Category Archives: National Government

Award of Hospitality Contract on South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park

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Grand Canyon, Ariz. – Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga has announced the award of a concession contract to Xanterra South Rim, L.L.C. Xanterra will provide lodging, food services, retail, transportation, mule rides, and other services on the South Rim.

Xanterra, the incumbent operator, submitted the selected offer in response to a prospectus issued earlier this year. Superintendent Uberuaga stated “We are pleased to continue our long relationship with this important park partner, and we look forward to working together to implement some exciting improvements to services on the South Rim.”

The new 15 year contract is one of the largest in the National Park Service (NPS) in terms of revenue and lodging inventory. The services required in this prospectus have generated an average of approximately $66 million in gross revenues annually. New services will include a re-constructed Maswik South Lodge, improved food offerings including food trucks, and other improvements to operations and services.

This historic lodging and hospitality contract (CC-GRCA001-15) will include lodging, retail and food service in the historic Grand Canyon Village including the El Tovar, Bright Angel Lodge, Thunderbird and Kachina Lodges, Maswik Lodge and Phantom Ranch, as well as retail and food service at Hermits Rest. It will also continue to include transportation services such as bus tours, taxi service and mule rides.

Concessions contracts are developed and issued under the authority of the Concessions Management Improvement Act of 1998, P.L. 105-391, and its attending regulations in 36 CFR §51.

Save the date: National Public Lands Day at NKRD

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FREDONIA — The Kaibab National Forest and the International Mountain Bicycling Association will host a weekend trail building event for volunteers September 26 through 27 at Timp Point.

The 18-mile Rainbow Rim Trail is a single-track trail located in the vicinity of the south-southwestern most portion of the North Kaibab Ranger District on the Kaibab Plateau along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Once completed, the extension project will extend the existing Rainbow Rim trail east for 8 miles.

What: Volunteers will continue Rainbow Rim trail extension project

Where: Rainbow Rim, Kaibab National Forest, North Kaibab Ranger District

When: Saturday, September 26, 9:00 am through Sunday, September 27, 12:00 pm

General Information:

  • Camping sites reserved for volunteers at North Timp Point
  • Cold breakfast provided both days & hot dinner provided Saturday evening
  • Volunteers must bring their own lunch
  • Volunteer bike ride of Rainbow Rim trail on Saturday afternoon (3 to 6pm)

RSVP required:

Please click on email links below to RSVP, and please include the number of volunteers that may be joining you in the body of your email. For example: “I’m responding to your National Public Lands Day Rainbow Rim Volunteer Event invitation, Sept. 26 through Sept. 27. Please add myself (+ 2) to your list.” Or “Regretfully, I will not be able to attend your event. Thank you.”

Oak Hill and Keyhole Sink parking area to temporarily close

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640-keyhole-sink-038WILLIAMS — The parking area that provides access to the Oak Hill Snow Play Area and Keyhole Sink Trail on the Williams Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest will be temporarily closed beginning Sept. 8 due to the presence of heavy equipment and construction materials.

Old toilet facilities are scheduled to be removed in the area and replaced with new ones. Forest managers expect the construction work and disturbance of the parking area, which is located off of old Route 66 just west of Parks, to last from Sept. 8 through Sept. 16. It is anticipated that the parking area and the new facilities will reopen to public use on Sept. 17.

Due to no other available parking nearby, there will be no motorized access to the Oak Hill and Keyhole Sink areas while the construction work is taking place. The Keyhole Sink Trail will remain open, but the trailhead will only be accessible via nonmotorized means.

“This construction work will result in an improved recreation experience for our visitors once it is complete,” said Lisa Jones, recreation staff officer for the Williams and Tusayan Ranger Districts. “We hope to have the parking area cleaned up and reopened for public use by Sept. 17. Until then, we ask our visitors to understand that the temporary inconvenience will result in better facilities in the long term.”

General Mobile Radio Service license DOES cost

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Radio-15-08-31-07(9/1/15) You might remember the citizens band (CB) radio craze of the seventies. The craze was driven by movies such as Smokey and the Bandit. There were CB clubs and conventions throughout the country much like the amateur radio class. At the time, both required a license to operate.

