Lake Mead National Recreation Area (AZ,NV)
Fire in Callville Bay Concession Dormitory
Park firefighters responded to an active fire in a dormitory unit at
the Callville Bay concession housing area at 5:45 p.m. on June 9th. The
dorm has 18 individual rooms, and at least 15 people were in the
building when the fire started. Engine 5 from Calville was first on
scene. Firefighters found that one dorm room was fully engulfed in
flame, so requested additional support. Engine 4 from Boulder Beach
responded, and Henderson FD provided additional assistance. Rangers
learned that one 15-year-old boy was unaccounted for, so began a search
of the dormitory. He was subsequently found outside the building. The
fire eventually burned into the attic and wasn't extinguished until 8
p.m. One third of the structure was lost, and all occupants were
displaced. The concessioner has made arrangements for temporary housing
for them. There were no injuries. The cause of the fire is still under
investigation.
[Submitted by Bob Trodahl, Fire Chief]
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (AZ)
Marijuana Seizure
On the afternoon of June 8th, a red Nissan pickup was seen entering
the United States through the park via a well-known smuggler's route
across the border. Rangers intercepted the truck as it traveled
northbound. They confirmed that it had entered the country illegally and
that the truck's California tags had expired last July. A dog alerted on
the truck, so a search was conducted that led to the discovery of over
300 pounds of marijuana under a false bed in the pickup. The occupants,
both U.S. citizens, were arrested. The pickup and a Honda ATV were
seized. The case was transferred to Customs and is under joint
investigation.
[Submitted by Fred Patton, Chief Ranger]
Death Valley National Park (CA)
Fatal Pickup Truck Accident
The Inyo County Sheriff's Department contacted the park on the
morning of June 6th and reported a burning vehicle at the intersection
of Highway 190 and the Dante's View road. When ranger Ed Forner arrived,
he found an overturned pickup truck fully engulfed in flames with the
driver still inside. The victim was identified as L.M. of
Las Vegas. The California Highway Patrol and Inyo County Sheriff's
Department are conducting the investigation.
[Submitted by Nancy
Wizner, Chief Ranger]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report - Thursday, June 12, 2003
Preparedness Level 2
Initial attack continued to be light, with 96 new fires reported.
Fire Danger
| State |
6/7 |
6/8 |
6/9 |
6/10 |
6/11 |
6/12 |
| Alaska |
VX |
-- |
VX |
VX |
VX |
-- |
| Arizona |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
| California |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VX |
-- |
| Colorado |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
| Nevada |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
| New Mexico |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
| Oklahoma |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
-- |
| Texas |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
| Utah |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VX |
VH — Very high
EX — Extreme
VX — Very high to extreme
Fire Weather Watches and Warnings
No watches or warnings have been posted for today.
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
6/7 |
6/8 |
6/9 |
6/10 |
6/11 |
6/12 |
| Crews |
69 |
63 |
58 |
52 |
48 |
29 |
| Engines |
103 |
77 |
48 |
55 |
58 |
46 |
| Helicopters |
18 |
21 |
19 |
17 |
15 |
14 |
| Air Tankers |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Overhead |
653 |
643 |
720 |
615 |
700 |
704 |
National Team Commitments
| State |
Type Team |
Team IC |
Fire/Location |
Acres |
Percent Contain |
Est Full Contain |
| AZ |
T2 |
Kvale |
Thomas Fire Apache-Sitgreaves NF |
5,175 |
10% |
UNK |
| NM |
FUM |
Rath |
Dry Lakes Complex Gila NF |
6,100 |
0% |
UNK |
OPERATIONAL NOTES
NPS History
Soldier-Rangers in California Parks
This month, a new book will be published on National Park Service rangers. The book, entitled National Park Ranger: An Informal History, was written by Butch Farabee and will be published by Roberts Rinehart Publishers (ISBN 1-57098-392-5, $18.95 in paper). Through permission of both the author and publisher, excerpts will appear in the Morning Report and InsideNPS over coming months.
- The first excerpt appeared on May 15, 2003.
- The second excerpt appeared on May 21, 2003.
