INCIDENTS

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Coronado National Memorial (AZ)
Assault on Rangers, Shots Fired

On the afternoon of June 21st, rangers attempted to stop a suspicious vehicle occupied by two men on the main park road near East Forest Lane. The vehicle pulled to the side of the road, then made a U-turn while the rangers were getting out of their patrol vehicle. The driver accelerated toward one of the rangers in an effort to run him over. The ranger fired several rounds at the driver with his service-issued .223 caliber semi-automatic rifle in an attempt to stop the felony assault. The second ranger fired several rounds at the driver with his service-issued .45 ACP pistol. The driver continued to flee the area and eventually made his way back across the international border into Mexico. Neither ranger was injured and it is unknown if the occupants of the vehicle were injured. The FBI has taken the lead in the criminal investigation, and has been joined by the Cochise County Sheriff's Department, as the park has proprietary jurisdiction. The incident is also being investigated by National Park Service special agents. 
[Submitted by Gary Haynes, Chief Ranger]

Biscayne National Park (FL)
Interdiction of Smuggling Operation

On June 4th, rangers received intelligence information from the Coast Guard about an illegal alien smuggling operation in the area. Following two days of surveillance, rangers saw two suspicious vessels leaving Homestead Bayfront County Park, right across the canal from park headquarters. As the vessels were leaving the channel, the rangers noticed that the engine sounded like it was "on plane" (up off the water and running at cruising speed) but observed that it was instead plowing through the water. This suggested that it was carrying a lot of weight. They advised the Coast Guard, which intercepted the boats on the ocean side of Adam's Key. Recovered items included cell phones with Cuban phone numbers, GPS systems with routes to Cuba, fuel transfer pumps, and 20 15-gallon fuel cells. Smuggled immigrants are frequently recovered on land but the smugglers are much more difficult to intercept.
[Submitted by Holly Rife, Chief Ranger]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Visitor Seriously Injured in Riding Accident

Around 8:30 p.m. on the evening of June 18th, S.N., 37, of Knoxville, Tennessee, suffered a fractured femur when the horse he was riding stepped off a narrow section of the Lower Mount Cammerrer Trail and fell. S.N. was on a horseback trip with his girlfriend and two juveniles at the time and was about six miles from the trailhead. Park dispatch received a 911 call at about 9:30 p.m. reporting the accident. Ranger/park medic Steve Kloster and VUA/park medic Bob Zydanowicz treated S.N. at the scene. A litter team of ten rangers worked all night to extricate S.N. via a wheeled litter to the trailhead, which they finally reached just after 7 a.m. S.N. was taken by ambulance to a helispot, then flown to the UT Medical Center in Knoxville. The hospital reports that S.N. sustained a very severe femur fracture, requiring seven hours of surgery and several plates and rods to repair.
[Submitted by Rick Brown, ]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Friday, June 24, 2005

Preparedness Level 2

Eleven of yesterday's 232 newly-reported fires became large fires, with the balance caught by initial attack. Six other large fires were contained. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas.

Weather Forecast

An upper low is moving slowly toward the California coast, while high pressure remains in control over the Southwest. The approach of this low will bring some dry thunderstorms to the Sierra Mountains and western Nevada, along with increasing winds to the Southern California mountains and deserts. In Alaska, high pressure will gradually build over the area.

Red Flag Warnings

None today.

Fire Weather Watches

A watch has been posted for isolated to scattered dry thunderstorms over west-central Nevada.

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

No updates on National Park Service fires have been received since yesterday.

National/State Team Commitments

Newly listed fires (on this report) appear below in boldface. Changes in the status of a fire (type of team, change from a fire to a complex, etc.) are also noted in boldface.

Fires are sorted by type of team; teams are listed in alphabetical order within each type by the IC's last name.

State	Agency	Team	IC	Fire and Location	6/23	6/24	% Con	Est Con
CA	CDF	T1	Henson	Soboba Fire, Riverside Unit	2,000	2,080	50	6/25
AZ	State	T1	Oltrogge	Humbug Fire, Crown King, AZ	---	1,500	0	UNK
CA	CDF	T1	Paul	Paradise Fire, San Bernadino Unit	4,500	3,022	50	6/25
AZ	USFS	T1	Whitney	Cave Creek Complex, Tonto NF	12,800	46,000	5	UNK
NV	BLM	T1	On order	Goodsprings Fire, Las Vegas Field Office	---	15,000	0	7/1
AK	State	T2	Kurth	Sheenjek River Fire, Upper Yukon Zone	64,000	68,480	40	UNK
NV	BLM	T2	Linardos	Badger Fire, Carson City Field Office	736	736	100	CND
AZ	BLM	T2	Lineback	Perkins Complex, Phoenix Field Office	23,000	21,000	50	6/25
AZ	USFS	T2	Philbin	Three Fire Complex, Tonto NF	---	11,000	NR	UNK
AZ	USFS	T2	Raley	Aztec Fire, Coronado NF	1,300	1,300	90	6/24
NV	BLM	T2	Suwyn	S. Nevada Complex, Las Vegas Field Office	---	10,000	NR	UNK
CA	NPS	T2	Walker	Hackberry Fire, Mojave NP	8,000	21,200	10	UNK
NM	USFS	FUM	Hall	North Gila Complex, Gila NF	11,159	11,948	N/A	N/A