Amateur radio still requires a license but the requirement to get one is much different. Depending on which class you go for limits you to operating on certain frequencies. Operating on the CB frequencies no longer requires a license, but you can still get in trouble for operating illegally, which we will discuss later.

Today the Family Radio Service (FRS) band has become popular. You can purchase a pair of FRS radios and chargers from $20 on up depending on what you want. I have collected several of these radios which people seem to be dumping onto thrift stores. They are of different brands, but because they operate on the same frequencies you can communicate between them.

One specification you might notice on the package is the promise of ranges from 21-miles to 35-miles, or so. What they do not explain is that those particular models are also equipped with General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) channels. Those operate at a higher power and that is why they print those ranges. The problem is that you will not get those promised ranges even operating on the GMRS channels without absolutely perfect conditions. Any obstruction or change in atmospheric condition will severely limit the range you will actually get.

Another thing that they do not tell you is that you are required to obtain a license from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC or Uncle Charley if you want to make them angry). There is some licensing requirement confusion on the Internet. Articles such as this one claim that the FCC has eliminated the license fee for GMRS. As with much that is on the Internet, I found this to be false at considerable cost to my wallet. My license actually cost me $90. The license, however, is good for five-years so long as I do not violate the laws governing this class of radio.

This may cause many to get into trouble by operating on these frequencies. It is equally hampered by the fact that I cannot find one single, simple list of licensing fees or requirements on the FCC web site. Human nature, being what it is, people will generally flock toward what they want (being no license) and run with it. A good rule of thumb is if you operate at an output power from about 4-watts on up, you probably need a license. And a check book.

Their article references an FCC proposal to eliminate the license requirement bound up in the legal mumbo-jumbo of this PDF. The problem is that proposal has not been approved. The article suggests people go to the FCC web site and flood it with comments to eliminate the license requirement. The problem with that is the licensing fees, in this case anyway, are not set by the FCC, but the Congress.

I am not one known to support or defend ANY government bureaucracy whether of national, State or county government origin. The ORIGINAL purpose of the FCC, however, might be considered Constitutionally based. Except that they do not have the right to suppress the Internet. While you may have the right to operate on a channel, you do not have the right to tie it up all day. You do not have the right to overstep my transmission. You MUST clear the channel for ANY emergency traffic. And your HAM radio cannot interpreter with my satellite television (which I do not have. This is just an example). Enforcement of the rules to prevent radio interference was the original purpose of the FCC. Like most bureaucracies, the FCC has gone way beyond its constitutional purpose.

For those who do not know, those channels that you dial into your GMRS/FRS or CB radio correspond to certain established frequencies. Like when you dial in your favorite FM (frequency modulation) station 92.9 in Flagstaff, you are tuning into a certain frequency. In this case 92.9 megahertz. If you program your radio so that it goes to 92.9 MHz when you press the “1” button, you are setting up a channel similar to the way GMRS/FRS and CB radios work. It should be noted that channel 1 on a CB and channel 1 on a GMRS/FRS radio are not the same frequency, so you cannot communicate between them.

As for the law, Title 47 of the United States Code parts 0-199 concern the operation of the FCC. The parts important to this article is Title 47 Subchapter D Part 95 for General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) and Family Radio Service (FRS) and Title 47 Subchapter D Part 96 for Citizen Band, or CB radio. Part 97 concerns Amateur or HAM radio.

While the CB license requirement has been eliminated—and the GMRS requirement may be—there are still stipulations. The main one is that you may not alter the radio to put out more power or add devices that will increase your output. This is the same for GMRS or FRS. I read one article that blasted the FCC for fining a man for operating a CB without a license even though a license has not been required for some thirty years. It turns out that is not what they fined the man for. What they fined him for is that he was broadcasting with a power amplifying device, called a linear amplifier, attached to the radio. That has always been illegal.

You also cannot modify the channels of either radio so that they broadcast at a different frequency. Some older CB radios had three channels and you could change the crystals (things that determined the frequency) to any CB frequencies; but ONLY those frequencies allotted for CB.

The FCC does allow you to use a pseudonym or “handle,” like Bandit or Snowman (although snowman may have an entirely different meaning today). You must, however, use a self-assigned call sign. Your call sign would begin with a “K,” followed by your initials and then your zip code. You are supposed to begin your transmission with that code and rebroadcast it every fifteen minutes. The same reason that television stations “Pause for station identification” every half-hour.

