Intermountain Region
CISM Team Dispatched to Assist on Columbia Shuttle Search
The National Park Service has been asked to provide critical incident
stress management (CISM) peer support counselors to assist in Texas as a
debriefing team for people conducting searches for victims and shuttle
parts. An experienced CISM team of six peer counselors, lead by Lane
Baker of Yosemite NP will stage out of Hemphill, Texas. The other five
team members are Kevin Langley, Acadia NP; Karen McKinley-Jones, Arches
NP; Ralph Moore, Perry's Victory NHP; Tim Fazen-Baker, Gettysburg NMP;
Scott Berkenfield, BLM Monticello Office; and Brent Pennington, Blue
Ridge Parkway.
[Submitted by Pat Buccello, CISM Program Manager,
WASO]
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (NC)
Search for Missing Person
On the evening of Friday, January 31, ranger Phil Swartz came upon a
blue Nissan Xterra parked at the old lighthouse parking lot next to the
Atlantic Ocean. The vehicle remained in the lot until Sunday, at which
time it was impounded and inventoried. Rangers also learned that the
owner, a 39-year-old Portsmouth, Virginia, woman, had been reported
missing on Friday. A credit card receipt in the Xterra revealed that
she'd made a purchase from a business in Buxton that same day. The owner
said that she'd rented a kayak that afternoon; nylon straps obtained in
the rental transaction were found on the roof of the car. The Coast
Guard began air and water searches and continued them until midday
Monday. The Civil Air Patrol also searched the area that day. There have
been no sightings of either the woman or the kayak. Interviews with
family and friends revealed that the woman had arranged for a substitute
teacher for her position in a middle school for January 30 and 31, that
she had not called in to her part-time job on February 1, and that she
had a history of depression and had attempted suicide on several
occasions in the past.
[Submitted by Paul Stevens, Law Enforcement
Specialist, Outer Banks Group]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (HI)
Firefighters Continue to Protect Rain Forest
This week, 40 firefighters from California flew in to join park firefighters in constructing two miles of fireline. The 20-foot wide fireline, located ½ mile west of the active lava flowfield, will help control the spread of wildland fires ignited by Kilauea's lava.
The federal firefighters are men and women from the National Park Service, National Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management (i.e. Yosemite National Park, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, and Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity, Tahoe, El Dorado, and Plumas National Forests). They are here on a 21-day assignment and replace a crew of mainland firefighters that detailed here in December.
Since November 2002, the park has been actively engaged in suppressing lava-ignited fires. Lava continues to spread west, flowing through flammable vegetation. Since mid-December, the volume of lava from Pu`u `O`o increased to more than a 1,000,000 cubic meters a day, the equivalent of what it would take to fill 100,000 dump trucks.
A primary mission of Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park is to protect the park's natural resources. The park preserves some of the most pristine rain forest remaining in the state of Hawai`i. According to Resource Management Chief Tim Tunison, "If the fire breaks and runs, a uniquely Hawaiian ecosystem will be forever lost—the native rain forest will turn into a weed patch."
`Ohi`a, hapu`u, maile, `ekaha, and `ie`ie will be replaced by scaly swordfern, cane tibouchina, and grasses. The native honeycreepers, thrushes, and hawks that depend on a mature `ohi`a canopy would be seriously affected by fire.
A unique hazard faced by firefighters in Hawai`i Volcanoes is exposure to volcanic air pollution, or vog. Pu`u `O`o emits about 2,500 tons of sulfur dioxide a day and the gasses sometimes drift and settle over the fire zone.
The park has implemented a program to protect firefighters. Before going on the fireline every firefighter must take a Spirometry and Respiratory Exam, a test that measures lung capacity. Those who pass the test are fitted and equipped with respirators that can filter out sulfur dioxide and particulate matter. Whenever vog poses a danger, firefighters put on their respirators and evacuate the area.
Firelines not only help contain a fire's spread, but also provide firefighters with a defensible space, escape routes, and safety zones. Fire Management Officer Jack Minassian said, "Our current strategy of building control lines, suppressing fires, and dropping water by helicopters has proved successful. Since November, we have not lost any of the rain forest to lava-ignited fires."
[Submitted by Mardie Lane, 808-985-6018]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Law Enforcement and Emergency Services
Harry Yount Award Nominees Sought
Readers: Please note that referenced attachments are not included on InsideNPS but are available from regional offices.
Memorandum
To: Regional Directors
From: Director
Subject: Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award
Reply due: March 7, 2003 Negative Replies requested
Nominations for the Servicewide Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for excellence in the art and science of "rangering", which is presented annually to one of the Regional Harry Yount Award honorees, are due by March 7, 2003.