National Resource Commitments

Day	Wed	Thu	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Date	6/15	6/16	6/20	6/21	6/22	6/23	6/24
Crews	22	23	37	42	49	115	204
Engines	40	127	59	97	150	414	407
Helicopters	7	5	14	15	22	41	46
Air Tankers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Overhead	116	83	183	277	417	618	756

Further Information

This report is meant to present just highlights of the current fire situation. Two other NIFC sites provide much greater detail:

Full NIFC Situation Report (PDF file) — http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf
National Fire News — http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html

Information on NPS Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) and on park fires can be found at:

FAM — http://www.nps.gov/fire
Park fires — http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

OPERATIONAL NOTES

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Servicewide
Upcoming Training Calendar

UPCOMING TRAINING

This listing is updated every Friday. It is not meant to replace any of the various training center calendars — just to augment them and provide a heads-up on new training courses. Please submit information to Bill Halainen. New listings and revisions are in bold face.

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June - Next Spring

Web Workshop for Content Authors. The training announcement for the upcoming series of web workshops for content authors has been released and nominations are being accepted for all workshop locations. The workshops will include training for the new NPS Content Management System (CMS) and the new NPS web standards for park websites. The series of workshops will begin the last week of June, 2005, and continue on a region-by-region basis until completed next spring. This training has been closely coordinated with each region's web coordinator to ensure that all park web coordinators have an opportunity to participate in the course. The training and CMS implementation plan for each region has been approved by the respective deputy regional director. Once the required training is complete, park web coordinators will be able to create their respective websites in the CMS. For more info, go to http://inside.nps.gov/waso/web

August 1 — August 4

Fundamentals of Special Park Uses, DOI Learning Center, Albuquerque, NM. This 32-hour course (number VRPSPU3004 on My Learning Manager) covers all aspects of special park uses from First Amendment rights to filming and photography to wireless telecommunication sites. Temporary food services and other health and safety issues related to special park uses will be discussed. DO-53/RM-53 is covered in depth, as are 36 CFR and NPS Management Policies 2001. Tuition for the course will not exceed $225. A minimum of 25 people are needed to hold the class. A draft agenda can be found at http://classicinside.nps.gov/documents/ABUQ%20agenda2%20%2Edoc. For more information, contact Lee Dickinson, special park uses program manager, WASO, at 202-513-7092.

August 8 — August 19

Seized Computer and Evidence Recovery Specialist (SCERS-503), FLETC, Glynco, GA. See My Learning Manager for the announcement. Closes on June 29th.

August 9 — August 11

Situational Leadership II (Law Enforcement Version) (SLTP-505), FLETC, Glynco, GA. See My Learning Manager for the announcement. Closes on June 27th.

August 15 — August 26

Physical Security Training (PSTP-507), FLETC, Glynco, GA. See My Learning Manager for the announcement. Closes on July 7th.

August 15 — August 26

Physical Fitness Coordinator Training (PFCTP-506), FLETC, Glynco, GA. See My Learning Manager for the announcement. Closes on July 7th.

August 23 — August 25

Natural Resource Law and Policy for Superintendents, Jacksonville, FL.  This course provides park managers with a fundamental understanding of their overarching legal and policy mandates to advance park resource management and protection and of the ABC's of litigation. Special emphasis is placed on the statutory provisions of the Organic Act and the body of case law pertaining to park management actions. Class participants also explore other resource protection tools. Participants will be able to describe the fundamental legal and policy framework upon which to base park natural resource management decisions; discuss current law, NPS Management Policies, and court cases that affect selected issues in park natural resource management; identify tools, programs, and information available to help Superintendents make informed and legally-defensible decisions. Interested participants can apply through My Learning Manager for this course under NRS 4020. There is no tuition. The application deadline is July 22nd. For more information about the course, contact Jeri Hall, Albright Training Center, at 928-638-7927.

August 28 — September 2

Quarters Management Information System and Rates Training, Sacramento, CA. The course will provide housing managers a better understanding and working knowledge of the NPS housing program. Specific topics include QMIS inventory requirements, required and non-required occupancy, safety and health issues, need assessments, condition assessments, housing management plans and PMIS projects. For more information, contact Hala Bates, IMRO housing office, at 303-969-2789 or via email.

