Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (LA)
Boating Fatality
On the morning of Tuesday, January 6th, a 16-foot boat with two
people on boat developed engine problems and became disabled in the main
channel of the Intracoastal Waterway in the Jones Point area of
Barataria Preserve. Shortly thereafter, a tug pushing a barge reportedly
ran over and sank the disabled boat. One of the boat's occupants died
from injuries sustained in the accident. The Coast Guard is the lead
investigative agency, with the final determination pending.
[Submitted by Leigh Zahm, Supervisory Park Ranger]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Fire and Aviation Management
Memorandum: "Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations 2004 "
**ELECTRONIC COPY ONLY — NO HARD COPY TO FOLLOW**
Y14 (9560)
February 6, 2004
Memorandum
To: Regional Directors
From: Deputy Director, A. Durand Jones /s/ A. Durand Jones
Subject: Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations 2004
In 2002, the Federal Fire and Aviation Leadership Council chartered a task group to annually revise, publish and distribute the Federal "Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations" handbook.
This interagency effort meets specific action items from the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy of 1995 and 2001, particularly related to improvement of the safety, effectiveness and efficiency of interagency fire and fire aviation operations.
The "Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations 2004" states, references, or supplements policy for the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, and the National Park Service fire and fire aviation management. Agency specific exceptions are identified in the text.
Specifically for the National Park Service, the "Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations 2004" supplements RM-18 Wildland Fire Management and RM-60 Aviation, and is to be used as agency policy guidance. RM-18 is currently under revision; pertinent chapters will reflect the "Interagency Standards." Where RM-18 and RM-60 are silent, the "Interagency Standards" take precedence. All previous year editions should be discarded, using only the current 2004 edition.
The "Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations" will be available at the Publications Management System (PMS), National Interagency Fire Center, with estimated availability March 1st . To reduce the expected impact to PMS, Regional Fire Management Officers will consolidate and place orders for their regions direct to PMS no sooner than March 1st . The stock number is NFES #2724; cost $2.70 each.
The document is also available at http://www.fire.blm.gov/Standards/redbook.htm
For further information, contact your Regional Fire Management Officer, National Fire Operations Program Leader Paul Broyles, 208/387-5226, or National Fire Management Officer Sue Vap, 208/387-5225.
[Submitted by Paul Broyles, paul_broyles@nps.gov, 208-387-5226] The "Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations" will be available at the Publications Management System (PMS), National Interagency Fire Center, with estimated availability March 1st. More Information...
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Southeast Region
Hooks Named to Head Region
National Park Service (NPS) Director Fran P.Mainella today announced that Patricia A. Hooks has been selected as regional director of the NPS's Southeast Region, which includes 64 national park sites in nine southern states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"We engaged in a long search for just the right person to take charge of the Southeast Region, and it turned out to be the very person who has been handling this job for the past several months," said Mainella, who made the announcement while visiting the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site in Atlanta, GA. "Pat Hooks has proved herself to be an excellent and highly capable executive, and we are pleased to officially recognize her as part of our management team."
Hooks, an attorney formerly with the Department of the Interior's Southeast Regional Solicitor's office in Atlanta, joined the NPS as deputy southeast regional director in September 2000. She succeeds Jerry Belson, who departed the top post 18 months ago to become a special advisor to the NPS director. Belson had occupied the regional director's job for six years.
An Albany, Ga., native, Hooks becomes the first African-American woman to head one of the Park Service's seven regions. The Southeast Region has nearly 3,000 employees and a budget of $300 million annually. It includes four of the top 10 most visited areas in the National Park System—Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Natchez Trace Parkway and Gulf Islands National Seashore. Headquarters offices for the region are located in downtown Atlanta.
"I'm honored and excited for this opportunity to have a role in preserving and protecting some of our Nation's most cherished places," Hooks said. "Those of us who are fortunate to work for the National Park Service have a special sense of duty to the Nation. I'm grateful for the chance to lead such dedicated men and women."
Hooks earned a business degree from Albany State College and a doctor of law degree from the prestigious Emory Law School in Atlanta. Earlier in her career, she worked for the regional telephone company, Bell South, and as a law clerk to a U.S. District Court judge in Atlanta. She also has served as an adjunct professor at Clark Atlanta University and as a staff attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Atlanta office.
During her seven years in the Interior Department's regional solicitor's office, Hooks was lead attorney on many issues for the Park Service's Southeast Region.
Hooks has a daughter, Mrs. Lawonda Hill, a teacher in the Cherokee County (Ga.) school system, and two granddaughters, Arika and Genesis.
The Interior Department's Executive Resources Board has approved this selection. NPS is awaiting final approval by the Office of Personnel Management.
[Submitted by Paul Winegar, paul_wingegar@nps.gov]
Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park (VA)
Mike Greenfield To Retire
After more than 30 years of dedicated service to the National Park Service, J. Michael (Mike) Greenfield will retire on February 29th. Mike's career began on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1974 after serving in the Army as an MP in Viet Nam. Subsequent duty stations found him in the Everglades, back at Blue Ridge, on to Assateague Island and then off to Fort Necessity before finally arriving in Fredericksburg in 1986. During Mike's stay in Fredericksburg, his accomplishments were many — but none more important that his work involving the Archeological Resource Preservation Act (ARPA). Mike developed a nationally-recognized reputation for his investigative and teaching skills in ARPA. He has received numerous honors and awards for his ARPA work, the most recent being one from Director Mainella, given "in recognition of significant contributions to the National Park Service Archeological Resource Protection Program." A party to commemorate Mike's many achievements will be held in Fredericksburg on Saturday February 28th at 6 p.m. Please contact chief ranger Mike Johnson for more information. Mike and his wife, Judy, who is a teacher at the Naval Weapons Station at Dalgren, will continue to reside in Fredericksburg while he pursues his passion for restoring Corvettes and his undying love of Civil War history.
[Submitted by Mike Johnson, Chief Ranger]
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.