I went into a lot of detail on the various radio services that are open to the public in one way or another. The bottom line is to broadcast on CB or FRS does not require a license. Yet there are still things that you should be aware of. Some of the instructions you receive when you buy the radio gives you some of the specifics, but you should consult the FCC web site or the laws for more in depth information. If you purchased your radios at a swap meet or thrift store, it is very important that you are aware of the laws as you may not get the instruction booklet with it. Operating instructions are generally available online in PDF format. The operating instructions will tell you which channels on your radio are FRS and which are GMRS. If you do not have a license, you are limited to operating on channels 8 to 14 on your dual-purpose radio.

The one feature that you should look for on any of these radios is the weather frequencies. In a weather emergency the NOAA may still be broadcasting in your area.

Military veterans give North Kaibab trails a facelift

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kaibab-veterans-1FREDONIA — The Forest Service’s most recent 2015-2020 Strategic Plan contains four outcome-oriented goals, one of which is to “Deliver Benefits to the Public.” Last week, recreational staff from the North Kaibab Ranger District (NKRD) of the Kaibab National Forest partnered with the Arizona Wilderness Coalition (AWC) and military-veteran volunteers to once again work toward meeting that goal by working together to maintain trails within and near the Saddle Mountain Wilderness.

Since the recent June release of the new Strategic Plan, the district’s staff has taken this challenge seriously by implementing various projects throughout the summer that would help meet this strategic goal. In addition to this most recent AWC Veterans Saddle Mountain Wilderness project, other summer projects on the district include: trail, sign, and building maintenance performed by students from the local Youth Conservation Corps, trail maintenance on the Rainbow Rim performed by volunteers from the American Conservation Experience and the International Mountain Bicycling Association, and prescribed fire prep work on the Tipover East prescribed fire burn unit performed by inmate fire crews from the Arizona State Forestry Division, who completed approximately 30 acres of thinning and hand piling fuel reduction work.

kaibab-veterans-2“For my veteran brothers and sisters, this trip was a good chance to push reality and stress aside and enjoy one of this country’s treasures, meet other veterans and make some new friends,” said U.S. Army veteran Bill Losh.

During the Saddle Mountain Wilderness project, AWC coordinator Brian Stultz and NKRD coordinator Denise Carpenter, jointly hosted ten U.S. military veteran volunteers to three days of trail maintenance and hiking followed by four nights of rest and relaxation, campfire bonding, and evening dinners consisting of burgers, pastas, fresh salads and three much-loved dutch-oven entrees cooked by Stultz.

“The cord is cut,” said Mind, Body and Resilience trainer Nick Manci, who instructed yoga and trauma release classes throughout the week. “I felt a disconnect to my world back in Phoenix. My time in the forest with no communication with anyone outside of our camp and the trail time, yoga, trauma release and meditation all played a role in my reemerging with nature. I’m once again reminded of where I’ve come from and where to find solace and peace. It took four days. I’ll return to the city tomorrow a little different man. I am thankful for my time here on the Kaibab Plateau.”

“I especially enjoyed the beauty and quiet seclusion of the wilderness,” said U.S. Marine Corps veteran John Morgan. “There was nothing but friendly and professional folks running this program, and plenty of time to myself. I think the volunteer program is a major plus and would do it again if asked.”

Throughout the week, volunteers dispersed camped in a water-and-electric free environment alongside Forest Service Road 611 just a few miles from the three trailheads. Each day, the crew started with morning yoga, breakfast and a short hike before the work of cutting trees and trail brushing began.

“I have shed a lot of military skin in the eight years since I got out,” said U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jeff Glessing. “Reconnecting with veterans who get it was a great treat for the weekend. We were able to speak freely about our experiences, connect over common ground and speak in acronym-filled sentences without having to decipher it for our audience.”

Throughout the days, the veteran crew worked alongside NKRD and AWC personnel. All told, they improved about 3.5 miles of the North Canyon Trail, clearing a 10-foot by 12-foot wide corridor to accommodate pack horses, and an additional 1.6 miles on the Saddle Mountain Trail. All maintenance work was done with hand tools such as the crosscut saw, bow saw, pruning saw, grub hoe, and loppers.

