- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, June 9, 1998
- Date: Tues, 9 Jun 1998
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, June 9, 1998
INCIDENTS
98-218 - Glacier NP (MT) - Follow-up on Concession Employee Fatality
The two-year-old female grizzly implicated in the death of concession
employee C.D. and recently captured in the park has been humanely put
down by rangers. The grizzly's mother was shot and killed at No Name Lake
last week. The young female was being held in an attempt to lure her male
sibling into a trap - an effort that proved fruitless. Additional DNA test
results received over the weekend confirmed the presence of human DNA in the
majority of bear scat samples collected at the scene of the incident. Human
DNA was also identified in samples that contained the adult female grizzly's
genotype. Hair samples previously taken from the male grizzly in 1997 were
matched to hair samples collected where C.D.'s body was found. The two-year-
old female's DNA was also matched with that of samples collected at the
scene. Since no approved zoos or research facilities wanted the bear, the
animal had to be either returned to the wild or destroyed. Grizzly bear
experts agree that food-conditioned bears are very dangerous; once they are
conditioned to unnatural food or garbage, they will continue to seek it out.
The decision was made to remove the entire family group based on the group's
previous history, evidence collected at the scene, and the DNA evidence. The
male was last seen on may 31st. Searches have resulted in no evidence of
that bear's location. Efforts to find it continue. [Amy Vanderbilt, PAO,
GLAC, 6/8]
98-268 - Lake Clark NP&P (AK) - Bear Attack
On the morning of June 2nd, ranger/historian John Branson and five other NPS
employees were charged by a black bear while working in a remote area of the
park. The bear was first seen at about 300 yards and was running toward the
group. Archeologist Jeanne Schaaf first noticed the bear and began yelling;
Branson turned, pulled his shotgun from his shoulder, and chambered a round.
The bear continued at a dead run directly at Branson. Branson shot and
killed it at a distance of 12 feet. The bear was an older sow and had cubs
with her. [Lee Fink, LACL, 6/8]
98-269 - Canyonlands NP (UT) - Rescue
A group on an extended whitewater trip on the Colorado River was involved in
a boating accident in Cataract Canyon on June 3rd. The oarsman was thrown
from the boat in Big Drop One; the 14-foot, self-bailing raft then flipped
over. The oarsman was able to swim to shore, but D.P. and another
passenger floated about a mile and a half down river in high-volume, Class IV
whitewater before being rescued by ranger/paramedic Marc Yeston, who was on
routine whitewater patrol at the time. Yeston rescued the first person, then
went after D.P., who'd had a rougher trip. D.P. had floated into a
gigantic hydraulic known as Little Niagara at the top of Big Drop Two. He
was recirculated through the hydraulic several times, then passed through
five rapids. By the time Yeston got to him, he was disoriented, hypothermic
and exhausted. Without Yeston's aid, D.P. would not have been able to get
out of the river and would not have survived. Cataract Canyon was flowing at
about 45,000 cubic feet per second at the time, and the water temperature was
about 55 degrees. Yeston recovered the party's equipment, righted their
boat, and arranged for a commercial outfitter to convey the party out of the
canyon. [Steve Swanke, CANY, 6/8]
[Additional reports pending...]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Sun Mon % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 6/7 6/8 Con Con
FL Apalachicola NF Holiday T2 5,548 5,548 50 NR
Merritt Island NWR St. Johns 1 @ -- 1,800 1,800 80 6/9
State Carter Clay -- 750 650 0 NR
Georgetown #2 -- 400 711 60 NR
Geneva -- 1,800 2,000 65 NR
Georgetown #1 -- 350 307 90 NR
Flager Estates -- 500 500 90 NR
* Yellow Water -- - 500 100 CND
* Fox Lake -- - 500 NR NR
AK Fort Greely Carla Lake T1 44,760 45,260 0 NEC
State (Tok Area) * Walker Forks -- - 2,500 0 NEC
AZ Apache-Sitgreaves NF * Coleman -- - 200 75 6/8
Tonto NF * Cottonwood -- - 510 100 CND
Formerly called Merritt Island.
