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Subject: Park Ops Quarterly Update - 3
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Date: Sat, 8 Aug 1998 10:59:23 -0400
8.0 PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
8.1 Director's Orders: Completed revisions to DO #83 and sent it to Policy
for a 60 day review.
8.2 Education Initiative: Activities for the quarter include:
o Revised health awareness pamphlets on cryptosporidiosis, giardia,
lyme disease, backcountry expeditions (checklist), and the safety
of drinking water.
o Translated special event food service application and checklist
into Spanish.
o Updated the NPS Public Health web page.
o Prepared and published two articles and several PHS-related
Morning Report entries.
8.3 Field Support: Activities for the quarter include:
o Hired three new staff - public health consultants for Northeast
and National Capitol regions and a health educator for WASO.
o Conducted health/risk environmental compliance visits to 77 parks;
evaluated, bathing beaches, camps, food service facilities,
hazardous materials/wastes, occupational health, solid wastes,
special event food service, swimming pools and spas, wastewater
treatment and disposal facilities, and potable water treatment,
storage and distribution facilities.
o Provided on-site technical assistance to parks on about 220
separate issues, including food safety, infectious diseases, pest
management, plan and specification reviews, and many of the topics
listed above.
o Provided training via regions on backcountry expedition public
health (115 NPS and concession employees), food safety (164
employees and concessioners), hazardous waste operations (65
employees), potable water system operation and maintenance (23
employees), wastewater system operation and maintenance (12
employees), and infection diseases - hantavirus (59 employees),
plague (27 employees), and tuberculosis (42 employees).
8.4 Other Support: Activities for the quarter include:
o Provided risk assessments, conducted investigations, and/or
reviewed a variety of public health issues for the National
Interagency Coordination Center, BLM, Bureau of Outdoor
Recreation, Indian Health Service, and National Sanitation
Foundation.
o Provided support and assistance to several WASO divisions on
issues ranging from Eastern equine encephalitis to EPA proposed
rulemakings.
9.0 APPALACHIAN NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL
9.1 Resource Protection and Management: Activities for the quarter include:
o Completed a dozen final corridor design approvals for about 190
acres of land.
o Issued scoping notice and began the EA process for AT protection
on Saddleback Mountain, issued a decision and FONSI for the
Pochuck Creek EA in northern New Jersey, and began field work and
research for a cultural resources overview and assessment in
Pennsylvania.
o Conducted two natural heritage monitoring workshops to train
volunteer club members to monitor rare, threatened and endangered
species along the AT in Virginia.
o Worked with the AT Conference, USFS and state of Georgia on
Georgia AT natural heritage inventory.
o Presented program on the AT to ten state police chiefs from
Maryland to New Hampshire.
o Dealt with an increasing number of telecommunication tower issues
along the AT and within the trail viewshed.
o Began review of the issue of commercial use on the AT in
conjunction with DOI solicitor's office and DOA general counsel.
9.2 Visitor Use/Safety: Activities for the quarter include:
o Met with Penn State and University of Vermont to scope out a
trailwide user survey for 1999.
o Conducted annual training for AT ridge runners.
o Participated in the environmental review process for a host of
projects, including EA's or EIS's for a pipeline, a major
powerline, road projects, a bridge project, and a hydro facility.
9.3 Cooperative Management: Activities for the quarter include:
o Participated in a number of activities with Appalachian Trail
Conference, including attendance at club president's meeting and
committee meetings and provision of active support and assistance
on numerous projects.
o Participated in the development of forest plans for the George
Washington and Jefferson NFs.
o Completed an ATC/NPS/USFS chainsaw use MOU.
10.0 RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
10.1 Director's Orders: Draft medical and physical standards completed for DO
#9, Law Enforcement, and DO #57, Health and Fitness. DO #9 draft issued
and under review. DO #60, Aviation Management, is in the policy office
for review. Revision of DO #43, Uniforms, is on hold pending a program
review. The rewrite of DO #22, Fee Management, is awaiting completion
of program restructuring. DO #53, Special Park Uses, has been published
in final.
10.2 Ranger Careers: Activities for the quarter include:
o Seasonal park ranger benchmark positions descriptions were
released to the field after three years of development. Parks
have the option of using these or continuing to use locally
developed position descriptions.
o Worked with Budget to release 6c funds to the parks to cover
higher costs associated with 6c-designated seasonal benchmark
position descriptions and permanent 6c positions.
o Released medical standards for law enforcement positions to the
parks along with associated forms and information. The standards
have been sent by DOI to unions for review and comment prior to
final adoption by the department. Once adopted, they will be sent
to various NPS bargaining units for consultation.
o Began full implementation of the law enforcement background
investigation program Servicewide. Funding is now available to
all parks to bring their background investigations up to standards
for law enforcement positions. The interagency agreement with OPM
has been modified to complete more investigations.
o Worked with the directors of seasonal park ranger academies to
standardize and improve the training offered to seasonal LE
rangers.