“It’s kind of like performing plastic surgery for the trails,” said Carpenter, a seasoned and certified crosscut sawyer. “Trail work requires many various kinds of hand tools and, to be safe and productive, trail workers must know how to select the best tools for the job and be skilled at using them. Productive trail work depends upon knowing your way around sharp tools, working together as a team and having a constant awareness of surrounding hazards, and this crew did remarkably well for their first time doing this type of work together.”

Since this particular trail maintenance was done on trails leading into and within Saddle Mountain Wilderness, the crew was prohibited from using motorized equipment within the wilderness due to the Wilderness Act of 1964 in order to provide wilderness protections for future generations.

“When everything was said and done, we were greatly supported by the AWC and USFS, who proved very knowledgeable and were willing to answer all kinds of questions about forestry, land management and ecology,” Glessing added. “We had a shared experience that is difficult to find once you leave the military. It was fun and I’ll be looking forward to my next AWC trip; hopefully, just around the corner.”

Flagstaff Ranger District looking for volunteers to plant trees

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download1FLAGSTAFF — FLAGscanner is reporting that the Flagstaff Ranger District of the Coconino National Forest is inviting volunteers to help replant approximately 2,000 ponderosa pine trees in the Schultz burn are on Saturday, Aug. 29. Volunteers should arrive by 8:30 a.m. to attend a safety briefing and planting demonstration.

A meeting area has been established at Schultz Pass Road (Forest Road 420) at the entrance to the Vulcan Mine. From Flagstaff, head north on Highway 89 approximately 12 miles. When you see the turn-off for Wupatki-Sunset Crater National Monument, turn left and go across the other side of the highway onto the dirt road. Follow the forest road to a “T” intersection and turn left again. Drive approximately one-half mile until you see signs for the planting event. The road should be suitable for most cars. Persons with low clearance vehicles are advised to drive carefully on the forest road.

More information including contact is available at FLAGscanner.

Kraft Heinz Foods Company Recalls Turkey Bacon Products Due To Possible Adulteration

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Kraft-2WASHINGTON — Kraft Heinz Foods Company, a Newberry, S.C. establishment, is recalling approximately 2,068,467 pounds of turkey bacon products that may be adulterated because it may spoil before the “Best When Used By” date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The problem was discovered by the establishment during an investigation into spoilage-related consumer complaints. The turkey bacon was produced between May 31, 2015, and August 6, 2015. The following products are subject to recall:

  1. 56 oz. cardboard boxes (containing four plastic wrapped packages) marked Oscar Mayer “Selects Uncured Turkey Bacon” bearing the plant number P-9070, the line number RS19 and Product UPC 0 4470007633 0, and with “Best When Used By” dates of 24 AUG 2015 through 26 OCT 2015.
  2. 36 oz. cardboard boxes (containing three plastic wrapped packages) marked Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon “Smoked Cured Turkey Chopped and Formed” bearing the plant number P-9070, the line number RS19 and Product UPC 0 7187154874 8, and with “Best When Used By” dates of 28 AUG 2015 through 20 OCT 2015.
  3. 48 oz. cardboard boxes (containing four plastic wrapped packages) marked Oscar Mayer Turkey Bacon “Smoked Cured Turkey Chopped and Formed” bearing the plant number P-9070, the line number RS19 and Product UPC 0 7187154879 3, and with “Best When Used By” dates of 3 SEPT 2015 through 30 OCT 2015.

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number “P-9070” inside the USDA mark of inspection, as well as the line number “RS19”. These items were shipped nationwide and exported to the Bahamas and St. Martin.

FSIS has not received any confirmed reports of adverse reactions related to the consumption of these products. However, the company has received reports of illness related to the consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.

Trump takes heat from Bergdahl lawyer for calling him a traitor

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Defense attorney for Bowe Bergdahl—Eugene Fidell—is publicly berating Donald Trump for remarks in which he calls Bergdahl a “…dirty, rotten traitor.”

According to a report in the Army Times, Fidell said that Bergdhal cannot respond to the comments because he is currently under an Article 32 investigation to determine if charges should be brought. Fidell said that Trump’s remarks threaten Bergdahl’s right to a fair trial.

