Sitka National Historical Park (AK)
Windstorm Inflicts Damage On Park
Winds that blew up to nearly 80 mph caused serious damage to the park and surrounding area on December 16th and 17th. The windstorm downed trees, caused power outages and fires, blocked streets, and blew roofs off buildings throughout the city. An airplane at the city airport flipped over and boats in the harbor were swamped. A floating dock with boats and a float plane moored to it was also set adrift. An area that sustained major damage was the Frontier Mall, where the park's maintenance chops are located in a facility leased from GSA. Over 50 feet of metal roofing was peeled from the building, but the shops were undamaged. The park closed its trails early on the morning of the 17th, as per established emergency operations protocol, and moved into ICS mode by mid-morning. Contingency plans were set into motion for dealing with building damage, which did not occur despite sustained winds of up to 50 mph throughout the day. Only two park-owned structures were hit by trees and neither was seriously damaged. About 30 trees with diameters of up to 30 inches fell in the park, with the Russian Memorial area hardest hit. Spruce trees up to 80 feet tall were totally uprooted and numerous limbs fell. Some trails were cleared and opened by the afternoon of the 17th, but other parts of the trail system will remain closed until downed trees and other hazards are removed. A contract tree service will likely be used to remove some of these trees and hazards. Neither the restored 1843 Russian Bishop's House (an NHL) nor the adjacent 1890s old school building were damaged, despite their open location across from the harbor. No park visitors or staff were injured, but one employee lost his boat, which sank in its harbor slip. [Submitted by Clair Roberts, Chief Ranger]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Training and Employee Development
Basic CISM Announcement
Dates: 01/24/2005 - 01/28/2005
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Critical incident stress management/peer support training will be held from January 24th to the 28th at BLM's National Training Center in Phoenix. This class is open Servicewide to all employees interested in critical incident stress management and peer support. Peer support is a collateral, volunteer duty. Peer supporters are interested in helping fellow employees deal with normal reactions to abnormal incidents that they may encounter in the workplace as a result of their job related duties. This training class will teach listening skills and critical incident stress management concepts and techniques. Participants completing this class will also receive a certificate of completion for CISM: group crisis intervention (formerly basic CISM) from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.
As this is a shared training course with BLM, space is limited. Funding assistance is being secured. However, benefitting accounts may need to pay part or all of the travel expenses.
Please complete the application, nomination,and supervisors approval letter and submit them to Pat Buccello via secure fax at 202-371-5148. Nominations are due by January 7, 2005, at the close of business. For further information, feel free to contact Pam McMillan, Course Coordinator, at 202-375-9520 x230. [Submitted by Pat Buccello, 202-513-7131] More Information...
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Gulf Islands National Seashore (FL,MS)
GS-025-11 Lead Park Ranger
The park is currently advertising for a GS-025-11 lead park ranger in the park's Florida District. The position is open to NPS employees and CTAP eligibles.The announcement number for this position is GUIS 05-01; it closes on January 10th. The announcement may be viewed at www.usajobs.opm.gov.
[Submitted by Dennis Billups]Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (AZ)
GS-303-5/6 Maintenance Assistant
Dates: 01/07/2005 - 01/21/2005
The person selected to fill this position will serve as the maintenance assistant at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Some of the duties are as follows:
- Prepares division's time and attendance records and requests for travel.
- Performs a variety of clerical duties for the division, including requisitions, procurement, etc.
- Prepares, maintains and balances the maintenance annual financial plan.
- Tracks cyclic maintenance, repair/rehab, fee demo, etc.
- Inputs inventory in FMSS, creates GIS maps using GPS data and inputs GPS data in FMSS.
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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.