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 I; 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 (FOUR DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Friday, 6//5 - - - - - - -*
Saturday, 6/6 - - - - - - -*
Sunday, 6/7 1 3 1 1 26 8 40
Monday, 6/6 1 3 2 7 140 18 171
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Friday, 6/5 - - - - -*
Saturday, 6/6 - - - - -*
Sunday, 6/7 28 58 17 2 408
Monday, 6/8 30 75 21 1 505
NICC reports were not transmitted on cc:Mail on Saturday or Sunday.
CURRENT SITUATION
Numerous large fires continue to burn in Florida; a statewide burn ban is now
in effect. Fire activity also increased in the Southwest.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in units in Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Florida, and New York.
NICC has posted a RED FLAG WATCH for gusty winds in New Mexico this
afternoon.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/9]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No entries.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Clarification - The memorandum entitled "Recreational Fee Demonstration
Program Economic Evaluation," which appeared in last Friday's Morning Report,
was directed at the thirteen parks involved in the evaluation. Those parks
will be contacted directly by the evaluators. It did not go to all fee
demonstration parks, as was indicated on the memo. [Jennifer Getz, RAD/WASO]
Phone Fraud - Notes have been received from two other parks that were near
victims of the phone fraud reported at Redwood N&SP in yesterday's Morning
Report (98-267). The parks were Tuzigoot NM and Coronado NM, both in
Arizona. In the former case, the park employee questioned the caller, at
which point he hung up; in the latter case, the acting superintendent was
aware of the scam and deflected the attempt. In several of these cases, the
caller has reportedly had a foreign accent. [Kate James, MOCA; Tony Bonanno,
IMRO]
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 contact the
main office at 202-208-5883/5656 and ask to be forwarded to the appropriate
legislative specialist.
HEARINGS/MARK-UPS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10
House Resources Committee - Hearing on the following bills:
H.R. 2893, to amend the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act to provide for appropriate study and repatriation of
remains for which a cultural affiliation is not readily ascertainable;
and
H.R. 3903, to provide for an exchange of lands located near Gustavus,
Alaska, and for other purposes.
THURSDAY, JUNE 11
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee: Oversight hearing on the
recreational fee demonstration program.
House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands: Mark-up of
the following bills (among others):
H.R. 1390, to authorize the Government of INDIA to establish a memorial
to honor Mahatma Gandhi in the District of Columbia;
H.R. 1728, to provide for the development of a plan and a management
review of the National Park System and to reform the process by which
areas are considered for addition to the Nation Park System, and for
other purposes;
H.R. 2800, to provide for a study of the establishment of Midway Atoll
as a national memorial to the Battle of Midway, and for other purposes;
H.R. 3109, to establish the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in the
state of New York, and for other purposes;
H.R. 3830, to provide for the exchange of certain lands within the
state of Utah; and
H.R. 4004, Casa Malpais and Lower East Side Tenement (as new areas).
THURSDAY, JUNE 18
House Resources Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands: Hearing on
the following bills (among others):
H.R. 2970, to amend the National Historic Preservation Act for purposes
of establishing a national lighthouse preservation program; and
H.R. 3746, to authorize the addition of the Paoli Battlefield in
Malvern, Pennsylvania, to the Valley Forge National Historical Park,
and for other purposes.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation: Hearing on the following bills:
S. 469, to designate a portion of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord
Rivers as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act;
S. 1016, to authorize appropriations for the Coastal Heritage Trail
Route in New Jersey, and for other purposes;
S. 1665, to reauthorize the Delaware and Lehigh Navigation Canal
National Heritage Corridor Act, and for other purposes;
S. 2039, to amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino
Real Tierra Adentro as a National Historic Trail; and
to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to the
National Trails Interpretive Center in Casper, Wyoming.
TUESDAY, JUNE 23
House Resources Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health: Oversight hearing
on fire and its effects on air quality.
FLOOR ACTION
No action scheduled on NPS legislation.
* * * * *
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.
--- ### ---