99-491 - St. Gaudens NHS (NH) - Burglary

The park's entrance station kiosk was forcibly entered on the night of August
10th.  The cash register, which was empty at the time, was stolen.  The
burglar(s) first attempted entry by pulling a heavy metal signpost out of the
ground and throwing it against the kiosk's front windows.  They did not
break, as they are made from plexiglass, so the burglar(s) pulled up another
metal signpost and used it to pry open the glass windows on the side of the
kiosk.  Only the cash register was taken.  The New Hampshire state police
investigated the incident and are pursuing several strong leads.  Seasonal
ranger Keith Druhal, who lives in the area, found the cash register dumped on
the side of a nearby dirt road about a mile from the park two days later. 
The state police took the register for fingerprinting.  [Greg Schwarz, CR,
SAGA, 8/17]

99-492 - Aztec Ruins NM (NM) - Structural Fire

On August 13th, firefighters from three local fire districts responded to a
fire that started in an abandoned wood and stone structure within the park. 
The small building was once used as a residence by a private land owner and
was recently acquired by the park.  Smoke damaged 100% of the structure, and
fire damaged 50%.  The cause of the fire is unknown.  The park had planned to
demolish the building prior to the fire and now plans to demolish what
remains.  [CRO, AZRU, 8/17]

99-493 - Lake Mead NRA (AZ/NV) - Boating OUI/Safety Operation; Arrests

A group of rangers and state enforcement officers known as "the Wolfpack"
conducted an operation to check for boaters operating under the influence
(OUI) in Callville Bay on Lake Mead on the afternoon of Sunday, August 1st. 
The Wolfpack is the enforcement unit of the Drowning Awareness Response Team
(DART) that was developed by the park last summer and consists of rangers and
game wardens from the National Park Service, the Nevada Division of Wildlife,
and Arizona Game and Fish.  Also present at the check point were narcotics
officers from the Nevada Division of Investigation and a trooper from the
Nevada Highway Patrol.  As vessels entered the harbor, they passed buoys that
indicated that an OUI check point was taking place, then were directed to a
dock by rangers and wardens in boats and on personal watercraft.  Boaters
were also advised that this action was part of a DART effort to reduce the
number of accidents and drownings that occur in the park.  During the
operation, 274 vessels with 963 people onboard went through the check point. 
Vessel operators were first checked for alcohol consumption; if they appeared
to be unimpaired, then a safety inspection was performed on the vessel.  No
verbal warnings were given for several violations - failure to have the
proper number of and properly sized personal flotation devices (PFDs),
failure to have a type IV throwable PFD aboard, missing fire extinguishers,
and registration violations.  A total of 46 citations and 36 warnings for
other violations were issued.  Children who were found to be wearing PFDs
were given T-shirts and other goodies.  Those operators who appeared impaired
were given a field sobriety test and a preliminary breath test.  Three
operators were taken into custody, two for OUI and one for a felony warrant.
Once arrested, they were taken aboard a Forever Resorts houseboat which
served as the incident command post and booking area, complete with an
Intoxilyzer 5000 for breath tests. [Paul Crawford, SPR, Boulder Basin
District, LAME, 8/6]
 
FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Mon      Tue    %  Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT     8/16     8/17  Con Con

WY    Worland District       Mahogany         --      400      432  100 CND 

AZ    Coconino NF            Eden             --      400      400  UNK UNK 

CA    Lassen-Modoc RU      * Cinder           ST        -      450  UNK UNK

OR    Vale District        * Gallagher        --        -      300   60 8/18

NV    Humboldt-Toiyabe NF  * East Quinn       --        -      700   35 UNK 

ID    Lower Snake District * Fritz Spur       --        -      500   25 8/18

UT    Salt Lake FO         * Dry Canyon       --        -    1,000  UNK 8/18

TX    State                  Jones            --    1,100    1,100  100 CND 

                                  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 
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; UNK = unknown; NR = no report

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Saturday, 8/14       0      2        14       0       53     37       106
Sunday, 8/15         3      2         5       2      107     41       160
Monday, 8/16         1      1         8       1      286     29       326
Tuesday, 8/17        1      6         0       1      342     39       401

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Saturday, 8/14      33        154          33             1           128
Sunday, 8/15        15        106          25             5            71
Monday, 8/16        20         74          18             3            92
Tuesday, 8/17       38        114          21            10           135

CURRENT SITUATION

Moderate initial attack was reported throughout the West on Tuesday.  New
large fires were reported in northern California and the Great Basin.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in 10 states - Oregon,
California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, 
and Texas.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/18]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROTECTION AND EDUCATION 

