Wright Brothers National Memorial (NC)
First Flight Centennial Continues
Event managers and rangers have dealt with a few incidents during the
First Flight Centennial Celebration.
Late on the evening of
December 12th, the opening day of the event, rangers spotted two people
illegally entering the park after it was closed. Officers also noticed a
van with its engine running parked close to the point where they'd
entered through the secure fenced area, which was protected by the North
Carolina Army National Guard (ANG). Additional NPS law enforcement
personnel, Dare County officers, and military reinforcements also
responded. After a five-minute search, a Dare County deputy contacted
the two at the celebration's designated media parking area. They turned
out to be a reporter and producer from The Weather Channel. Their
purpose was to get to their satellite truck, located inside the park, in
order to establish a broadcast feed with a ten-minute window. Neither
was charged.
Just before 2 a.m. on December 13th, a North
Carolina ANG helicopter assisted the Dare County Sheriff's Office with a
misdemeanor narcotics incident. The helicopter was conducting a night
reconnaissance when its infrared heat sensing detectors picked up a boat
towing a dingy in a channel near the Colington Harbor, three miles
northwest of the park. The helicopter hovered over the occupants when
they docked at the marina. Its infrared device then led officers to a
nearby residence, where three people were arrested for drug misdemeanors
and a fourth was arrested on an outstanding warrant.
On the
night of the 13th, an intruder attempted to breach the northeast section
of the secured fence on the perimeter of the park. A North Carolina ANG
soldier spotted the man and ordered him not to approach. Ground units on
ATV's pursued the man, who disappeared into a nearby wooded area. Law
enforcement officials believe that the same individual tried to get into
the park the night before at the same location.
In addition to
dealing with such incidents and overseeing the everyday activities
associated with the six-day event, the Eastern IMT is working with
security and other officials from the White House and Department of the
Interior to plan for visits by President Bush and Secretary Norton.
President Bush will speak on Wednesday, December 17th, the final day of
the celebration. Around 60 law enforcement rangers and U.S. Park Police
officers, along with officers from the North Carolina State Police,
North Carolina Marine Fisheries, Dare County Sheriff's Office, and North
Carolina Wildlife, are working together to coordinate the extensive
security arrangements for the presidential visit.
Provisions are
also being made to set up shelter for the White House press corps and to
provide office space for the president's staff. Secretary Norton and
North Carolina Governor Mike Easley will attend a ceremony today to
dedicate a life-size sculpture of the Wright Brothers' first flight.
[Submitted by Nancy Gray, IO, Eastern IMT]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Visitor and Resource Protection
Memorandum: "Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award"
AW2460
Memorandum
To: Regional Directors
From: Director
Subject: Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award
Reply due: February 18, 2004 Negative Replies requested
Nominations for the 10th Anniversary 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 no later than February 18, 2004.
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 Dennis Burnett, National Park Service, Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, 1201 Eye Street, NW, 10th Floor - Suite 32, Washington DC 20005. The nominations are due no later than Wednesday, February 18, 2004. Questions should be directed to Dennis Burnett at 202-513-7128 or by NPS electronic mail at Burnett, Dennis; Internet: dennis_burnett@nps.gov.
For copies of the forms, click on "More Information" below.
More Information...
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Interpretation/Education Division
Corky Mayo Recovering from Surgery
Corky Mayo, chief of the Interpretation and Education Division in WASO, is recovering from major — but non-life-threatening — surgery at home and will be there for the next month. Those of you who'd like to contact him can write him at the following address: Corky Mayo, 801 North Pitt Street #1107, Alexandria, VA 22314. [Dwight Madison]
Cultural Resources
Passing of Doug Scovill
Douglas H. Scovill died on the evening of Friday, December 5, 2003, at his home in San Leandro, California.
Doug, along with his wife, Gene, were devoted to the mission of the National Park Service and to NPS employees and their families throughout his long career with the agency. He will be deeply missed by his family and his many friends, having succumbed to the melanoma that had reoccurred one too many times.
A native of California, Doug graduated from the California State University Sacramento campus in 1957. Doug began his NPS career as an archeologist working on the Wetherill Mesa project at Mesa Verde National Park, then moved in 1962 to a park ranger (archeologist) position at Gran Quivira National Monument.
In 1967, Doug and his family traveled to Amman, Jordan, where he served as a member of a park planning team for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Caught up in the Arab-Israeli War, the team moved its operations first to Greece and then to Turkey before returning to Jordan. Doug was especially proud of the team's accomplishments producing master plans for six parks and helping to establish the Jordanian Park Service.
In 1968, Doug and his family returned to the United States where he took a position as the chief of research administration at the Southwest Archeological Center in Globe, Arizona. Later, as the chief of the Center, Doug was instrumental in moving the Center to the Tucson campus of the University of Arizona in 1971 and creating the Western Archeological and Conservation Center.
In 1974, Doug took the position of Chief Archeologist in the Washington Office and, four years later, took the additional title of the newly created Chief Anthropologist position. In 1995, Doug moved to Mojave National Preserve where he served first as a cultural resource specialist and, in 1996, as the chief of resources management. Doug retired from the NPS in 1999.
During his 21-years in the Park Service's headquarters, Doug was a driving force behind the creation of the Chief Curator (1980) and the Chief Ethnographer (1981) positions and the development of servicewide programs in museum management, in applied ethnography, and in underwater archeology and submerged cultural resources management. Doug had a central role in initiating and securing annual funding for the agency's systemwide archeological inventory program which continues to support archeological investigations throughout the park system. Beginning with its inaugural issue in 1978, Doug provided the operational support necessary for publishing the "CRM Bulletin" as a way to disseminate technical information on the traditional mix of cultural resources topics to audiences inside and outside the NPS.
Doug was instrumental in the success of the first World Conference on Cultural Parks, held at Mesa Verde National Park in 1984, which highlighted problems in virtually all nations between parks and the native peoples who live in or near them. In addition, Doug was the driving force behind creation of national databases recording information about archeological sites and ethnographic resources in the parks, their development which was no small feat but they enable the agency to fulfill a myriad of reporting requirements. Doug also was an ardent proponent of the use of non-destructuve archeological research techniques.
A celebration of Doug's life is scheduled for Sunday, December 21, 2003, from 2:00 - 4:00 PM at The Englander Pub & Restaurant located at 101 Parrott Street in San Leandro, California. For those who knew Doug well, you will appreciate the inclusion of bagpipers at the celebration!
Messages of condolence may be sent to Gene Scovill, 1765 San Jose Street, San Leandro, California 94577. Contributions may be made to the NPS Employees & Alumni Association and the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Educational Loan Program, both c/o Bonnie Stetson, E&AA Membership, 470 Maryland Drive, Suite 1, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania 19034.
[Submitted by Michele Aubry, Archeology and Ethnography Program, WASO]
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.