FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Mon       Tue   %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT     7/5       7/6  Con  Con

ID    Salmon-Challis NF    * Fall             T2        -      150    0  UNK

UT    Richfield FO           Railroad         T1   61,417   61,417  100  CND
      Moab FO                Wrigley          T2    3,711    3,711  100  CND
      Uinta NF               West Mountain II --    5,500    7,976  100  CND 
      Cedar City FO          Meadow Spring    --    2,400    1,226  100  CND

CO    Craig District         Birthday         --      600      650  100  CND
                           * Parshall Range   --        -      356   50  7/7
      Grand Jct. District    Black Ridge Cx   T2    3,400    4,100   55  7/8

OR    Fremont NF           * Thomas           T2        -    1,000    0  NR

WA    State                  Major Creek      ST      698      728  100  CND

CA    Shasta-Trinity RU      Lowden           ST1   2,000    2,000  100  CND
      San Bernadino RU     * Elliott          --        -    2,500    5  UNK
      San Bernadino NF     * Power            --        -      110  UNK  UNK

AK    Noatak NP              Uvgoon #2        --   54,400   66,650#  NR  NR
      Yukon-Charley NP       B242             --   12,000   60,000#  NR  NR
                             B248             --    3,200    3,200#  NR  NR
                             B260             --    3,200   60,000#  NR  NR

MN    Superior NF            Ind. Day '99     T2    Search and rescue ops 
                                                    following major wind
                                                    storm

# - Alaska acreages are as of July 7th.

                                  Heading Notes

Unit        Agency or Area Office = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA
            state resource or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; FO =
            BLM field office; 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 I Team; T2 = Type II Team; T3 = Type III Team; ST =
            State Team; FUM = Fire Use Management Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained; UNK = unknown; NR = no report
Est Con     Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report

FIRE NARRATIVES

Yukon-Charley Rivers NP - Several fires are burning:

o     The B242 fire is two miles south of Kandik.  High relative humidity and
      rain have slowed fire activity.  The Nations Bluff cabin appears to be
      relatively safe.  A sprinkler system is in place if the fire starts to
      move closer.  The Yellowstone fire use module was scheduled to arrive
      yesterday and will conduct a burnout in that area within two or three
      days.  A second cabin protected on July 5th is also okay.  Four smoke
      jumpers and three NPS firefighters are completing work around the
      Wooddrift cabin, then will move on to a cabin on the Kandik River. 

o     The B260 fire is at least a mile from Millers Camp.  Four smokejumpers
      and three NPS personnel spent Monday preparing for a burnout at the
      camp, but a tenth of an inch of rain fell in an hour, preventing the
      operation.  The camp and Cook cabin have pumps and sprinklers in place. 
      The private property owner at the mouth of Tatonduk River has asked
      that historic ruins on the property be protected.  A burnout was
      completed near mile 70 on the Yukon River to prevent spotting across
      the river.  Plans are still being made to burn out the drainage on the
      southeast flank of the fire.  

o     The B248 fire was not flown.  

Noatak NP - Southwest winds continue to push the fire to the northeast.  The
northeast side of the fire is very active and burning in tundra. 

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Saturday, 7/3        3     12        15       1      147     28       106
Sunday, 7/4          1      7        12       1      105     39       165
Monday, 7/5          1     19        28       0      134     89       271
Tuesday, 7/6         3     35        11       1      198     67       315

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Saturday, 7/3      185        377          53             8           430
Sunday, 7/4        193        366          50             3           580
Monday, 7/5        191        326          54             3           648
Tuesday, 7/6       159        309          52            10           587

CURRENT SITUATION

New large fires were reported on Tuesday in southern California, the eastern
Great Basin, the Northwest, and the Rockies.  Significant progress was made
on existing fires in the Great Basin and Rockies.  Initial attack increased
in most areas.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Nevada, California,
Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Alaska, and Idaho.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/7; Mike Warren, NPS, 7/7; Karen
La May, ARO, 7/7]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

Mesa Verde NP (CO) - California Condors

On the morning of June 30th, two California Condors were seen flying over the
escarpment around the fire lookout station at Park Point - the first recorded
appearance of this endangered species at the park.  They did not return the
next day.  Fire lookout Bob Erner shared the rare event with park visitors
for an hour.  "It was the most awesome wildlife viewing experience I have
ever witnessed," said Erner.  "They came so close over us that we could see
details of their feathers, numbered wing tags, and one we watched casually
scratching itself as they circled."  The condors received quite a bit of
attention from the park's resident birds as well.  Many birds, including
several turkey vultures, flew out to investigate the giant newcomers, only to
be dwarfed by the condors' nine-foot wingspans.  Mesa Verde's natural
resource management staff made inquiries into the identity of the two
condors.  According to the Peregrine Fund, they were one-year-old birds
released in wild country of northern Arizona last fall after being raised in
captivity.  The program's goal is to establish a second breeding population
in Arizona as a safeguard against the loss of the only other remaining
population in southern California. The Peregrine Fund is a nonprofit
conservation organization dedicated to raising rare birds of prey and
releasing them into the wild to help recover endangered populations.  They
monitor the twenty condors currently released in Arizona on a daily basis,
using a miniature radio transmitter attached to a tiny harness fitted to each
condor.  Since their releases, these two young condors have ranged as far
north as Flaming Gorge near the Wyoming/Utah border, as far south as
Flagstaff, and now to at least the North Rim of Mesa Verde National Park.  It
is quite common for immature condors to go on long journeys to expand their
knowledge of their world and search for potential feeding grounds and even
future breeding grounds.  In all likelihood, they will return to their
current home range in Arizona within a few days.  [George San Miguel, NRMS,
MEVE, 7/2]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Parks Company Agreement Terminated - The agreement between the National Park
Foundation and the Parks Company has not been renewed.  The Parks Company is
a catalogue company that has sold park-related items and made donations to
support parks for the last couple of years.  Following several months of
negotiations over many terms in a new agreement, NPF and the NPS reached an
impasse with the Parks Company on what the Service considers a non-negotiable
requirement - review and approval of public materials developed by the Parks
Company that speak to the relationship between the company and the NPF and
NPS.  This review and approval function is the cornerstone of the Service's
relationships with all corporate partners.  [Sue Waldron, WASO]

