Yellowstone National Park (ID,MT,WY)
Search in Progress for Park Employee

A search is currently underway for a missing Xanterra Parks and Resorts employee whose vehicle was found in the Yellowstone River on Wednesday, June 29th. A park visitor spotted the vehicle while hiking along the river and reported it to park staff. A ground and air search was immediately conducted in the surrounding area, but no one was found. C.M.K., 19, of Belgrade, Montana, was last seen around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when she drove away from the Roosevelt employee housing area in her green Ford Explorer. Co-workers reported that she was alone in the vehicle when she left. Her direction of travel was unknown. Yesterday morning, around 50 park and concessioner staff began operations to remove the vehicle.  Kayakers utilized technical rope systems to stabilize the vehicle. The park helicopter provided aerial reconnaissance. Wreckers were then utilized to pull the vehicle to the riverbank, where it was found unoccupied. The vehicle, a green Ford Explorer, was badly damaged, with broken windows and deployed airbags. A preliminary investigation indicates that the Explorer hit an embankment on the right side of the road, crossed to the left side and went over an embankment, dropping more than 100 feet into the river. The vehicle was swept downstream a short distance before coming to rest in shallow water approximately 50 feet from shore. An investigation continues into the incident.  Individuals with information leading up to the disappearance of C.M.K. are requested to contact the park at 307-344-2121.
[Submitted by Cheryl Matthews, Public Affairs Specialist]

Buffalo National River (AR)
Assault on Ranger

On the afternoon of June 26th, a ranger contacted two men, one later identified as B.C., swimming in the Buffalo River near Pruitt. A records check of the subjects' vehicle showed that it was uninsured. As the ranger approached the two men, he saw open containers of alcohol on the dashboard, loud music coming from the vehicle and a dog off leash.  When the ranger contacted B.C. and requested identification, B.C. responded with threatening and obscene language.  As the ranger was requesting backup, B.C. aggressively charged him and threatened him with physical harm. The ranger was able to pepper spray B.C. as he was trying to punch him, but B.C. declined to obey the ranger's commands despite the effects of the spray. The ranger was punched in the left arm while placing B.C. in custody. B.C. was transported to the Boone County jail and was found to be intoxicated at the time of his arrest. Misdemeanor charges have been filed and the U.S. Attorney's Office is reviewing the case for possible felony charges.

NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Friday, July 1, 2005

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

Park	State	Fire	Type	Acres	Percent Contain	Est. Full Contain
Denali National Park & Preserve	AK	BUB9 Highpower Creek - ref#226	Wildland Fire Use	Last official acreage was 1,116. However, due to increased g... See below for more...	N/A	N/A
	Full Acreage Report: Last official acreage was 1,116. However, due to increased growth described in the update, at this time the fire is likely to be larger. Latest Narrative: After a period of cool weather and rain over the holiday weekend, the fire has become active again. A drying trend with steady winds created a 60% active fire perimeter with flames on Wednesday, July 6th. The remainder of the perimeter smoldered and put up light smoke. Fire growth occurred through intermittent torching and spotting.
Denali National Park & Preserve	AK	BUC0 Herron River - ref#227	Wildland Fire Use	Last official acreage was 905. However, due to increased gro... See below for more...	N/A	N/A
	Full Acreage Report: Last official acreage was 905. However, due to increased growth described in the update, at this time the fire is likely to be larger. Latest Narrative: After a period of cool weather and rain over the holiday weekend, the fire has become active again. A drying trend with steady winds created a 40% active fire perimeter with flames on Wednesday, July 6th. Fire growth occurred through short range spotting.
Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve	AK	BS4V Chapman Creek Fire -ref#164	Wildland Fire	Total acres is 159,551.6 15% of the fire in on NPS lands, 8... See below for more...		10/30/2005
	Full Acreage Report: Total acres is 159,551.6 15% of the fire in on NPS lands, 85% belongs to the BLM. Latest Narrative: A public meeting recapping fire suppression tactics will take place at the Arctic Interagency Vistor Center (Coldfoot) on July 7th at 6:30 pm. Crews continue to mop up any hotspots along the fire's northern perimeter.
Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve	AK	BS4V Chapman Creek Fire -ref#164	Wildland Fire	Total acres is 159,552. 15% of the fire totalling 18,242 acr... See below for more...		10/30/2005
	Full Acreage Report: Total acres is 159,552. 15% of the fire totalling 18,242 acres is on NPS lands, 85% belongs to the BLM. Latest Narrative: On the evening of July 6th, an infrared camera was used to detect hotspots along the fireline. Today, July 7th, crews will be able to use the information gathered to accurately locate these areas of heat and work on suppressing them. This evening a public meeting will take place at the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center at 6:30pm. Two more type 2 crews are scheduled to leave on July 8th, reducing the staff to two hotshot crews and one type 2 crew.
Lake Clark National Park & Preserve	AK	BUV2 Stony - ref#268	Wildland Fire	2,618.8		Unknown
	Latest Narrative: Alaska DNR/DOF monitored the fire and did not see any activity nor smoke. They also re-mapped the fire and came up with a more accurate acreage. The previous acreage was 3,978 and now is 2,618.8.
Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve	AK	BT43 Charley Creek 1 - ref #192	Wildland Fire	Acreage of the entire fire is 41,322. 4,238 acres are burni... See below for more...		10/01/05
	Full Acreage Report: Acreage of the entire fire is 41,322. 4,238 acres are burning on native lands within the preserve boundary. Latest Narrative: The fire, which has been burning north of the preserve for some time, burned into Yukon-Charley National Preserve. Fire is buring on native lands within the preserve boundary. The fire is burning in a Limited Management Option.
Canyonlands National Park	UT	Valentine	Wildland Fire	Initial estimate by air reconnaissance on 6/30/05 was 40 acr... See below for more...	100	Contained: 1900, 7/1/05. Controlled: 1700, 7/2/05. Fire was contained at 1200 on 7/2/05. Fire was controlled at 1200 on7/4/05.
	Full Acreage Report: Initial estimate by air reconnaissance on 6/30/05 was 40 acres. Estimate at 1400 hours on 7/1/05 was 100 acres. Final fire size estimate is 206 acres. Latest Narrative: The fire location is Tuxedo Bottom, east bank of the Green River, between river miles 24 and 23 (miles denote distance to confluence with Colorado River). The smokejumpers and helitack crew were demobed from the fire the evening of 7/3/05, replaced by a USFS hand crew squad (Squad 10-2) from the Manti-La Sal National Forest in Monticello, UT (Gilmore Scott, Incident Commander). The NPS vessel Bates Wilson assisted the hand crews as a mobile platform for a portable pump, allowing crews to quickly relocate hoses while continuing to apply large amounts of water to the burned area. The vessel was released from the fire on the evening of 7/3. Squad 10-2 was released from the fire the evening of 7/4. They reported no more visible smoke, some hot spots, and an ash layer covering the burn area as deep as 6" With the exception of the tamarisk lining the river bank, virtually all the vegetation on this large bottom land was burned. All of the mature cottonwoods (over 200 trees) that provided shade to this area are burned and presumed dead. An assessment of damage to archeological resources in the area is pending.

