NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:  Tuesday, May 5, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-179 - Grand Teton NP (WY) - Rescue

Rangers began a search for an overdue snowboarder, 29-year-old S.K.
of Jackson, Wyoming, on the morning of April 23rd.  S.K., a  well-known and
experienced extreme snowboarder and mountaineer, had planned to climb 12,938-
foot Mount Owen early on April 22nd, then make a first-ever snowboard descent
from the northeast snow fields.  As he neared the mountain's 11,500-foot
level, S.K. was struck by an avalanche and swept approximately 2,000 feet
down the north face.  Although he was not buried by the slide, he sustained
serious injuries in a fall that carried him over several vertical cliff
bands.  S.K. was able to crawl further down the slope and out of the fall
line in an effort to avoid additional avalanches that would occur as the
mid-day sun continued to heat the slopes above.  He spent the night out
without any gear, as his pack had been lost in the avalanche.  Rangers
spotted S.K. from a helicopter around 11 a.m.  A team of six rangers was
lowered to a point in the Owen Cirque near the location where the accident
occurred.  S.K. was stabilized, secured in a litter, and raised several
hundred feet to a landing zone that had been constructed by shoveling a
platform into a low angle portion of the slope.  S.K. was then flown to St.
John's Hospital in Jackson, where he is now in stable condition.  Injuries 
include ligament tears and fracture-dislocations of both knees, multiple
fractured vertebrae, pulmonary contusions, and multiple contusions,
lacerations and abrasions over his entire body.  When rescued, he was
significantly dehydrated and hypothermic.  S.K. has pioneered numerous
extreme routes in the Teton Range and has been attempting to snowboard the
highest peaks on each of the seven continents.  [Colin Campbell, CR, GRTE,
5/4]

98-180 - Badlands NP (SD) - Rescue

Pennington County dispatch received a call from the Pine Ridge Tribal Police
around 10 p.m. on April 30th informing them of a disturbance on the county
side of Sheep Mountain, which is in the park's North Unit.  Three deputies
and a ranger responded.  They came upon a man and woman and two children,
ages two and three, walking down the road, and determined that the party was
taking place about four miles away.  Investigation revealed that nine people
had been drinking and partying at the scene, and that one of them, C.R.E.
of Porcupine, South Dakota, had walked to the edge of the mountain
around 5:30 p.m, then accidentally slid down a scree slope and then fell
another 50 vertical feet.  C.R.E. received numerous abrasions and bruises,
but remained mobile and attempted to climb back up at various points along
the cliff face until darkness forced him to desist.  Two of his compatriots
attempted to pull him out, but quit after a fist fight ensued with other
members of the group, all of whom were highly intoxicated.  Four members of
the group departed from the area around 7:30, leaving the two adults and two
children on foot.  One of the people who left, however, eventually summoned
help for C.R.E.  There was some initial confusion regarding the location
of the fall site due to the intoxication of the other members of the group,
but C.R.E. was eventually contacted by voice.  The county search and rescue
team rescued him and he was taken to a regional hospital, where he is in
stable condition.  An investigation by the county, tribe and park is
currently underway.  [Scott Lopez, CR, BADL, 5/4]
    
98-181 - Wright Brothers NM (NC) - Special Event

The newly renovated Wright Brothers Monument was rededicated during a special
event at the park on May 2nd.  The event was co-sponsored by the Service and
the First Flight Centennial Foundation.  The keynote speaker was former
president George bush, who is the foundation's national honorary chairman. 
Ceremonies included music by the Navy band, a flyover by military and Coast
Guard aircraft, fireworks, and the relighting of the monument's rotating
beacon by Milton Wright, grandnephew of Wilbur and Orville Wright.  It was
the first time the beacon has been lit in 50 years.  The event drew over
7,000 attendees and marked the public kick-off of a $17 million fund-raising
effort by the First Flight Foundation for the construction of a new park
visitor center and to underwrite special events for the upcoming centennial
celebration of the Wright brothers' first flight in 2003.  The event was
managed under an unified incident command headed by ranger Mike Anderson;
rangers Paul Stevens and Fent Davis served, respectively, as operations
section chief and operations branch director.  Many employees from the Outer
Banks Group served on the team, including staff from Cape Lookout NS and many
NPS employees who worked as volunteers.  Also participating were personnel
from Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP, Eastern National, and the Air Force,
Secret Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Marine Corps, city of Kill
Devil Hills, Civil Air Patrol, Dare County, and many local community groups.
[Mary Doll, Superintendent, WRBR, 5/4]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

