoonal weather pattern permits extensive
repairs. It rained on ten of the first 12 days of this month in the
headquarters area of the park, and additional flooding has occurred routinely
since the 4th. A total of 130 miles of trails remain open, as do most of the
park's roads. Temporary signs warning of potential flooding hazards have
been placed in about 20 additional canyons, and a second site bulletin
regarding flood hazards is now being distributed. Ranger Garry Olson, who
was injured when he jumped from his patrol vehicle as it was being carried
away by flood waters on the 4th, will undergo surgery tomorrow to replace
ligaments in his knee. [Tom Cox, CR, CARE, 9/11]
97-542 - Olympic NP (WA) - SAR Follow-up; Accident with NPS Deaths, Injuries
The park continues to deal with the impacts of the death of three people and
the injury of five others in last Friday's helicopter crash. Services have
not yet been scheduled for seasonal biotech Taryn Hoover, 31, who had worked
in the park for the past four summers, mostly conducting field work on
spotted owls and fisheries. Her family will be arriving in the park over the
next several days. Further information will be transmitted when it becomes
available. Pilot Kevin Johnston, 35, is survived by his wife, S., and
18-month-old daughter, K. The family has set up a memorial fund for K.
Contributions can be sent to The K. Fund, Register Guard Federal Credit
Union, 1065 High Street #7, Eugene, OR 97401. Particulars on the third
victim, Rita McMahon, and on the status of the five injured employees will be
available shortly. Critical incident stress debriefings (CISD) for the
park's staff are being coordinated by district ranger Dan Mason. He is being
assisted by two CISD trained psychologists and three other NPS employees
trained in peer support. So far, there have been three organized debriefings
for a total of about 60 people and a general information session attended by
about 100 people. Mason and others have spoken one-on-one with a number of
park employees, including the five survivors of the crash and family members
of all the helicopter's occupants. Expressions of support and sympathy to
park staff would be appreciated. Media interest in the accident continues to
be very high. [Barb Maynes, PIO, OLYM, 9/15]
97-565 - Grand Teton NP (WY) - Rescue
On the afternoon of September 12th, 32-year-old K.T. of Chicago,
Illinois, fell 30 feet while rappelling the Guide's Wall route on the
southwest ridge of Storm Point. Rangers were notified of the accident via
cellular phone at 1:45 p.m. A team of two climbing rangers climbed to her
location, while two others were lowered to a nearby ledge from a helicopter
and traversed to the site. K.T. had sustained multiple injuries, including a
serious injury to her back. Rangers - one a park medic and the other a
registered nurse - provided advanced life support, including IV antibiotics,
compazine and morphine. K.T. was moved a short distance on the ledge, lifted
out by helicopter, then taken to a hospital in Jackson, where she underwent
surgery. The investigation into the accident revealed that two ropes - a 10
mm and a 10.5 mm - had been tied together with an overhand knot, not an
uncommon practice among climbers. While on the seventh double-rope rappel,
the knot failed. If you are interested in more details on the knot failure,
please contact Jenny Lake subdistrict ranger Mark Magnuson. [Colin Campbell,
CR, GRTE, 9/15]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Sun Mon % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 9/14 9/15 Con Con
CA San Bernadino NF Mill T1 1,200 1,338 100 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
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
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Thursday, 9/11 2 2 43 0 58 51 156
Friday, 9/12 1 1 16 0 28 18 64
Saturday, 9/13 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Sunday, 9/14 0 2 8 1 6 19 36
Monday, 9/15 1 2 4 1 5 24 37
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Thursday, 9/11 19 85 10 0 9
Friday, 9/12 10 16 6 0 2
Saturday, 9/13 NR NR NR NR NR
Sunday, 9/14* 4 38 6 0 2
Monday, 9/15 18 49 8 0 65
* No reports received from southern California.
CURRENT SITUATION
No significant fire activity was reported yesterday, but very high indices
continue to be reported by areas in California, the western Great Basin and
northern Rockies.