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

Harpers Ferry Center
HFC Manager Gary Cummins Retires

Gary Cummins, Manager of the Harpers Ferry Center since 1997, retires on July 3, closing a 40-year career of public service with the federal government — including the U.S. Air Force, Defense Intelligence Agency, and most importantly, the National Park Service — and spanning the states of Montana, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Arizona.
 

Cummins' career was marked by variety, including working as a high-altitude test subject for the Aero Space Medical Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, a university administrator, a National Park Service ranger, a missile system intelligence analyst, an archeologist, and superintendent at the USS Arizona Memorial, Cabrillo National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, and Deputy Superintendent at Grand Canyon National Park. His last assignment was Manager of the Harpers Ferry Center.

In the early 1960s he worked with the original seven U.S. astronauts, where he "test flew" the early models of the Mercury space suit in high altitude chambers and on the Aero Space Medical Laboratory's centrifuge. He explains that he and other college student volunteers were used because "monkeys were so expensive."

His archeological career at Arizona State included excavations in >Baghdad (Arizona) and a state-wide survey of historical and archeological sites in Hawaii. At the Denver Service Center he led a project that determined the actual site of the 1846 >Palo Alto battle between American and Mexican forces. While Superintendent at the USS Arizona Memorial he combined his love of scuba diving and archeology by initiating an underwater survey of the sunken battleship USS Arizona by the NPS Submerged Cultural Resources Unit. The survey led to a better understanding of the condition of the vessel, the damage it sustained during the 1941 attack, and the ability of the park staff to better interpret it to visitors.

At Cabrillo National Monument he developed partnerships with the city of >San Diego, San Diego County, California State Parks, and Seaworld that raised the profile of the park and helped protect it from proposed developments on its borders.

At Petrified Forest National Park he completed a General Management Plan and initiated programs in natural resource studies, cultural resources inventories, and environmental education. He initiated a partnership with the Navajo Nation for water resources that negated the need for an expensive water treatment plant, and oversaw the first scientifically valid study of petrified wood theft at the park.

At Grand Canyon National Park Cummins oversaw park operations and worked on Colorado River management plans, overflight issues, improved relations with the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Hualapai and Havasupai tribes, improved employee safety programs, and strove to bring the various park divisions into better working relationships. He oversaw the park's operational response to the federal government shutdown that included the "invasion" of the park by the former governor of Arizona and the Arizona National Guard while Superintendent Rob Arnberger defused the crisis.

Management of the Harpers Ferry Center proved to be Cummins' greatest challenge. His work there was focused on trying to improve the business management climate there without snuffing out the staff's creative energy. He oversaw more than a thousand interpretive media projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars during his tenure, including the traveling Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery II exhibits, numerous award-winning videos, and major visitor center exhibits. Cummins was awarded the Department of the Interior's Meritorious Service Award in 2003.

His NPS career included international assignments to Egypt, Haiti, and Argentina.

Cummins holds a BA and MA (history) from the University of Montana and an MA (anthropology/archeology) from the University of Arizona. His wife Diana and he recently celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary and are the parents of three sons, Gavin, Corbett, and Patrick.

After retirement the Cummins will move to Port Townsend, Washington, where >Gary will build his birding life list, practice his wood carving, and work on a proposal for a breeding bird survey along the length of the Appalachian Trail.

"I remain convinced more than ever that public service is an honorable profession. Being able to be a public servant with the National Park Service was a joy and a privilege," Cummins recently said.
[Submitted by Gary Candelaria, Gary_Candelaria@nps.gov, 304-535-6058]

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.