- The third excerpt appeared on June 3, 2003
The Soldiers, Continued
President Benjamin Harrison signed the Sequoia Act on September 25, 1890, followed six days later by the Yosemite and General Grant Act. Congress established these three areas as "public parks" or "forest reservations" (the term "national park" was never used) and placed them under the control of the Secretary of the Interior. In both Acts, Congress directed the Secretary to "provide for the preservation from injury of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities or wonders ... and their retention in their natural condition."
The successful military administration of Yellowstone prompted the same type of control in these new parks in California. In writing the two laws, Congress closely followed the wording in the Yellowstone Act. In doing so, however, it once again failed to provide either legal or financial mechanisms for the parks' protection and preservation.
A month later the Secretary of the Interior noted the omission and said that "whether the parks shall be put under charge of civil custodians or a military cavalry guard shall be sent to each is a subject now being considered and investigated." The law authorizing troops in Yellowstone was not applicable to the California parks, and no legal basis existed to use the Army in Sequoia, Yosemite, or General Grant.
Nevertheless, realizing these areas needed protection, the Secretary of the Interior still looked to Yellowstone for precedent and on October 21, 1890, requested that the Secretary of War detail cavalry to the new parks. This illegal use of the Army in these areas was finally addressed by Congress in 1896.
In 1891, the U. S. Cavalry began patrolling Sequoia, General Grant (four square miles of Sequoia trees later incorporated into Kings Canyon National Park), and Yosemite. The military rode into Yosemite on May 19 under the command of Captain Abram E. Wood. As in Yellowstone and Sequoia (General Grant was overseen by Sequoia) the Army's local senior officer also served as the park's acting superintendent.
Since Yosemite Valley would remain under state control until 1906, the army had responsibility for everything in Yosemite National Park but the Valley and the Mariposa Grove. The soldiers blazed trails, mapped the rugged country, fought forest fires, patrolled for illegal mining, posted boundaries, and probably most important, tried to rid the park of trespassing livestock. Business was booming and within a month of the troopers' arrival that first year, they arrested four sheepherders, only to find no law authorized prosecution of the violators. Quick to improvise, they resolved the dilemma by expelling the herders on one side of the park and their flocks on the other.
From 1891 to 1914 it was customary to station men in the parks only during the summer months, hoping a hostile winter would protect the resource. Depending on the year, up to four troops (a troop consisted of approximately fifty men) were dispatched from the Presidio in San Francisco in May; half went to Yosemite and the other half to Sequoia. Their 250-mile march took two weeks, until they began using the train in 1900.
That same year, soldiers were authorized to prevent trespassers from entering the three parks. In Yosemite, troops first garrisoned in Wawona, and then in 1906 "Fort Yosemite" was established in the Valley. Yosemite eventually saw both the Twenty-fourth Mounted Infantry and the Ninth Cavalry: African-American units, who were also known as "Buffalo Soldiers."
Soldiers were no longer needed in General Grant, since in 1901 the four-square-mile park had been totally fenced and then placed under a civilian guard.
In 1914 the soldiers left for good, replaced by a small cadre of civilian rangers. Things had substantially changed since the military first came to the parks. In the beginning, the three California areas had been surrounded by people accustomed to unfettered use of the mountains for grazing, hunting, and woodcutting.
Once park neighbors understood the issues and the limitations, the soldiers ended up assuming extralegal functions such as registering visitors and collecting tolls, checking vehicles, sealing firearms, guiding tourists and searching for those lost, reading stream gauges, fighting fires, reporting on game seen, and planting fish. Though it was often outside the traditional military experience, most soldiers found the duty both desirable and interesting.
Conservationist John Muir would eventually say of the military in the parks, "Blessings on Uncle Sam's soldiers. They have done the job well, and every pine tree is waving its arms for joy."
More Information...
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Intermountain Region
Kevin Fitzgerald New Regional Chief Ranger
Kevin Fitzgerald, chief ranger at Cape Cod National Seashore, has been selected as the new regional chief ranger for the Intermountain Region. He replaces Randy King, who will be the new deputy superintendent at Mount Rainier National Park. Kevin will EOD around the middle of July.
[Submitted by Hal Grovert, IMRO]
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.