The Harry Yount Award is a peer recognition that is given to that individual whose overall impact, record of accomplishments, and excellence in traditional ranger duties has created an appreciation for the Park Ranger profession on the part of the public and other members of the profession.
Through this award, made possible by the National Park Foundation, the Service not only recognizes and honors outstanding National Park Rangers but seeks to:
• Encourage high standards of performance
• Foster an especially responsive attitude towards public service
• Enhance the public's appreciation of the Park Ranger profession
• Build esprit de corps and further the spirit of the art and science of
"rangering"
As former Director George B. Hartzog, Jr. said in Battling For The National Parks, "... rangers are the cornerstone of every park organization ... Every superintendent has used the phrase 'Have the rangers do it,' thousands of times. A park would not be a park without a ranger."
This award honors Rangers who have formed the "cornerstone of every park organization." Skilled in traditional, generalist ranger duties, their records show both tangible and in-tangible benefits to the Park Ranger profession. Their total impact exceeds normal expectations, and they reflect initiative, imagination, perseverance, competence, creativity, resourcefulness, dedication, and integrity.
Harry Yount Award honorees demonstrate:
• Outstanding leadership
• Exemplary contributions
• Notably high standards of performance
• Excellence in traditional ranger duties and skills
• Dedication to the Park Ranger profession
• A record of overall excellence of service
Previous recipients of the Harry Yount Award have embodied the intent of the Award, which is to honor Rangers who have consistently gone out every day and done the traditional, generalist ranger duties of protecting the resources and serving the visitor; and, who have done it well in the eyes of their peers over time.
Recipients of the Harry Yount Award form the heart of the Ranger Corps, reflecting its high standards and commitment to the Service's mission. They are knowledgeable of and sensitive to the natural, cultural, and recreational resources that make up the National Park System, placing them foremost in their priorities. Their leadership in being able and willing to do the tough jobs well--with style, grace, appreciation, and humor--serves as a role model for all Rangers. Through them the highest and best traditions and values of the Service are carried on as they accept opportunities for, and meet challenges to, excellence.
In 1994 the Servicewide Harry Yount Award was initiated at a White House ceremony. The Yount Award is an integral part of the Service's employee recognition program and represents the hallmark of recognition for "rangering". It has my strongest support.
Each Region is to have a Harry Yount Award program. The recipients of the Regions' Harry Yount Awards will be the nominees for the Servicewide award.
Nominations for the Servicewide Harry Yount Award are to be sent to John Townsend, National Park Service, 1709 Jackson Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2571. They are due no later than March 7, 2003. Questions should be directed to John Townsend at 402-221-3416 or by electronic mail at Townsend, JT.
PARKS AND PEOPLE
NPS Office at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Ranger Training Class 301 Graduates
National Park Ranger Integrated Training Program Class 301 (NPRI-301) graduated from FLETC on January 28. Immediately prior to the graduation ceremonies, the graduating class and NPRI-303 placed a wreath at the FLETC's Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Glen Canyon NRA chief ranger Cindy Ott-Jones was the keynote speaker. The rangers in this class recorded a number of superior individual and group achievements. Ranger James M. Wessel (KLGO) was the top driver with a perfect 300 score, while four other rangers also received a perfect 300 score. Wessel also received the distinguished fitness award, while rangers Bradley T. Baron (INDE) and Linden G. Schlenker (BICA) earned the fitness award (equivalent to scoring above 95%) on the PEB. Rangers Clarence J. Larson (CORO) and Lance E. Twombly (GUIS) tied as the high firearms expert with a 295 out of a possible 300 points; they were joined by ten other rangers who qualified as expert shooters. Ranger Adam Kelsey (ORPI) was the class scholar with an outstanding 97.64 FLETC academic average. He was joined by three other rangers who scored above 95% in the FLETC academic portion. Twombly received the class nomination for the FLETC Director's Award as the outstanding ranger of the class. Kelsey received the NPS Director's Award, which recognizes the graduating student who achieved the highest overall average in all integrated training phases without remediating any practical exercises. His final overall average was an outstanding 98.811. A total of eleven rangers scored above 95% in the overall scoring, while the entire graduating class finished with an overall average above 90%. The overall class average was an impressive 94.553 This overall class average moves NPRI-301 into second place for top overall average behind NPRI-201, which had a class average of 94.724. Congratulations to NPRI-301 on a job well done.
[Submitted by Don Usher]
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.