CIRS Update - During the week of March 30th, an initial production version of
the new CIRS application was set up for field testing at New River Gorge NR. 
Lotus Notes' client software and the new CIRS database/application were
installed on 12 laptop and two personal computers.  New River Gorge will
serve as the flagship park for the new version of CIRS and will assist
in an aggressive effort to disseminate it throughout the service.  Channel
Islands NP and Shenandoah NP will also be installing the system shortly.  A
formal implementation plan for the remainder of the NPS is being developed. 
The CIRS application has been re-developed in a state of the art groupware
product from IBM called Lotus Notes in direct response to the changing needs
of the NPS user community.  Recent technological advances, including wide-
scale adoption of the Windows 95 operating system, have increased
connectivity to DOINET/Internet; changes to the electronic mail system have
accelerated the need to make dramatic changes to original DOS/Clipper-based
system.  Lotus Notes is a rapid application development platform designed to
capture organizational information and make it available to users in an easy
to use, secure environment.  Typical applications for Notes are electronic
discussion forums, document libraries, and document approval processes. 
Lotus Notes is fully Internet-enabled, supporting all Internet protocols for
the web and e-mail.  This project is being developed by WASO Ranger
Activities and draws on the valuable knowledge and skills of many NPS
employees.  The immediate project staff includes:
     
Bob Marriott - Ranger Activities, WASO
Bob Reid - Ranger Activities, WASO
Michael Rogers - Human Resources, WASO
Chris Schrader - New River Gorge NR
Rich Stevenson - Lotus Consulting
     
Assisting are:

Bill Blake - New River Gorge NR
Cathy Clark - Ranger Activities, WASO
Jonathan Lewis - Channel Islands NP and cc:Mail system operator
Helen Price - ITD, WASO

Parks are encouraged to install the current CIRS DOS program version 1.02 and
to forward their case incidents to the NPS CIRS central computer.  Only 56
parks have sent their reports in regularly, and this is not enough to run the
needed reports electronically.  The current program provides a good learning
experience because the input sheets will be basically the same in the Notes
version.  The data that is entered in the DOS version will be converted to
the Notes program, so you won't lose any information.  [Bob Reid, Mike
Rogers, WASO]

MEMORANDA

No entries.

EXCHANGE

No entries.

UPCOMING IN CONGRESS

The following activities will be taking place in Congress during coming weeks
on matters pertaining to the National Park Service or kindred agencies.  For
inquiries regarding legislation pertaining to the NPS, please  visit the
Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs Website at http://www.
nps.gov/legal, or contact the main office at 202-208-5883/5656 and ask to be
forwarded to the appropriate legislative specialist.

HEARINGS/MARK-UPS

Tuesday, May 5

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands: Mark-up of
H.R. 2538, to establish a Presidential commission to determine the validity
of certain land claims arising out of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848
involving the descendants of persons who were Mexican citizens at the time of
the treaty; H.R. 3055, to deem the activities of the Miccousukee Tribe on the
Tamiamai Indian Reservation to be consistent with the purposes of Everglades
National Park, and for other purposes; and H.R. 3625, a bill to establish the
San Rafael Swell National Heritage Area and the San Rafael Swell National
Conservation Area in the state of Utah, and for other purposes.  

Thursday, May 7

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation: Hearing on S. 1693, the Vision 2020 National
Parks Restoration Act, Title VI (national parks resource inventory and
management), Title VII (designation of tax refunds and contributions for the
benefit of national parks), Title VIII (National Park Foundation) and Title
XI (miscellaneous).  

Tuesday, May 12

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands: Hearing on
H.R. 3109, to establish the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in the state
of New York, and for other purposes; and H.R. 1390, to authorize the
government of Indiana to establish a memorial to honor Mahatma Gandhi in the
District of Columbia.

Thursday, May 14

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation: Hearing on S. 1693, the Vision 2020 National
Parks Restoration Act, Title IX (commercial filming in national parks) and
Title X (capital improvement project bond demonstration program); and S.
1614, "a bill to require a permit for the making of motion picture,
television program, or other form of commercial visual depiction in a unit of
the National Park System or National Wildlife Refuge System."  

Tuesday, May 19

House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands: Mark-up of
H.R. 1811, to ensure the long-term protection of the resources of the portion
of the Columbia River known as the Hanford Reach; H.R. 1894, to reauthorize
the Delaware Water Gap NRA Citizen Advisory Commission for ten additional
years; H.R. 2223, to amend the act popularly known as the Recreation and
Public Purposes Act to authorize transfers of certain public lands or
national forest lands to local education agencies for use for elementary or
secondary schools, including public charter schools, and for other purposes;
H.R. 2776, to amend the Morristown NHP enabling legislation to authorize the
acquisition of the Warren property; and H.R. 3047, to authorize the expansion
of Fort Davis NHS by 16 acres.

FLOOR ACTION

No action scheduled on NPS legislation.

                          *  *  *  *  *

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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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