NICC has released the fire severity potential analysis for the period from
September 11th to October 9th. The potential is low to high in the northern
Rockies and Southwest, moderate to high in the Great Basin and Northwest, and
high to extreme in California. Severe to extreme drought conditions exist in
north central Oregon, central and southern California, northeast Montana,
western Wyoming (including most of Yellowstone NP), southern Nevada,
southwest Wyoming, western and southern Arizona, northeast Colorado,
northeast North Carolina, central Georgia, southern Florida, and western
Maryland.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/16]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Biscayne NP (FL) - Whale Shark
On September 12th, a fresh, 24-foot male whale shark (Rhincodon typus) was
found dead and entangled in 40 feet of four-inch diameter nylon rope in about
20 feet of water near Pacific Reef. The rope was wrapped around the whale
shark's head behind the gills and in front of the pectoral fins. It appears
that entanglement was a contributing factor in its death. Resource
management ranger Karen Battle and VP ranger Steve Stinnett towed the shark
into shallower water in order to collect pertinent biological data. It is
very unusual to see this pelagic species close to shore. Another interesting
observation was that two large tiger sharks, each estimated to be from 10 to
12 feet long, were feeding on the carcass. [Karen Battle, BISC, 9/15]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Regs/Jurisdiction Update - The following actions have recently taken place:
o 36 CFR Part 2: Minor corrections have been made to the regs package
based on comments received from the solicitor's office and it has gone
back to the solicitor for surnaming.
o 36 CFR Part 3: Any comments concerning Part 3 should be sent to Bob
McKeever at Lake Mead via cc:Mail or by calling him at 702-293-8939.
o 36 CFR 3.6 - Personal Watercraft (PWC): The issue of PWCs was being
addressed by the Part 3 work group, but the NLC has asked that this
single regulation be pulled from Part 3 and moved forward on its own as
an interim rule. The rule will prohibit PWCs except where designated
by a superintendent. This rule is NOT a general prohibition on PWCs.
Rather, it establishes a procedure for superintendents to go through to
make an administrative determination that PWC use is appropriate and
meets certain criteria before permitting it and a procedure for
designating appropriate areas for use of PWCs.
o 36 CFR Part 14 - Rights-of-Way: This proposed rule was signed by the
assistant secretary on November 13, 1996 and was approved by OMB. The
question concerning information collection has been resolved. OMB has
asked the NPS to hold publication until October 1st.
o 36 CFR Part 62 - National Natural Landmarks (NNL): The final rule
concerning NNLs was reviewed by the assistant secretary and is being
reviewed by OMB.
o 36 CFR Part 7 - Two park-specific rules are under development. The
final rule for off-road vehicle use at Cape Cod NS has cleared the
solicitor's office and is being reviewed by the director. The proposed
rule for bicycle routes and climbing registration at Delaware Water Gap
NRA was signed by the assistant secretary on August 26th and is being
reviewed by the department's regulatory affairs office.
o 36 CFR Part 11 - Arrowhead and Parkscape Symbols: The rule is still
with the assistant secretary.
[Dennis Burnett, RAD/WASO]
NFWF Funding Guidelines - The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has
released its 1998 guidelines for submitting "Pulling Together" proposals.
"Pulling Together" is a partnership-based funding program for funding on-the-
ground invasive plant management projects. If you want a copy of the
guidelines or more information, please contact Gary Johnston via cc:Mail.
You can also check the natural resources bulletin board, where the guidelines
have also been posted. [Gary Johnston, WASO]
Correction - Sharp-eyed readers noted with surprise the creation of a new
agency - the Bureau of Outdoor Reclamation - in the September 12th Morning
Report (incident 97-562). Contrary to speculation, this was not an effort by
Interior to sneak a new agency past the Congress in the waning hours of the
legislative year; rather, it was an inadvertent combination of the Bureau of
Reclamation (BOR) with the now defunct Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (also
BOR). We hear that the Defense Department has an office dedicated to
assuring that acronyms are not overused or lead to confusion. Perhaps a
similar office would be useful in DOI. Or in the editorial offices of the
MR. [Editor]
MEMORANDA
No submissions.
EXCHANGE
No submissions.
* * * * *
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
pertaining to receipt of 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.
--- ### ---