MEMORANDA

"Request for Assistance, Alternative Transportation Needs Study
Facilitators," signed on June 29th by the associate director, park operations
and education, and sent electronically to all regional directors and
transportation coordinators.  The text follows:

"The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), Section 3039,
directs the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary
of the Interior, to undertake a comprehensive study of alternative
transportation needs in national parks and related public lands managed by
the National Park Service (NPS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). 'Alternative transportation' is considered
to be any mode of transportation other than the private motor vehicle.

"This study is administered by the Federal Transit Administration in
cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration. The details of the scope
of work were included in the memorandum from Deputy Director Lowey dated
February 16, 1999; the objectives of the study are as follows:

o     Identify Alternative Transportation Systems (ATS) that improve the
      management of the public lands.
o     Identify those public lands with existing and potential problems of
      adverse impact, high congestion, and pollution or which can benefit
      from ATS's.
o     Identify ATS's for public lands that will conserve and protect fragile
      natural, cultural, and historic resources; prevent adverse impact on
      those resources; and reduce pollution and congestion, while at the same
      time facilitating appropriate visitor access and improving the visitor
      experience and to assess the feasibility and costs of such
      alternatives.
o     Provide factual information for establishing a new transportation
      program funded through the Highway Trust Fund.  This program would
      potentially provide a funding source for ATS's for the NPS, the BLM and
      the FWS.

"Our office requests the assistance of your regional transportation
coordinators to act as facilitators for this contract for your region. 
Responsibilities include talking to the contractor prior to the beginning of
the site visits, distributing this memorandum and other information to the
parks to be studied, coordinating the site visits with each park, acting as
facilitators for the contractor, and reviewing and approving all information
submitted by the parks and contractors. Assistance will be provided by the
Park Facility Management Division, as needed. 

"The number of park areas with transit needs is extensive, therefore, only a
representative sampling of parks will be visited by the A/E firm, Cambridge
Systematics. The parks selected as sample units were chosen because they have
characteristics which could be used to extrapolate Servicewide funding needs. 
Sample parks will not be accorded any higher priority or advantage over other
parks for receiving funds. A list of the specific parks that the contractor
will be evaluating is attached [Editor's note: On the original memo, not
attached to the Morning Report] as well as preliminary document and data
requests for each individual site.

"I ask for full cooperation on this effort. Funding for a future Alternative
Transportation Program will be supported by the results of this assessment.
If you have any questions, please call Mr. Lou DeLorme, Team Leader,
Facilities and Transportation, at 202/565-1254 or Ms. Joni Gallegos,
Transportation Planning Program Officer, at 202/501-8926 or via their cc:mail
addresses."

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Yosemite NP - Jim Tucker, district ranger for the park's Valley District, has
received the Barry Hance Award, which is given annually to the park employee
"who most personifies Barry's hard work, excitement for life, concern for
fellow employees, and reverence for Yosemite."  Barry Hance was the Mather
District roads foreman who was killed during snow removal operations on the
Tioga Road in 1995.  Tucker, a third-generation Yosemite employee, was born
in the Valley and grew up in Yosemite and San Diego.  He's been a ranger in
Yosemite and Golden Gate since 1974.  [Kendell Thompson, YOSE]

Pinnacles NM - Chief ranger Mark Igo is retiring.  Mark's career has taken
him to Big Bend, Amistad, Glen Canyon, Curecanti, back to Glen Canyon, then
to Pinnacles.  Friday will be his last day in the office.  Mark and Marlene
will become full-time travelers in their motorhome and will be visiting many
of the areas they haven't been able to get to during the last 27 years.  If
you would like to contact Mark before he leaves, you can reach him at 831-
389-4485 ext. 247.  Marlene is on a concessions detail at Lake Roosevelt and
will be there for the next three-and-a-half months.  After July 9th, you can
reach both at 509-631-0824 or write to them at 835 Front Street, Lake Linden,
MI 49945.  [Jeanie Garbini, PINN]

Harpers Ferry Center - The American Institute for Conservation of Historic
and Artistic Works (AIC) recently recognized Martin Burke, the associate
manager for conservation at Harpers Ferry Center, by awarding him the
Rutherford John Gettens Award.  Burke received this national award because
his "public contributions to our organization have been complimented by
innumerable selfless, behind the scenes gestures of time and service...I can
think of no other member more deserving of this special honor."  The award
reflects well on both Martin and the organization he has created with the
Division of Conservation.  [Gary Cummins, Manager, HFC]

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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