The Morning Report
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
INCIDENTS
Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park (HI)
Ranger's Murderer To Remain In Prison
In mid-August, a panel of Bureau of Prisons mental health professionals again rendered the opinion that E.F.B. III, who shot and killed Ranger Steve Makuakane-Jarrell on December 12, 1999, remains a threat to others and will accordingly remain in prison. This review is conducted annually.
Makuakane-Jarrell was investigating complaints against E.F.B.'s three dogs on the day he was killed. After a struggle, E.F.B. gained control of the ranger's semiautomatic handgun and shot him twice, once in the forehead and once in the right arm.
In 2006, E.F.B. was found not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity. A Bureau of Prisons psychologist testified for the defense that E.F.B. suffered from paranoia and schizophrenia and could not appreciate the wrongfulness of his acts due to his psychotic state. E.F.B. was ordered imprisoned until it was determined that he was no longer a danger to others.
[Submitted by Investigative Services Branch]
Acadia National Park (ME)
Fishing Boat Wrecks On Park Shoreline
While en route to a harbor to get pulled from the waters for the season on October 7th, a local charter fishing boat began taking on water offshore of Acadia National Park.
Fishermen in the area assisted the boat's captain to safety as the 50-foot wooden boat, the RV Tiger Shark, filled with water and submerged to its gunwales. The wind and currents brought the vessel aground against the rocky shoreline south of Acadia's Thunder Hole.
Park rangers and members of the local fire department responded. The Coast Guard ascertained that the vessel contained 100 gallons of diesel fuel. With the forecast calling for rain, lightning, and four- to seven-foot seas over the next day, the Coast Guard and the Maine State Department of Environmental Protection worked quickly to remove the fuel and other hazardous materials from the vessel.
Two days after the wreck, the 1,300-pound submerged engine was retrieved. Park rangers are in communication with the owner and insurance company over removal of the wreckage and remaining shoreline debris.
Jason Flynn is the incident commander and Bob Bechtold is the safety officer for the operation.
[Submitted by Jason Flynn, Park Ranger]
NEWS AND NOTES
Office of Communications
Tomorrow Is National Fossil Day
Tomorrow — Wednesday, October 15th — is National Fossil Day. The nationwide celebration will feature special events that promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils.
"More than 250 national parks protect a variety of fossils, ranging from a flying reptile known as pterosaurs in Big Bend National Park to a rare sauropod skull from Dinosaur National Monument to primitive algae in Glacier National Park," said Director Jarvis. "These irreplaceable treasures offer clues to the history of life, past climates, and ancient landscapes and provide us with a glimpse into a world we can only imagine."
Fossils discovered on the nation's public lands preserve ancient life from all major eras of Earth's history and include samples from every major group of animals and plants. Visitors have the opportunity to see these fossilized remains in the same places that those animals and plants lived in millions of years ago.
National Fossil Day was started in 2010 by the National Park Service and the American Geological Institute. This year, more than 300 partners, including museums, federal and state agencies, fossil sites, science and education organizations, avocational groups, and national parks such as Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Petrified Forest National Park, and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, will sponsor special events.
Paleontologists and geologists from the National Park Service will also be part of a marquee Fossil Day celebration at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Along with colleagues from partners that include the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, American Geosciences Institute, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Science Foundation, and Maryland Dinosaur Park, they will help children explore prehistoric life and dig for fossils.
A team from Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas will have a special exhibit on their world renowned dinosaur tracks. Children are invited to become "Junior Paleontologists" at 10:00 a.m. on the entrance steps to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.
For more information on National Fossil Day, please click on the link below.
[Submitted by Kathy Kupper]
Office of International Affairs
NPS Gears Up For World Parks Congress In Australia
A once in a decade opportunity, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Parks Congress, will be held in Sydney, Australia this year from November 12th to November 19th, and the National Park Service will help lead discussions and work sessions on several key topics at the event.
Participants at the congress will share knowledge and innovation, setting the agenda for protected areas conservation for the decade to come. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will head the US delegation, which includes representatives from multiple agencies. A small NPS delegation to the Congress will be led by Director Jarvis.
As an international leader in conservation, the National Park Service is contributing to the Congress in a variety of ways including co-leading two of the eight focus areas — "Responding to Climate Change" and "Improving Health and Well-being." The NPS Conservation Study Institute is also supporting the Inspiring a New Generation stream.
The "Responding to Climate Change" stream, led by Leigh Welling, chief of the NPS Climate Change Response Program and by Mexico's National Commission of Natural Protected Areas, will demonstrate how protected areas offer natural solutions to climate change, such as conserving biodiversity and landscape connectivity, capturing and storing carbon, and providing resilience to extreme natural events.