August 30 — November 17

Criminal Investigator Training (CITP-546W), FLETC, Glynco, GA. See My Learning Manager for the announcement. Closes on July 20th.

September 19 — September 23

Submerged Cultural Resources Law Enforcement, Homestead, FL. Offered by the NPS Submerged Resources Center, NOAA Marine Sanctuary Program, and Archaeological Resource Investigations and hosted by Biscayne NP. The tuition is $350. Diver certification is desirable but not mandatory. The course will provide training on all aspects of the investigation and prosecution of archaeological crimes involving submerged cultural resources.  Instructors for the class are recognized national experts in this area of law enforcement.  Closes on August 12th. For more information, contact NPS class coordinator Larry Murphy, chief of the Submerged Resources Center, via email or at 505-988-6750.

October 31 — November 4

Producing NPS Publications, Harpers Ferry NHP, WV. This 40-hour, hands-on course will give participants the basic knowledge and skills to design and produce publications, including site bulletins, newspapers, posters, and other graphics. It will incorporate the new NPS Graphic Design Standards and templates. Subjects will include design principles, layout, typography, image preparation, maps, printing prep, and working with printing companies. This course will not cover writing and editing. Computers will be used but this should not be considered a computer course. Participants will need to bring their own laptop with full and complete editions of Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator installed. (Adobe PageMaker will not be acceptable.) The tuition is $175 to cover supplies and materials. For further information and/or application forms, contact Tom Haraden at Zion NP at 435-772-0161 or via email by September 26th.

November 28 — December 2

Quarters Management Information System and Rates Training, Denver, CO. The course will provide housing managers a better understanding and working knowledge of the NPS housing program. Specific topics include QMIS inventory requirements, required and non-required occupancy, safety and health issues, need assessments, condition assessments, housing management plans and PMIS projects. For more information, contact Hala Bates, IMRO housing office, at 303-969-2789 or via email.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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Alaska Region
Anne Castellina Moves On

Anne Castellina, assistant to the regional director, Alaska Region,is retiring on July 1st. Anne's professionalism, integrity, humor and kindness will be greatly missed. If you'd like to stay in touch, her home address is: P.O. Box 1508, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425. Email address is: annecastellina@frontiernet.net.

We asked Anne what she would be up to and she says, "Wow! What will I be doing? Sleeping in late for the short-term. 5:30 am has been coming awfully early! I'm hoping to work in training (have contract, will travel!) for both NPS and other agencies (NCTC & Mather being so close and all). I'd like to become involved in NPS Centennial celebration planning and activities and work on special events and conferences as I've done throughout my NPS career. I hope to become a VIP in parks near where I live (back to my interpretive roots and the kick I get out of interacting with visitors.) And, of course, there is the new personal life and all of the things I used to do and put on hold when I got so busy!" (Anne gets married to the wonderful Gary Candelaria this summer)

Anne's extensive career in the NPS and background includes beginning as an intake trainee in the 70s, attending George Williams College in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (for environmental ed training), and working in New York City parks (for "urban experience"). She later took a job as an interpretive historian at De Soto NM, and researched and built "Camp Ucita," a living history depiction of life in camp for DeSoto's troops. The camp just celebrated it's 30th anniversary and remains a popular visitor draw. She has worked extensively with a local little theater group, as a feature writer for the Bradenton Herald, and as a member of the governor's commission to save historic church and establish a local historic site - Manatee Village Historical Park.

She continued on as a supervisory interpretive historian at Gulf Islands National Seashore. During that tenure, she oversaw the restoration and stabilization of several fortifications and the emplacement of ordnance at Spanish American War and WWII batteries. One of her crowning achievements was the establishment of an off-site, on-site environmental education program for disadvantaged schoolchildren and living history programs for visitors and local groups.

While in Florida, Anne served on the governor's commission to celebrate anniverary of Galvez's entry into Pensacola Bay. Later, as chief of visitor services at Sagamore Hill NHS, she developed the "Life at Sagamore Hill" off-site, on-site curriculum based education program for area schoolchildren. She was a member of the Northeast interpretive skills training team, which presented skills training throughout the region, and served on a three month detail at Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace as acting site supervisor (fillin in behind Diane Jung).

She then became a program coordinator at Stephen T. Mather Training Center, where she developed and presented a wide variety of servicewide training classes both on and off-site.

More recently, Anne was superintendent, Kenai Fjords NP. Highlights of her tour there included developments at Exit Glacier and on the coast of the park and community activities including Rotary International, the Chamber of Commerce, etc. She served as MAC chair during the Exxon Valdez oil spill incident from 1989 to 1991. 

Anne finishes out her career as assistant to the regional director and as her liaison to Washington. Says Anne: "I learned to find my way around MIB and the Hill!"

