Southeast Region
Hurricane Jeanne
The following reports were received through Saturday:
Everglades NP/Dry Tortugas NP — The park closed on
Saturday. Employees who live outside the park were not expected to
report to work on Saturday; protection rangers and essential emergency
staff were to be on duty. Concession operations have closed. Campers
were allowed to stay in the park on Friday night, but required to leave
by noon Saturday. No backcountry permits
are being issued.
Big Cypress NP — The hurricane incident management team
met on Friday and decided to shutdown by close of business that same
day. Backcountry access for ORV users, hunters and others remained open
at the time of the report (Friday), but all backcountry users were
advised to check the park's web site or information lines for further
details on possible closures.
Biscayne NP — The park closed on Friday. Island residents
have been evacuated. The incident management team (Holly Rife, IC) is
overseeing preparations.
Castillo de San Marcos NM/Fort Matanzas NM — The park
shutdown on Saturday. The incident management team is in place (Dave
Parker, IC).
Canaveral NS — The IMT met on Thursday and began
preparations on Friday. Public use areas wee closed and secured by
7 p.m. on Friday and employees were
released to make preparations at home.
DeSoto NM — The park was closed on Sunday. On Saturday, a
mandatory evacuation order was issued for all mobile homes in the
greater Manatee County area. Tropical storm force winds are expected.
Unless the course of the hurricane changes, the park will reopen on
Monday.
Timucuan E&HP/Fort Caroline NM — The park closed at
5 p.m. on Saturday and will remain closed
through Monday. All preparations have been made.
Cumberland Island NS — Hurricane preparations began on
Friday. The park closed on Saturday afternoon and all campers and
visitors were evacuated.
Fort Fredericka NM — All buildings have been boarded up
and secured, and vital park files and museum artifacts have been removed
to the curatorial building. The park remained open on Saturday, but
plans called for closure on Sunday and Monday if the hurricane stayed on
its predicted track.
Fort Pulaski NM — The park is putting its hurricane plan
into effect and will be closed on Monday.
Cape Hatteras NS — Plans called for putting the park's
hurricane plan in effect at 7 a.m.on
Sunday, but preparations for Jeanne were begun on Friday. All employees
were advised to be prepared for evacuation as early as noon today.
From reports by Ken Garvin, FMO, SERO; Wayne Rose, Acting Chief Ranger, CANA; Bob DeGross, Chief of Interpretation, BICY; Susan Gonshor, Chief of Interpretation, BISC; Gordie Wilson, Superintendent, CASA/FOMA; Dann Trexler, Acting Chief Ranger, CAHA; Bill Wright, Chief Ranger, EVER; Julie Meeks, Chief of Administration, CUIS; Mike Tennent, Superintendent, FOFR; Norm Williams, IC, TIMU/FOCA; John Breen, Superintendent, FOPU; Raymond Hamel, Park Ranger, DESO.
Eastern Areas
Hurricane Ivan Recovery Operations Continue
Today's updates on Hurricane Ivan recovery operations follows:
Gulf Islands NS — The critical incident stress management
team, headed by Jay Lippert of Fire Island NS, continues to work with
employees who were personally affected by the storm. Law enforcement
personnel continue to provide security at headquarters, the visitor
center, the ICP and the Fort Pickens area. Work continues on cleaning
and removing water-damaged materials, including some sheetrock and trash
and debris that litter the entire area. Following a helicopter
overflight and on the ground inspection of the Fort Pickens area by key
IMT members on Thursday, the focus of effort shifted to protection and
mitigation of cultural resources in that area. A cultural resource
assessment team from SERO and HFC has arrived and began work
in the Fort Pickens area on Saturday. A crew that was ordered in this
weekend has begun some of the initial mitigation of damage to Fort
Pickens buildings. The NPS-owned boat, the Mystique, is being
prepared for hauling supplies and equipment for these two groups.
Delaware Water Gap NRA — The Delaware River corridor from
Milford to Bushkill was reopened at 7
a.m. on the morning of Saturday, September 25th. The boat ramps at
Milford Beach, Dingmans Access and Bushkill Access also reopened.
Portable toilets are in place at those three locations, as regular
facilities still need to be rehabilitated due to damage inflicted by
high waters. Boating is being permitted on the river from dawn to dusk.
Additional access points will be opened as soon as maintenance crews can
clear them and the roads that lead to them.
Reports from Peter Givens, IO, Incident Management Team, GUIS; Bill
Halainen, IO, Incident Management Team, DEWA.
George Washington Memorial Parkway (MD)
Out-Of-Court Settlement in Tree Cutting Case
In November of 2000, the NPS received a report of a tree cutting incident within the park. The area in question is located on a private parcel protected by a conservation easement. The incident was reported by a local conservation group, the Potomac Conservancy. The easement was established to protect the natural and scenic qualities of the Potomac River Gorge, a 16-mile stretch of the river from the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, upstream to Great Falls. The investigation revealed that 32 trees were felled to improve the view of the Potomac River from the private residence. The investigation was conducted by United States Park Police investigator Jon Crichfield and ranger Sean McCabe, with close coordination with assistant U.S. attorney Dennis Kennedy and other NPS and USGS staff. On September 14, 2004, the National Park Service reached an out-of-court settlement with the property owners. The settlement includes the following terms:
- The property owners will conduct a reforestation of the site;
- They will donate an additional and more restrictive conservation easement over a portion of the site;
- They were cited for a CFR violation and will pay a $5,000 fine;
- They will pay the NPS $315,597 for damage and response time pursuant to 16 USC 19jj;
- A portion of these funds will be used to produce a "Dear Neighbor" letter to be mailed to thousands of park neighbors in the Washington metropolitan region as part of an education outreach program;
- They will make a $150,000 donation to the National Park Foundation and the Potomac Conservancy.