Exploring the role of human culture in both the past and present, novel approaches to transformative adaptation and building capacity for effective communication about climate change will be major discussion topics during the session.
The "Health and Well-being: Healthy Parks Healthy People" stream, co-led by Diana Allen of the NPS Healthy Parks Healthy People program and Parks Victoria, Australia, will explore the emerging context for valuing parks and protected areas for their life-sustaining role in promoting the health of people, as well as the health of the environment.
The stream will build on the Healthy Parks Healthy People global movement by sharing scientific and traditional knowledge of the health benefits of nature - mental, physical, cultural, and spiritual. It will also identify knowledge gaps in research; highlight practical experiences; generate useful key policy messages; and bring together sectors for collaborative, inspiring solutions.
An initiative called "No Walls" will be part of the conference, providing a way for all to participate. It was inspired by the words of Sir David Attenborough: "No one will protect what they don't care about. And no one will care about what they have never experienced."
No Walls is a global youth movement that's been launched to invite people from around the world to experience, be inspired by, value, and protect nature. Over 25 organizations from around the world, including the NPS, have sponsored Global Youth Ambassadors to participate at the Congress and lend their support to the No Walls initiative.
Please help get the word out to colleagues, communities, and partners. No Walls is found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nowallsinfo and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nowallsouthere.
[Submitted by Virginia Farley]
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Park Holds International Law Enforcement Training Course
Rangers from Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the National Park Service Law Enforcement Training Center (LETC) recently joined forces to provide training to ten park officials from Cambodia and Thailand.
The international park officials, all women, participated in field training in the Smokies focusing on resource law enforcement techniques. The course was held in partnership with the State Department Global Women's Issues Office and the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation (MJP).
"The National Park Service has an international role to play in sharing our expertise in conservation law enforcement," said Jill Hawk, superintendent of the National Park Service Law Enforcement Training Center. "This program was designed, with our partners, to provide an opportunity for the women of the Lower Mekong countries in Southeast Asia to learn the concepts of law enforcement and park management."
After a week of training at LETC, the participants traveled to the Smokies for hands-on field activities, including crime scene processing. The Smokies shares similar habitats with the parks in Cambodia and Thailand along with similar resource issues such as plant and wildlife poaching.
"We are honored to host park leaders from Thailand and Cambodia not only to teach skills, but also to learn from them," said Acting Superintendent Clay Jordan. "This is a unique opportunity to exchange information and ideas to help us all to be better stewards of these special places entrusted to us."
Beginning with a sister park agreement between Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park and Samlout Protected Area in Cambodia, the NPS and the MJP have been working together since 2007. The partnership has allowed for the development of a variety of programs, including training for women in environmental leadership positions in Southeast Asia.
"It's time for more women to get actively engaged in protecting the environment in the Lower Mekong countries from female park superintendents to female rangers trained in law enforcement," said Stephan Bognar, chief executive officer of the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation. "The United States NPS has the knowledge, skills, and the rangers to teach and mentor these women to become leaders, and not just followers, in protecting our future."
In 2010, staff participated in a NPS-MJP workshop promoting partnerships and the creation of a trans-boundary peace park in the tropical forest regions in northwestern Cambodia and northeastern Thailand. Rangers from both countries, along with two NPS rangers, attended the park management training workshop in northwestern Cambodia.
The proposed peace park area contains 110,000 hectares of tropical forest and is home to Asian elephants and Indochinese tigers. By working together, the Thai and Cambodian governments could tighten control over illegal activities and promote sustainable development across the Lower Mekong region.
This special two week program concluded with a graduation ceremony on September 25th attended by Deputy Director Peggy O'Dell, who played an important mentoring role for these women during their visit.
"We have the ability to share the talents of our NPS staff to help train, encourage, and strengthen our counterparts in the Lower Mekong countries as a centennial partnership effort," she said.
[Submitted by Brent Everitt]
GOGA
Ranger Kurt Veeck Has Retired
Kurt Veeck began his career in the NPS as a seasonal law enforcement ranger at the Grand Canyon NP, looking into the Canyon from the North Rim. He then spent some years in the valley of Yosemite NP.
Kurt's first permanent appointment was in San Francisco at the regional office, which was a jumping point to Lassen Volcanic, and, finally, to Golden Gate NRA.
Kurt and Patti Naumann, who started at the Yosemite Clinic working as an RN, said "I do" in 1990.
Kurt has said that over the past twenty plus years he has met and worked with some of the most extraordinary people a person could hope to. The gift of their knowledge and shared experience has allowed Kurt and Patti to know joy by keeping their company. He said that he will miss the time in places that thousands can only spend a few days most of all.