She has received numerous honors and special achievement awards, as well as quality step increases, the North Atlantic Region Freeman Tilden Award (1982), the Department of the Interior Group Award for North Atlantic Region Interpretive Skills Team, the Department of the Interior Honor Award for Superior Service and Special Act Service Awards, the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award, the Outstanding Club Service Award, from the Seward Rotary Club, and the Seward Phoenix Log, Citizen of the Year Seward Chamber of Commerce Volunteer of the Year, the Seward Planning and Zoning Commission. She was also Chair, Seward MAC Group, and the Seward Silver Salmon Derby Chair, a Volunteer Chair for the NAI Conference, President, Seward Rotary Club, 2000. And if that wasn't enough! She was Chair, Discovery North Conference, and Chair, Seward Centennial Symposium. She served on the Seward Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and had an International Assignment to Zambia, Africa, in August, 1990 as well as an International Assignment, Sondrio, Italy, October.

And as if that all wasn't "wow" enough - she managed to raise a family on her own! We'll miss you Anne - bon voyage and best wishes to you and Gary.

Intermountain Region
Howard Ness Announces Retirement

Howard Ness, a 14-year veteran of the National Park Service and director of the Intermountain Region International Conservation Program, will be retiring effective June 26th.

During his tenure with the National Park Service, Howard was responsible for the creation and growth of this program, which he has directed for the past 14 years.  In this capacity, his accomplishments were numerous, including the development of a partnership with New Mexico State University that provided parks, students, and university professors with unique opportunities in international conservation.  Working with border park superintendents, Howard was successful in creating close working relationships with Mexican officials that enhance protection of natural and cultural resources.  He was instrumental in establishing national agreements between the United States and Mexico that served as a foundation for establishing landscape-scale protected areas on both sides of the border.  He was actively involved in the design and development of "sister parks" relationships between U.S. — Mexico natural protected areas.  He was co-founder of the Field Coordinating Committee, a work group composed of bureau representatives of the Department of Interior that focus on U.S. — Mexico border issues.

As director of the Intermountain Region International Conservation Program, Howard emphasized the importance of cultural sensitivity on the part of U.S. park managers, and contributed to a better understanding of the workings of the Mexican government.  His efforts also enhanced Mexican understanding of American culture and government.  Additionally, he displayed leadership and flexibility in expanding our international efforts beyond the Southwest border.  Due to his efforts, the National Park Service is well-positioned to pursue partnerships to address cross-border issues such as invasive species, air pollution, water quality and quantity, and endangered species.

Howard's international conservation work preceded his employment with the National Park Service.  He was employed as a fisheries attaché in Latin America for the State Department, and as chief of the fisheries management division at the National Marine Fisheries Service.  At the State Department, Ness supported U.S. agencies in their negotiations with Latin American governments on resource conservation and fisheries access issues, and assisted in formulating U.S. policy.  He also conducted negotiations for the U.S. ambassador to Mexico on regional fisheries policy, regulations and enforcement and coordinated all fisheries and wildlife research agreements between the United States and Mexico.

The following is a farewell message from Howard, in his own words, to all employees who had the opportunity to work with him during his tenure with the National Park Service:

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

I wish to extend a fond farewell to all of you in the National Park Service and other agencies within the United States and Mexico.

I have so much enjoyed the privilege of initiating along with Ramon Olivas, and leading the Intermountain Region International Conservation Program.

I have had a conservation career with the National Park Service working with park personnel in our magnificent parks in the United States and protected areas in Mexico.   People in and outside of government can only envy the wonderful opportunities and positions that I have had.   I've tried to put common interests and conservation goals together in two countries and cultures, and I hope that we have made at least a small difference.

Some of you will continue to benefit from, and foster the conservation park partnerships we have formed with Mexico.  Our Mexican counterparts have come here and met with us three times within the past couple of years.  As most of you know, because of travel restrictions and budget constraints, we have not been able to reciprocate, but do not doubt the desire and sincerity of Mexican park managers to cooperate with the United States.  Conservation partnerships bridge political administrations and circumvent foreign policy barriers.

I would like to identify and thank specific individuals with whom I have worked with during my tenure with the National Park Service, but then I risk omitting names.  You know who you are — and those of you who have made this "connection" with international conservation, keep up this beautiful work and don't lose your vision, passion, and dedication for our shared natural and cultural resources.

Jim — stay in shape with those oars.  I'll be there soon with my eight weight fly rod and 'Tarantula" 16 dry fly.  Pretty soon, every day will be Friday for me — and don't worry about me being occupied on my next day off.  Ginger and I may be building our island cabin, or farming in Arizona or sipping coffee in an outdoor Paris café with our international marketing manager son, or we may simply be enjoying our first grandson, or........

The best to all of you,

Howard Ness
[Submitted by Patricia Turley, patricia_turley@nps.gov, 303-969-2701]

Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found by clicking here. 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 Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.