Media interest may be high due to the high value of the real estate in this neighborhood. For more information, contact Sean McCabe at 703-289-2500 or via email.[Submitted by Sean McCabe, Park Ranger]
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (CA)
Operation No Grow Continues
On September 6th, the park's special agent stopped a person on Mineral King Road that he suspected had dropped off supplies to marijuana growers operating in the park. Evidence was obtained and shared with cooperating agencies involved in the Operation No Grow investigation. Two days later, three rangers and the park's special gent returned to a marijuana plantation that was initially raided on September 2nd and removed another 7,648 plants and about ten pounds of processed marijuana. The total number of plants seized in this one garden complex now exceeds 26,000. Substantial amounts of evidence were also collected from the camps. Items are being processed for fingerprints and DNA and being compared with previously seized evidence. One firearm was seized. So far this year, more than 44,000 plants have been found and eradicated within the park — an all time one-year record. The total street value is estimated at $176 million.[Submitted by Gregg Fauth, Acting Chief Ranger]
Lake Mead National Recreation Area (AZ,NV)
Fatal Cliff Jump
Park dispatch received a cell phone call from an area known as Gasoline Alley in the Mohave District around 6:30 p.m. on September 4th. The caller reported that there'd been a cliff diving accident, possibly resulting in a drowning. Rangers and Arizona and Nevada state game officers responded. Onlookers told them that a 32-year-old man from Ontario, California, had jumped from a spot called the Cat Eye and had not resurfaced. The man had climbed part way up the cliff, then turned and started to descend. His friends encouraged him to keep going, though, so he reversed directions and climbed to the Cat Eye and jumped from there to the water 35 feet below. Bullhead City divers found his body in 41 feet of water at the base of the cliff.[Submitted by Dirk Murphy, District Ranger, Mohave District]
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (AZ,UT)
Fatal Cliff Jump
On Saturday, September 11th, 23-year-old J.H., an English national, jumped feet first off a 65-foot cliff into Lake Powell near Antelope Point Marina. J.H. was part of a Trek America tour and was visiting Glen Canyon for a day of swimming. He was the first to jump from the cliff. The tour director jumped in after J.H. in an attempt to find him when he failed to surface. Park divers searched the area to a depth of 100 feet but found no ledges for the body to rest on. The park's remote-operated submersible vehicle (ROV) found and recovered J.H.'s body at a depth of 273 feet on Monday morning. In reviewing a digital video of J.H.'s jump, investigators noted that his body was bent forward at the time of entry and that he was looking down at his feet. During the autopsy, the medical examiner determined that he'd sustained a skull fracture and ruled that he was killed instantly from impact with the water.[Submitted by Mike Mayer, Chief Ranger]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Monday, September 27, 2004
NPS Fires
For a brief supplemental narrative on each fire, click on the bar with the arrow. Internal NPS readers can link directly to full reports on each fire by clicking on the notepad icon; public readers of the Morning Report can obtain similar information by going to http://www.nps.gov/fire/news
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National Situation Report
The full NIFC Incident Management Situation Report for today can be obtained at http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf. NIFC's national fire news is at http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Olympic National Park (WA)
Jack Hughes Celebrates 50 Years of Rangering
This month, Olympic National Park Ranger Jack Hughes celebrates fifty years of federal service, including forty-eight years as a national park ranger. Jack's entire career has been devoted to serving in the field, both as an Army scout during the Korean War and as a field ranger. Jack is an icon, both within the National Park Service and the western Washington outdoors community.
Jack began his NPS career in 1956 as a seasonal ranger at Mesa Verde National Park. In 1958, he was hired into his first permanent job at Yellowstone National Park, where he spent the next seven years. In 1965, craving more rescue experience, he moved to Olympic National Park, where he has served with unflagging energy and dedication ever since. Known for his vast knowledge of the park, unparalleled winter and mountaineering skills and intuitive leadership during emergencies, Jack epitomizes public service. His sense of humor, deep love for the park and willingness to share his knowledge have inspired and instructed countless park employees and visitors alike.
With an almost uncanny sense of both park terrain and human behavior, Jack has contributed to more SAR missions than anyone can remember, though the memories of lives saved and lost hikers reunited with family remain clear. Particularly memorable are winter searches for lost skiers at Hurricane Ridge, made after dark and during blizzards, when Jack's dedication and knowledge saved lives.
Legendary for his winter skills, Jack patrolled over 1,000 miles on cross-country skis each winter for many years, despite lasting effects of a serious back injury. During a search in 1976, the helicopter Jack was on crashed, crushing four of his vertebrae. Six months later, with bone grafts and steel rods stabilizing his back, Jack returned to cross-country ski patrols at Hurricane Ridge.
He has also served on many out-of-park assignments, on fires, security details, SARs and the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He is a highly skilled and expert observer of fire weather and avalanche weather, and has served as both Operations Section Chief and Division Supervisor on a Type 2 team.
Jack's 50 years of rangering will be celebrated on Saturday, October 2 from 2 pm - 6 pm at the Elks Lodge in downtown Port Angeles, WA. Letters, photos and other remembrances for Jack's scrapbook may be sent to Denise Fuller, Olympic National Park, 600 East Park Avenue, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
[Submitted by Barb Maynes, barb_maynes@nps.gov, 360-565-3005]
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.