Kurt offers this observation: "Mark Twain spoke of his home in Connecticut many times, I believe he said the following or at least I attribute it to him; to which I have felt about my opportunities in residing in the national parks: 'It had a heart, a soul, and the eyes to see us with... and we were in its confidence and lived in its grace as in the peace of its benediction. We never came home from an absence that its face did not light up and speak out its eloquent welcome, and we could not enter it unmoved.'"
Both Patti and Kurt can be reached by email at kurtamer@cwia.com. They have moved to Bend, Oregon, where their other interests can take root.
[Submitted by Alexandra Guier Picavet, Alexandra_Picavet@nps.gov]
Yosemite National Park (CA)
Park Joins In Final Yosemite Grant 150th Anniversary Event
Yosemite National Park recently participated in the last major event commemorating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Yosemite Grant, the law signed by President Lincoln on June 30, 1864, that protected Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.
The event was held on Sunday, September 28th, at the Leland Stanford Mansion in Sacramento, California, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the proclamation accepting the Yosemite Grant signed by then California Governor Frederick Low.
The event was coordinated by the California state anniversary committee, which has been working closely with Yosemite on events and activities surrounding the 150th Anniversary
Don Neubacher, the park's superintendent, spoke about the importance of the Yosemite Grant and how it paved the way for national parks across the country. He also spoke about the shared heritage with California State Parks, the importance of parks and protected areas, and the excellent cooperation between the park and California State Parks throughout the anniversary commemorations.
Other speakers included Mike Lynch and Donna Pozzi, co-chairs of the anniversary committee for California State Parks, Aaron Robertson, chief deputy director for California State Parks, and Ernest Chung, chairman of the California State Park and Recreation Commission. An actor portrayed Governor Low and he accepted the proclamation on behalf of the State of California.
The event also featured costumed docents from the Capital District of California State Parks, live music, a quilt show, and a special cancellation for stamps and letters from the U.S. Postal Service, Many California state park rangers wore vintage uniforms, and an antique state park ranger vehicle was on display. The event concluded with a time capsule dedication and birthday cake. About 150 people attended the event.
From fall 2013 through the end of this year, the park will have participated in over 200 events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Yosemite Grant. The park hosted several events on June 30th, the day the bill was signed by President Abraham Lincoln. However, most of the events have been conducted in Yosemite's gateway communities, around the region, and nationwide. The wide range of events included film festivals, museum displays, festivals, storytelling festivals, and art contests.
[Submitted by Scott Gediman, Public Affairs Officer ]
Workforce, Relevancy and Inclusion
Audrey Wilvert Has Retired
Audrey Wilvert, human resources specialist with the Human Resources Operations Center, retired on October 3rd.
Audrey ended a career in the federal government that spanned nearly 37 years, 22 with the National Park Service. A well-rounded employee, her previous government agencies included the Department of the Army, Commerce, NOAA, the US Geological Survey and Office of Personnel Management.
During her final years in the NPS, she was instrumental in helping to build strong relationships between the HROC and employees in the field. Fortunately, Audrey will stay with the NPS as a reemployed annuitant at least through the end of 2014.
Among her many plans in retirement, Audrey will be working part-time in a greenhouse, spending more time with her grandsons along with indulging a childhood fantasy of owning a tiger by volunteering at the Wild Animal Sanctuary outside of Denver. She also plans to visit more of our national parks (for fun this time), spend more time gardening, weaving, spinning, quilting, bookbinding, hiking, biking, shooting archery, sewing and learning to woodwork. If that wasn't enough, Audrey also plans to perform some archeological research and possibly even pursue a masters degree.
Please join us in wishing Audrey all the best as she embarks on her new journey in life.
[Submitted by Robert McGinn, robert_mcginn@nps.gov]
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Midwest Region
GS-0099-3 Student Trainee (Park Guide)
Dates: 10/09/2014 - 10/14/2014
Midwest Region is recruiting for a student trainee (park guide). The announcement is open ONLY to current NPS student interns.
Click on the link below for a copy of the announcement. It closes on October 14th.
[Submitted by Marsha Mears, 402-661-1684]
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (OR)
GS-0303-7 Administrative Support Assistant
Lewis and Clark NHP has issued an announcement for an administrative support assistant.
Click on the links below for copies of the announcement with full details on duties, area information, and procedures for applying.
- Merit promotion — https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/383532000
- NPS Pathways — http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/383528600
Questions regarding the position may be directed to either Blake Gerttula, administrative officer, at 503-861-4411 or Linda O'Sullivan, staffing specialist, at 360-565-3030.
Both close on October 24th.