NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, April 26, 1999

                               *** NOTICE ***

Please see "Parks and People" below for additional information on the impacts
of the Columbine High School tragedy on NPS employees in Denver and
information from IMRO on what you can do to help.

INCIDENTS

99-136 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Rock Slide with Visitor Injuries

Three hikers on Upper Yosemite Falls trail suffered minor injuries when
several refrigerator-sized rocks dislodged from the cliff about 400 feet
above them on the afternoon of April 21st.  Two received cuts to their arms;
the third received a head laceration from flying debris. Three rangers were
sent up the trail to assist the injured and look for other casualties.  A
trail block was set up below the slide while the injured were assisted down
the trail to an ambulance. A park trail crew that had been working about two
miles below the slide was sent to assess the damage and look for hikers
stranded above the slide. A helicopter flight was also made to assess the
stability of the release zone. The trail was significantly damaged, and the
area was found to be unsafe for hikers to pass through. Twenty-two hikers
were trapped above the slide. They were moved to a landing zone above
Yosemite Falls and evacuated by two helicopters. The trail will remain closed
indefinitely while it is further assessed. [John Stobinski, IC, YOSE, 4/23]

99-137 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Assault with Firearm

G.F. and his girlfriend C.C. were shot at when they drove
into the Thayer Bottom area of the park on the morning of April 24th.  G.F.
was driving his white Jeep Cherokee down the Thayer Bottom Road and was
approaching the CSX railroad tracks when a dark-colored pickup truck crossed
the tracks at high speed and ran them off the road.  G.F. stopped when a
man in the pickup yelled at him.  He looked back and saw the man exit the
pickup truck and walk back toward him.  The man reportedly looked very
intimidating, so G.F. sped away across the tracks and took a sharp left
turn onto a dead end drive, slowing almost to a stop to make the turn.  As he
turned, he looked back at the man just in time to see a flash and hear a gun
shot from the point where the man was standing.  G.F. continued down the
dead end road about 100 yards to his grandfather's house, where he reported
the incident by telephone.  G.F.'s vehicle was not hit and no one was
injured.  G.F.'s Cherokee looks very much like the patrol vehicles driven
by rangers who work in that area.  G.F. has only had the vehicle for about
a month and had driven it to Thayer on only one other occasion, so local
residents do not yet identify him with the Jeep.  Law enforcement personnel
are therefore concerned that the shooter may have thought he was firing at a
ranger.   The incident is being investigated jointly by the NPS, the West
Virginia State Police, and the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. [Rick
Brown, Protection Operations Leader, NERI, 4/25]

99-138 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Emergency Helicopter Landing

On the morning of Saturday, April 24th, a Washington Army National Guard
Chinook helicopter made an emergency landing on the bank of the Nisqually
River in the Longmire area.  The helicopter was first observed in a
spiralling descent from about 2,000 feet above ground level.  It briefly
hovered over the Longmire meadow before the pilot appropriately determined
that the ground was too wet to land and instead came down on the Nisqually
river bank.  The helicopter was flying from Yakima Training Center to Fort
Lewis, Washington, when a warning light indicated that there were foreign
objects in the transmission fluid, a situation requiring an immediate
landing.  After clearing the transmission's foreign object screen and doing a
15 minute test run-up on the ground, the Chinook took off and flew to Fort
Lewis.  This National Guard unit also provides the park with high altitude
SAR support.  [Randy Brooks, District Ranger, MORA, 4/25]

99-139 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Rescue

Rangers at the Paradise Ranger Station received a radio call from Camp Muir
(10,000 feet) on the afternoon of April 24th reporting an injured climber on
the Ingraham Glacier at 11,000 feet.  B.T. of Seattle had badly
wrenched his knee at about 12,000 feet while descending from the summit and
was unable to continue beyond Ingraham Flats.  Other climbers camped there
provided assistance and brought additional gear up from Camp Muir while the
incident was being reported.  A commercial helicopter was brought in due to
forecasted bad weather, limited NPS staff, and the extended time required for
a carryout.  Ranger Mike Gauthier was flown from Kautz heliport to the scene;
he splinted B.T.'s leg and assisted him to the helicopter.  B.T. was
flown to an ambulance waiting at the heliport and taken to an area hospital
for treatment.  [Randy Brooks, IC, MORA, 4/25]

99-140 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Special Event

Vice president Al Gore, director Bob Stanton, EPA administrator Carol Browner
and other dignitaries participated in an Earth Day event at the Dickey Ridge
visitor center on April 22nd.  The vice president hiked a section of the
Dickey Ridge trail with the director, superintendent Doug Morris, and park
ecologist Tom Blount.  They talked about air quality issues during the walk. 
Following the hike, the vice president presented the national Harry Yount
award to Dale Antonich, chief ranger at Lake Mead NRA, then addressed a crowd
of about 500 people on the lawn of the visitor center.  He announced a new
EPA regional haze rule that establishes the year 2064 as the target for
restoring visibility to natural conditions in all national parks and federal
wilderness areas.  The rule also requires states to develop ten-year plans to
achieve reasonable progress toward that goal.  The event was managed by the
park's Type III incident management team.  Assistance was provided by the
Northeast Region's special events team and personnel from all the park's
divisions.  There were no injuries or major problems.  [Greg Stiles, ACR,
SHEN, 4/23]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Thu      Sat    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT     4/22     4/24  Con  Con

