NPS Visitor and Resource Protection
The Morning Report
Wednesday, March 12, 2003


INCIDENTS

Chickasaw National Recreation Area (OK)
Possible Suicide

A ranger checking on the welfare of an unpaid camper in the Point campground on the morning of March 7th came upon her body near the site. Park maintenance employees reported that they'd seen the 50-year-old woman in the area on March 5th. Rangers had checked her vehicle and campsite during the subsequent two days, but had not made contact with her. A note and other writings found in her tent indicate that she took her own life. The medical examiner is investigating the cause of death.
[Submitted by Luis Krug, Park Ranger]



Grand Canyon National Park (AZ)
Search for Overdue Hiker

On the morning of March 10th, dispatch received a report of a backpacker who was two days overdue from a hike in a remote section of the western part of the park. M.M. had gone on a seven-day solo backpacking trip from Parashant Canyon to Snap Canyon, a distance of about 125 miles. This section of the canyon is remote, hazardous and has no trails; very few people visit the area on foot. Searchers from Lake Mead NRA, Grand Canyon NP, Grand Canyon/Parashant NM and BLM searched for M.M. by vehicle, boat, airplane and helicopter. M.M. was reported to have a considerable amount of experience hiking in the canyon and had advised family and friends that he'd try to reach the river and await assistance if he encountered any problems during his hike. He was spotted from the park's helicopter near Snap Canyon at 2:30 that afternoon. River ranger Chris Mengal picked him up and took him to the Temple Bar ranger station. M.M. was in good condition, but had eaten the last of his food that morning. He said that he'd realized that he'd taken too long of a hike for the period of time he'd allotted. Fourteen people were involved in the search.
[Submitted by Bil Vandergraff, Incident Commander]




FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report - March 10, 2003

Preparedness Level 2


Initial attack was light over the weekend, with 81 new fires reported between Friday and Sunday. There were three large fires in Oklahoma (all are contained) and another three in the Mark Twain Forest in Missouri (one has been contained).

Resource commitments to the Columbia Response and Newcastle Incidents remain the same as previously reported.


National Resource Commitments


Day
 3/3
 3/4
 3/5
 3/6
         
Crews
 160
 169
 149
 160
Engines
 2
 6
 6
 2
Helicopters
 36
 36
 36
 36
Air Tankers
 0
 0
 0
 0
Overhead
 2,601
 2,697
 2,438
 2,601

National Team Commitments

State
 Type
Team
 Team IC
 Incident & Location
 Acres
 Percent
Contain
 Est Full
Contain
             
TX
 T1
 Lohrey
 Columbia Response, TX
 N/A
 N/A
 N/A
TX
 T1
Oltrogge
 "
 "
 "
 "
TX
 T1
 McCombs
 "
 "
 "
 "
TX
 T2
Custer
 "
 "
 "
 "
TX
 T2
 Hildreth
 "
 "
 "
 "
NV
 T1
 Corley
 Newcastle Incident, NV
 "
 "
 "


National Interagency Fire Center
Seasonal Wildland Fire Outlook: March - August, 2003

National and Geographic Predictive Service groups, climatologists, fuels specialists and fire behavior analysts convened for a seasonal assessment workshop in Mesa, Arizona during the week of February 24-28, 2003. Based on the analysis shared and assessments completed, it was determined that nationally, the 2003 fire season will not be as severe as 2002. However, much of the interior West, south/central Alaska, western Great Lakes and northern Maine is expected to experience an above normal fire season for the following reasons:

  • Long-term drought persists over much of the interior West with mountain snowpack and winter precipitation remaining below average to date.
  • Drought stressed and/or insect damaged vegetation is becoming more prevalent across the western states and will increase the potential for large, destructive wildfires at mid to high elevations.
  • Drought conditions are emerging in the Great Lake States leaving herbaceous fuels standing, uncompressed, and receptive to ignition. An early fire season is anticipated with peat fires in these areas being problematic due to dry conditions.
  • Early snow melt is anticipated for Alaska, Pacific Northwest, Great Basin and Northeastern California which will cause large dead/downed fuel moistures to drop below critical values earlier than normal in the higher elevation areas, resulting in an early and extended fire season.
  • The Southern Area is expecting a below normal spring fire season overall, however forecasts call for a very active tropical storm season which could result in an above average number of hurricanes that impact the area and diminish fire risk through the summer months.
  • An early spring prescribed fire season is expected across many western states.

