Everglades National Park (FL)
Illegal Dump Investigation Leads To Drug Arrests
While patrolling the park boundary in the East Everglades subdistrict
last January 4th, rangers David Pharo and Allen Etheridge located a
large illegal dump containing debris that was believed to be associated
with a marijuana hydroponics operation. A small amount of
traceable evidence was located within the dump that led to a residence
in northern Miami. Since the dump site was determined to be outside the
boundary, rangers turned the information over to the FBI and Miami
High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) investigators. In a
separate incident, investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC) were investigating a similar dump a few
miles away. A joint investigation positively linked the two
dumpsites to the same place of origin. On March 18th, HIDTA and FWC
investigators were conducting surveillance on the suspect house when
they saw three people leave in a large truck full of trash bags and head
in the direction of the East Everglades. HIDTA members followed the
suspects and apprehended them in the act of illegally dumping the trash
bags along the park's eastern boundary. Contents of the dumped bags
contained marijuana hydroponics debris. A search warrant was obtained
and executed the following day. The search of the premises revealed
evidence that could link each of the dumpsites to the residence. The
equipment found in house had the capacity to grow 1,000 plants, but just
97 live marijuana plants in various stages of growth were seized. The
stumps of approximately 800 marijuana plants have been identified in the
dumps. Charges are pending. This is the second large-scale drug-related
case in eight months involving marijuana hydroponics that have been
initiated by Everglades' rangers as a result of illegal dumping
activity.
[Submitted by Bill Wright, Chief Ranger]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
Kings Mountain National Military Park (SC)
Partner Burn (Prescribed Fire Treatment)
The Partner burn is a collaborative effort of Kings Mountain National Military Park and Kings Mountain State Park. The Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge assisted with aerial ignition. This project is a continutation of the prescribed fire program that was initiated at Kings Mountain National Military Park in 2000 and is part of the overall management to restore vegetation and the historic landscape and reduce hazardous fuels along the Park Boundary. (full report)
Status
The park and the visitor center are open. The main Park Road will be closed between the NPS visitor center and the State Park headquarters until operations are complete.
Acreage: 477 total acres (119 Kings Mountain National Military Park acres + 358 Kings Mountian State Park acres)
Resources Committed: 28 firefighters, 2 engines, 1 helicopter
Estimated containment date: March 25, 2004[Submitted by Chris Revels, chris_revels@nps.gov, 864-936-7921]
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (CA)
Shasta Divide Prescribed Burn (Prescribed Fire Treatment)
Fire Managers took advantage of the warm, dry weather and completed another prescribed burn on the Park's east boundary.
180 acres of underbrush, fine fuels and pockets of dead and down vegetation were consumed.
This project is part of Whiskeytown's commitment to reduce hazardous fuel in the park and near communties at risk. (full report)
Acreage: 180 acres
Estimated containment date: completed[Submitted by Carol Jandrall, carol_jandrall@nps.gov, 530 359-2304]
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Glacier National Park
Death of Jerry O'Neal
The employees of Glacier National Park are deeply saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Deputy Superintendent Jerry O'Neal. O'Neal died early yesterday morning at a Kalispell, Mont., hospital following a brief illness.
His soft, Southern drawl usually gave away his Mississippi heritage. A few lines of conversation revealed a wife, a daughter and a fascination for bugs. His love of the outdoors showed in his comfortable manner in the woods. But there was much more to Jerry O'Neal, the Deputy Superintendent of Glacier National Park in Montana.
On the family front, there is his wife Sylvia, a mental health professional, and daughter Halle.
O'Neal was a master of several trades. A toxicologist, an entomologist, an ecologist and, unknown to many on his staff, a novelist. O'Neal published nearly a dozen historical novels under the pen name, Jess McCreede; several environmental thrillers; and a feature length screenplay.
O'Neal left Atlanta for the position of Deputy Superintendent at Glacier National Park two years ago, joining his friend and former Mammoth Cave National Park colleague Mick Holm, superintendent at Glacier. O'Neal was chief of science and resource management at Mammoth Cave while Holm was assistant superintendent.
O'Neal's strong research background was a great asset to his work at Mammoth Cave, in the Southeast Regional Office and at Glacier National Park. He came to Glacier National Park in November of 2002 from the NPS Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta, where he served as the Regional Chief of Resources. In this position, he directed the science and natural resource management program for the entire southeast region of the NPS. O'Neal came to the NPS in 1998, when he served as the Chief of Science and Resources Management for two years at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.
Prior to his two years at Mammoth Cave, he served as the Regional Toxicologist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Southeast Region as the Southeast Regional environmental contaminants coordinator. Before that, he was a pesticide research consultant (1981-91), led an Eastern Spruce Budworm research project for the U.S. Forest Service in New Hampshire (1979-81), served as the entomologist in charge at the USDA Animal/Plant Health and Inspection Service lab in Florida (1975-79), and conducted research for the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon during the mid-1970s. O'Neal earned bachelors (1971) and masters (1972) degrees in ecology/entomology/toxicology from the University of Southern Mississippi.