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

GPS Rollover Alert - The following alert was passed on by the Department of
Interior.  The text comes from a memorandum prepared and disseminated on
Tuesday to all USGS employees: "Nearly everyone has heard of the Year 2000 or
Y2K problem for computers.  Before we get to the end of the year, however,
another calendar-related concern will come along for users of the Global
Positioning System (GPS).  USGS employees who use GPS for satellite-based
navigation and positioning - especially those who depend on the system in
field work situations - should be aware of the potential for receiver errors
associated with the GPS 'End-of-Week' (EOW) rollover scheduled for August 22,
1999.  If you use GPS, check with your receiver manufacturer to find out if
your receiver system is EOW and Y2K compliant.  You may want to check the
Coast Guard Navigation Center's web site (www.navcen.uscg.mil/gps/geninfo/
y2k/default.htm), where the Department of Transportation has posted a list of
receiver manufacturers and contacts.  You also can call the free Y2K consumer
hotline (1-888-USA-4-Y2K) for manufacturer contact information.  In addition,
the USGS web site has general information about the EOW rollover.  For
assurance that your receiver is working properly after the EOW and Y2K
events, you should check the time/date display and evaluate your receiver's
post-event accuracy by locating points that have been previously determined."

MEMORANDA

"Improving Natural Resource Stewardship in the National Park System," signed
by the director and sent to all superintendents last week.  The full text
follows; the attachments are NOT included on the Morning Report (see below
the memo for sources for those attachments):

"It gives me great pleasure to update you on the National Park Service's
(NPS) natural resource initiative, and share with you the attached 'Natural
Resource Challenge: The National Park Service's Action Plan for Preserving
Natural Resources.'  This Action Plan is the culmination of the first phase
of an effort which began over a year and a half ago with my request to the
National Leadership Council that we explore ways of rejuvenating natural
resource programs in the NPS.  Since that time, the Service has engaged in an
open conversation about the future, specifically what our role in natural
resource preservation and management is, and should be, in the next century. 
From the healthy skepticism and broad range of opinion have emerged
nonetheless a remarkable consensus that our success in preserving the
nation's natural resources in our trust in the next century depends largely
on our skill in acquiring and applying scientific knowledge about those
resources.  Furthermore, we must build public understanding and support for
parks as important repositories of, and places to learn about, the nation's
natural heritage. 

"You have heard me speak at superintendents' conferences on this topic, and
you have seen preliminary products _ the Challenge Paper of August 1998, and
the Concept Paper  of December 1998.  The Steering Committee, led by Deputy
Director Deny Galvin, and 12 work groups led by superintendents and subject
matter experts, developed the 5-year action and budget strategy described in
the Action Plan and initiated in our official budget request submitted
earlier this year to the Department of the Interior.  Early indications from
Congress suggest optimism for the natural resources portion of the first year
(FY 2000) budget.  Over 5 years, we are proposing budget increases of over
$100 million, and nearly doubling the number of natural resource positions in
the NPS.  Actions are also proposed to invigorate interpretation, protection,
planning, and information management efforts in resource preservation.  Most
significantly, 92 percent of the new positions and nearly 80 percent of the
new funding would be park base increases, park-based positions, or park
project funding.  This is not business as usual.

"We must not, however, assume that enhancing natural resource preservation
depends solely upon new money and staff.  There are many steps that we can
and must take independently of our efforts to secure additional resources. 
Please pay particular attention in the Action Plan to the section called
Actions to be Initiated Immediately (page 15).  I have directed the National
Leadership Council to assure that these tasks be well underway before the end
of this calendar year.  I ask that each superintendent now identify what can
be done in his or her park to enhance natural resource management capacity.

"Each park has been sent two versions of the Action Plan.  One, for internal
use only, has the complete 5-year action and budget strategy.  As we are
prohibited from publicly discussing the details of out-year budget requests
prior to Administration approval, the second version omits the out-year
budgets.  Please share the appropriate versions of the Action Plan widely
with your staff and partners, and encourage their interest, understanding,
support, and enthusiasm.

"In the next phase of the natural resource rejuvenation effort, we will
strive to educate the public and our partners about the role of the NPS in
conservation of the nation's natural heritage.  We will work diligently to
secure the additional resources identified in the Action Plan.  And with all
of us working together, we will put a greater emphasis on resource
stewardship in all of our activities.

"Thank you for your strong support."

The external version of the Natural Resource Challenge can be found on the
Internet at www.nature.nps.gov/challengdoc; the entire plan, for internal use
only, can be found on the Intranet at www1.nrintra.nps.gov/challengedoc.  

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No entries.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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