NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

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INCIDENTS

Yosemite NP

Cause Of El Portal Fire Determined As Electrical

The El Portal Market was completely destroyed by fire on Monday, April 21st. The results of the Mariposa County Fire investigation were released last Friday and revealed that the cause of the fire was electrical (for a PDF copy of the ten-page report, click on the link below). Hazardous waste material evaluation of the burn site will begin on May 5th and is expected to take at least a week for results. Clean up of the burn site will commence after the hazardous waste evaluation is completed. Superintendent Michael Tollefson announced on Thursday that the store operation will be moved to the El Portal Motor Inn (currently known as the special park uses office) for the duration of the concessionaire's six year contract. The park plans to have the building ready to open as a store in nine months time. No decision has been made yet regarding the option of opening up the back road ("Rail Road”) from the park firehouse to the motor inn. The subject will be discussed at upcoming El Portal town planning advisory committee meetings. The park staff who currently work in the special park uses office will be moved into temporary office space in the near future. [Adrienne Freeman, Public Affairs Officer]

HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/El%20Portal%20Market%20Fire%20Report%20pages%201-10.pdf" http://www.nps.gov/yose/parkmgmt/upload/El%20Portal%20Market%20Fire%20Report%20pages%201-10.pdf

OTHER NEWS

The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS:

Washington Office - Present and future leaders of the conservation movement held a festive opening ceremony for “EarthVision: Actions for a Healthy Planet” on April 25th at the Department of the Interior building in Washington.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6434" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6434

Everglades NP - Fifty years ago last week, on April 21, 1958, six wildland firefighters at Everglades National Park successfully completed the park's first prescribed fire. That burn marked a radical departure from a nationwide wildland fire strategy of total suppression.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6435" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6435

Cumberland Island NS - On April 2nd, the Navy conducted an exercise simulating a nuclear weapon incident. The primary goal of the exercise was to validate and improve the integration of the base emergency response with state and local response agencies - including the park.

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6380" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6380

Intermountain Region - Charles B. (Chuck) Barat, deputy superintendent at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, will retire on May 2nd.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1902" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1902

Intermountain Region - Architect Sam R. Romero of the Intermountain Regional Office will retire on May 2nd after more than 36 years of service with the NPS

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1901" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1901

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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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