10.3 Aviation Management: Activities for the quarter include:
o Met with DO #60 task force to complete the section on reference
material.
o Participated in management review of OLYM fatal helicopter
accident, focusing on prevention; in a review of the fire and
aviation organizational task force report; and in a planning
session on the NPS aviation interpretive program for the
Experimental Aircraft Association event this summer.
10.4 Uniforms: Activities for the quarter include:
o Continued oversight of the review of the Image 2000 uniform
program task force recommendations. Comments due by July 15th.
o Worked with R&R Uniforms on backorder problems stemming from the
unexpected increase of over 1,000 new employees in uniform this
summer; on reinstitution of a quarterly newsletter to NPS
employees on uniform matters; and on revisions to current
components, including new women's pants patterns. No new products
are being developed at this time.
o Began work on the request for proposals for the new uniform
contract.
10.5 Fees: Activities for the quarter include:
o Conducted a three-day national fee training course for over 200
fee program employees.
o Complied and submitted recommendations on the management of the
fee program for the AD for Park Operations and Education. The
report summarized the recommendations of several task groups
regarding the fee program role and function, new technologies,
internal and external controls, fee deposits, and allocation of
fee revenues. The recommendations have been forwarded to Director
Stanton.
o Participated on a committee evaluating the private sales of a
national park annual passport. The NPF funded the effort to
contract with a marketing group to evaluate the potential for this
approach.
o Contracts were completed with professors from Penn State and the
University of Montana for, respectively, a summary evaluation of
the fee program to be used in the annual report to Congress and an
evaluation of 13 demonstration parks to determine public
acceptance of the new fees and the economic impacts to local and
regional economies.
o Transmitted a new call for fee demonstration funded projects to
accommodate a change in authority which allows previously
collecting park units to retain all recreational fee revenues
collected at the park (80% remaining in park, 20% to a national
fund).
10.6 Reservation System: Activities for the quarter include:
o Began accepting advanced reservations this spring on the National
Park Reservation System (NPRS). All 25 parks on the system were
on-line by June.
o Brought the NPRS on-line to the NPS web site via work performed by
the contractor.
10.7 Case Incident Reporting: Activities for the quarter include:
o Completed annual reports on law enforcement, search and rescue,
EMS, drugs, and officers assaulted or killed.
o Worked on the Lotus Notes CIRS program offense code listings,
reports and data input.
10.8 Law Enforcement: Activities for the quarter include:
o Completed work on 319 LE background investigations.
o Provided training to regional chief rangers and law enforcement
specialists on background investigation process and procedures.
o Worked on implementation of accountability in LE programs.
o Reviewed and processed 11 emergency law and order funding
requests.
10.9 Special Park Uses: Activities for the quarter include:
o Revised procedures for telecommunications and film permitting
following receipt of Federal Register notice comments. Both will
be inserted in DO #53 when completed.
o Continued work on new rights-of-way form and film permit
application forms.
o Continued work on 36 CFR Part 14 rules for rights-of-way/
11.0 CALENDAR
11.1 Suspense Dates
10/1 Submission of park housing reports to regional housing
coordinators.
11.2 Upcoming Meetings, Training and Events
8/10-11 Planning meeting for Girls Scouts' "Linking the Girls to the
Land" project, Arlington, VA.
8/12-13 Special park uses workshop, Shenandoah NP, VA.
8/17-18 Intermountain Region OWCP case management training course,
Albuquerque, NM.
8/18-19 Behavioral safety management training, Mather Training
Center, Harpers Ferry, WV.
8/20-21 Intermountain Region OWCP case management training course,
Denver, CO.
8/31-9/4 Southeast Region OWCP case management training course,
Atlanta, GA.
9/15-17 Special park uses class, Salt Lake City, UT.
9/22-24 Special park uses for managers training course, Mather TC,
Harpers Ferry, WV.
11/2-6 Servicewide Concession Program Management Conference,
Atlanta, GA
11/3-5 Interagency Youth Conference, National Conservation Training
Center, Shepherdstown, WV.
11/3-4 QMIS regional survey training for the mid-South survey
region, Dallas, TX.
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