For the full report, click on "More Information" below.
 More Information...




OPERATIONAL NOTES

Visitor and Resource Protection
New System for Reviewing/Search Morning Reports Launched

Effective today, you now have access to a dozen year's worth of Morning Reports — and a search engine to look through them to find a particular incident or report.

Though the efforts of Ken Handwerger in WASO ITC, you can now access both features by going to the Morning Report (listed on the upper left side of the front page of InsideNPS) and clicking on it.

There are three options available to you on the top right side of the Morning Report:

  • Click on the arrow by the window adjacent to "Recent Editions" and you can quickly pull up any one of the previous seven days' worth of Morning Reports.
  • Click on "Archives" and you will find all Morning Reports for the past dozen years. When you click on the relevant folder, you get monthly folders, then daily editions under them. Please keep in mind that these old files are often in WordPerfect or Word and take a while to load. The formatting is also a bit squirrelly at times.
  • Click on "Search" and you can either search or select any/all Morning Reports posted since September, 2002, when we began setting up the search engine, or search any of the approximately 2400 Morning Reports issued since 1992. Those of you who have in the past sought information on past incidents can now find them yourselves by using this remarkable new tool.

If you find any glitches (other than those noted in "Archives" above), please send a note to Bill_Halainen@nps.gov.

 
[Submitted by Bill Halainen, Editor, The Morning Report]




PARKS AND PEOPLE

Fire and Aviation Management
Information Officer - Summer Detail Opportunity

National Interagency Fire Center
National Incident Information Center- Boise, Idaho


General Information:
The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) External Affairs group, which consists of representatives from all the land management agencies, is now beginning to plan for the 2003 summer fire season. As we have done in the past, when fire activity merits significant regional, national and international media attention, the National Incident Information Center at NIFC is opened to facilitate these requests. Throughout the year, NIFC serves as the national center for wildland fire information. For more information about NIFC, go to: http://www.nifc.gov

Position(s) Available: Information Officer:
NIFC is now seeking detailers to staff the National Incident Information Center in the event the summer fire season merits its opening. Individuals who are qualified as Incident Information Officers and Public Affairs Specialists with experience and background in fire information are encouraged to consider this opportunity. Individuals with backgrounds in legislative and public affairs, crisis information management, and general public contact work who are seeking to gain wildland fire information officer experience are also encouraged to apply. To learn more about necessary skills and qualifications for Incident Information Officer's, go to: http://www.nps.gov/fire/fireinfo/io

Funding:
Travel and per diem will be paid for by NIFC.

Dates:
Assignments to the National Incident Information Center at NIFC are tentatively scheduled from the first week of June and extend through September 2003. Again, an exact date of the center's opening is dependent upon wildland fire activity and it is often difficult to predict. Once selected, nominees will receive a confirmation letter and should keep their assigned dates open in the event that they are needed to staff the Center. Applicants are then listed as "on-call" Information Officers for their assigned time period. Applicants do receive advance notice, and this can range from 24 hours to a week's time.

Nomination Process:
Nomination forms should be submitted no later than April 4, 2003, electronically to Janelle Smith, NIFC External Affairs Office, at Janelle_Smith@nifc.blm.gov

Be sure to indicate the dates you are available, and correlate these dates with the FY03 payperiods.

See attached nomination form.
[Submitted by Janelle Smith, janelle_smith@nifc.blm.gov, 208-387-5473] More Information...



Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (KS)
GS-0303-6/7 Administrative Technician (Information Technology)

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is advertising a GS-0303-6/7 administrative technician (information technology) position. See USA Jobs for both open competitive and merit promotion announcements. This position will provide administrative, computer and telecommunications support for the park. The supervisor, Administrative Officer Anne-Marie Rizzi, encourages interested candidates to call her with any questions at 620-273-6034.
[Submitted by Anne-Marie Rizzi, anne-marie_rizzi@nps.gov, 630-273-6034]




* * * * * * * * * *

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.