GA   Okefenokee NWR          Hickory Island   --    5,491   12,620   16  NR 

FL   Florida NFs             Apalachicola Cx  T1    9,389    9,389   85  4/25

NC   North Carolina NFs      Singecat         --      160      300  100  CND 

AZ   Fort Apache Agency    * McDonald Tank    --        -       85  100  CND

VA   VA Dept of Forestry   * Hickory Creek    --        -      175  100  CND

KY   Daniel Boone NF       * Pigskin          --        -      500  100  CND

TN   Cherokee NF           * Stony Creek      --        -      240   75  4/24

CA   Fresno Kings RU       * Panoche          --        -    1,500   10  NR

                                  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; LSS =
            limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
            strategy
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; LPS = limited
            protection status

FIRE NARRATIVES

Everglades NP (FL) - The Deceiving Fire, which burned through the northern
Everglades last week, focused national attention on the park and the extreme
fire conditions present in south Florida. The 170,000-acre fire, now
contained, occurred on state-owned lands 27 miles north of the park and never
posed a threat to Everglades NP. The park provided a helicopter, helicopter
manager and aerial ignition specialist to assist the Florida Division of
Forestry (DOF) with burnout operations on Sunday, April 18th.  The region's
extreme fire danger results from unusually dry, warm weather associated with
a strong La Nina event.  Extended fire severity conditions are expected to
continue until reliable summer rains are received, which could be delayed
until mid to late June. Water levels in Everglades NP are below average and
continue to drop at an above average rate. Habitat areas for the endangered
Cape Sable seaside sparrow are critically dry and susceptible to fire. The
probability of a wildland fire escaping initial attack and burning more than
2,000 acres over several days is high and increasing. Between March 1st and
April 20th, three fires (98 acres total) occurred within the park. All were
suppressed before they could seriously threaten the sparrow populations. On
April 1st, the park established a Type III incident management team to manage
the severity situation in order to maximize initial attack and immediate
extended attack capabilities. Jeff Prevey is IC. Additional firefighters and
an extra helicopter with helitack module have been brought in. Firefighters
have been conducting fire prevention patrols within the park and actively
assisting DOF and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) on fires throughout
Miami-Dade County. Since March 1st, firefighters have responded to five fires
totaling 518 acres within the mutual threat zone established by MOA with
DOF/MDFR, and four fires totaling over 100 acres as mutual aid assistance
beyond the mutual threat zone. Park FMO Bob Panko is representing DOI fire
interests statewide on a daily conference call with the state/federal unified
command for Florida. He is working with NPS, USFWS, and BIA FMO's throughout
the state to coordinate the gathering of daily activities, resources
available and resource needs.  [Deb Nordeen, PIO, EVER]

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Wednesday, 4/21      0     10         0       1      283      8       302
Thursday, 4/22       0      9         4       0      343     22       378
Friday, 4/23         0     10         1       0      191     10       212
Saturday, 4/24       0      0         0       1       42     18        61

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Wednesday, 4/21     35         45          17             0           209
Thursday, 4/22      50         66           5             0           259
Friday, 4/23         6          9           1             0            10 *
Saturday, 4/24      33         27           5             0           277

* Possibly partial reporting...

CURRENT SITUATION

Significant progress is being made on fires in the South.  [NICC Incident
Management Situation Report, 4/23-5]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Denver Area Offices - Five NPS employees - three with DSC and two in the
Geologic Resources Division - had a total of six children at Columbine High
School.  All the students are okay, though shaken by events.  Representatives
from the NPS are contacting the families to offer whatever assistance they
might need.  Names are being withheld at the moment to protect their privacy. 
Those of you who want to express your support or would like to make
contributions to the Healing Fund may do so by writing and/or sending a check
to NPS Employee Association in Denver, 12795 West Alameda Parkway, Denver, CO
80225, Attn: Mary Estep.  [Alex Young]

MEETINGS, CONFERENCES AND EVENTS CALENDAR

Two calendars alternate in the Morning Report on Mondays - this one, which
contains meetings, seminars, 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.

Dates:      May 3 - 5 
Meeting:    Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review
            Committee
Location:   Town Center Hotel, Silver Spring, MD
Details:    The agenda will include federal compliance with NAGPRA,
            disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains, and the
            status of national implementation.
Closes:     ---
Contact:    Dr. Francis P. McManamon
Phone/fax:  202-343-4101; ---
E-mail:     ---
Submitter:  NAGPRA Review Committee

Dates:      May 3 - 7 
Meeting:    Facility Management Software Final Selection Committee
Location:   Washington, DC
Details:    ---
Contact:    Rich Shireman
Phone/fax:  580-497-2505; ---
E-mail:     Rick Shireman at NP--SWR
Submitter:  Same

Dates:      May 18 - 20
Conference: Current Topics in Labor and Employee Relations
Location:   Annapolis, MD
Details:    Discussion of current issues in labor and employee relations,
            feature speakers/instructors from MSPB, FLRA, OSC and DOI. 
            Labor, management and other interested parties are invited to
            attend.
Closes:     April 30th
Contact:    Paula Platz
Phone/fax:  202-208-4581; 202-208-6038
E-mail:     Paula Platz at NP-WASO-POPS
Submitter:  Dave Davies, WASO

Dates:      May 18 - 20 *
Conference: Bitterroot Ecosystem Management Research Project Symposium:
            Presenting Five Years of Research Results
Location:   Missoula, MT
Details:    The symposium will have a strong field component to highlight the
            actual activities and results of the research project, and
            includes a community meeting to give attendees a chance to
            interact with residents of the valley.
Closes:     April 30th
Contact:    Christine Ross, University of Montana
Phone/fax:  406-243-4623; ---
E-mail:     www.umt.edu/ccesp/c&i/nrm/bemrp
Submitter:  Sue Consolo-Murphy, YELL

                                *  *  *  *  *

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.

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