O'Neal, in recent interview, explained his career choice: "As a boy, I was always fascinated by the natural world around me. My high school science teacher acted as mentor and encouraged me to pursue a career in the natural sciences. I chose systems ecology because it offered a holistic view, the big picture, of how the natural world functions with respect to man's actions."
O'Neal, 61, came down with an unknown illness last week and had undergone blood work and other diagnostic tests over the past few days. He was admitted to the Kalispell Regional Medical Center on Wednesday and died at 5:30 a.m. Thursday.
Condolences to Jerry's family and his many friends throughout the National Park Service.
[Submitted by Amy Vanderbilt, Public Affairs Officer]
Fire and Aviation Management
Two NPS Nominees Win National Fire Plan Awards.
The National Fire Plan Conference was a resounding success. "Wildland Fire 2004," hosted over 1,000 attendees, 87 exhibitors and 100 poster presenters and was held in Reno, NV March 3-5. This year the conference was the first of a collaborative effort between the International Association of Wildland Fire, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the USDA Forest Service and the US Department of Interior.
The National Fire Plan Awards recognize the outstanding accomplishments of land managers and community members. These individuals and groups have gone above and beyond the scope of the National Fire Plan goals in one of the six key points to the Plan. Awards were presented at the conference in each of the categories below:
- Excellence in Implementing the National Fire Plan
- Excellence in Firefighter Preparedness, Safety and Training
- Excellence in Rehabilitation and Restoration
- Excellence in Hazardous Fuel Treatment
- Excellence in Community Assistance
- Improving Accountability
Two National Park Service nominees were honored with National Fire Plan Awards for Excellence in Firefighter Preparedness, Training and Safety. The award for an individual in this category went to David Crary, Fire Management Officer of Cape Cod National Seashore, and the group award went to the Indiana Interagency Coordination Center, in which Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a cooperative partner.
David Crary has organized, taught, and lead many wildland firefighter training courses for federal employees, local citizens and college students at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. Six Minutes for Safety is always included in Crary's classes as well as his day-to-day operations at the Seashore. Through the Rural Fire Assistance Program, more than $40,000 worth of wildland firefighting equipment was acquired for four lower Cape Cod communities. Crary also supervised a Student Conservation Association Fire Education Corps team that evaluated more than 350 structures, both privately and government owned, and provided suggestions on reducing the wildland fire risk to those structures. Serving as a technical expert, Crary assisted in wildland fire public safety planning in Barnstable County. He also has worked with local community organizations and agencies to safely execute prescribed burns. In addition, he has worked with the University of Massachusetts on one Joint Fire Science project as a co-principal Investigator entitled, "Managing Fuels in Northeastern Barrens."
The Indiana Interagency Coordination Center (IICC) is a collaborative effort of the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, Indiana Department of National Resources and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division. This interagency group signed the first ever state-wide interagency cooperative fire management agreement. IICC collects intelligence data such as resource availability, fire danger, staffing levels, potential assessment reports, fire occurrence, fire weather, and coordinates all wildland fire training statewide. The center allows for the fire resources state-wide to be combined and used not only in Indiana, but throughout the country on national-level incidents as well. IICC dispatcher Dave Nugent (the position is jointly funded through NPS and FWS) brings over 25 years of experience in emergency dispatch along with personal contacts to all of the county 911 dispatch offices. The center has been responsible for training over 30 helicopter crewmembers, of which two have become Helicopter Managers, and utilized the exclusive-use helicopter in the region for fire management and national incidents effectively.
The National Park Service was well-represented among the nominees for the 2004 National Fire Plan Awards. The NPS nominees are listed below by category.
Excellence in Collaboration:
- Grand Teton National Park
- Glacier National Park
- Shenandoah Valley Interagency Wildfire Prevention and Education Team
- California Fire Alliance
- Canaveral National Seashore
- Ozark National Scenic Riverways Fire Management Program (Honorable Mention).
Excellence in Community Assistance:
- National Park Service Fire Education, Prevention and Information Specialists group
- Southeast Fire Management Program
- Homestead National Monument of America
- "Living with Fire" contributors and Virginia's Shenandoah Valley Interagency Wildfire Prevention and Education Team.
Excellence in Firefighter Preparedness, Safety and Training:
- David Crary (FMO, Cape Cod National Seashore)
- Blue Ridge Parkway (Honorable Mention)
- Everglades National Park
- Indiana Interagency Coordination Center.
Excellence in Hazardous Fuel Treatment:
- Big Cypress National Preserve
- Cedar Breaks National Monument
- Effigy Mounds National Monument
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
Congratulations to all of the outstanding nominees!
[Submitted by Jenn D'Emilio, jenn_d'emilio@nps.gov, 208.387.5257]
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.