The remarks were in response to a video released by the Wall Street Journal of a town hall meeting in which Trump said:

We get a traitor named Bergdahl, a dirty, rotten traitor, who, by the way, when he deserted, six young, beautiful people were killed trying to find him.

Trump has used this example on his campaign trail over the past few months. In July he quipped that he would send Bergdahl back even if they do not want him.

Bergdahl disappeared in Afghanistan on June 30, 2009 and spent five-years in alleged captivity as a prisoner of war. He was traded for five Taliban terrorists. Fidell said that no soldiers were killed searching for Berghdahl.
soldiers-killed1The six soldiers in question are Staff Sergeant Clayton Bowen, 29, Private 1st Class Morris Walker, 23, Staff Sergeant Kurt Curtiss, 27, 2nd Lieutenant Darryn Andrews, 34, Staff Sergeant Michael Murphrey, 25, Private 1st Class Matthew Martinek

Bergdahl is now assigned to a desk job at U.S. Army North at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas while he awaits charges of once count of desertion with intent to shirk hazardous duty and one count of misbehavior before the enemy.

Workforce Flexibility act may give temporary DOI employees competitive edge

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500px-US-DeptOfTheInterior-Seal.svgWASHINGTON — The Land Management Workforce Flexibility act, H.R. 1531, has been signed into law. It is now Public Law No: 114-47. The bill was submitted by Representative Gerald Connolly [D-VA-11].

The Workforce Flexibility act makes an employee of specified land management agencies in the Department of the Interior serving under a time-limited, including a temporary, appointment in the competitive service eligible to compete for a permanent appointment in any land management agency or any other agency if:
(1) the original appointment was competitive,
(2) the employee has served under one or more time-limited appointments totaling more than 24 months without a break of two or more years, and
(3) the employee’s performance has been at an acceptable level.

It also provides that an individual appointed under the provisions of this Act becomes a career-conditional employee and acquires competitive status upon appointment.

The agency determining the eligibility of time-limited employees are required to waive age requirements for these employees unless age is essential to the performance of the duties of the position.

The law defines a former employee of a land management agency who served under a time-limited appointment and who otherwise meets applicable requirements to be a time-limited employee for purposes of this Act if:
(1) such employee applies for a position covered by this Act within two years after the most recent date of separation, and
(2) such employee’s most recent separation was for reasons other than misconduct or performance.

Persons interested in career positions in the Department of the Interior should check with Human Resources for more information.

Fire management actions wind down on Kaibab Plateau

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FREDONIA — Over the last six weeks, wildland firefighters worked to establish, reinforce and hold the line around the established 3,915-acre planning area on the Burnt Complex. On Aug. 5, they successfully achieved this management goal. Earlier this wildfire season, firefighters also successfully managed the Locust Fire, which consumed more than 3,227 acres of excess pine litter and dead-woody debris on the forest floor.

“Collectively, I can safely estimate both these wildfires removed approximately 5 to 10 tons-per-acre of excess fuels from the forest floor, making these portions of our forest healthier, more resilient to future wildfires and overall safer for those visiting the forest,” said North Zone Fuels Specialist Dave Robinson.

Objectives for a lightning-caused wildfire can call for full suppression, allowing the fire to take its natural course, or a combination thereof. This decision can be challenging because it includes a number of complexities that must be taken into account when planning such an operation. Such complexities can include but are not limited to landscape, terrain, and weather but also public health risk and values at risk, such as historic landmarks, power lines, communication towers, local businesses and privately-owned properties in or near the location of the wildfire, also referred to as the Wildland-Urban Interface or the transition zone between unoccupied land and human development.

When conditions are right and deemed appropriate to manage as identified by the Kaibab National Forest Land and Resources Management Plan (LRMP), management action objectives often include returning fire to a fire-adapted ecosystem, reducing accumulated fuels on the forest floor; recycling of nutrients into the soil; enhancing wildlife habitat and protecting the area from future high-intensity wildland fires.

Robinson adds that in addition to reducing fuel surface loads on the ground, it is also necessary to open the tree canopy and reduce understory tree densities in the planning area, resulting in a mosaic of patches and corridors of trees and diversity of distribution and abundance of different plant and animal communities and species within the area covered by the LRMP. On the Burnt Complex, this was accomplished by reducing the number of pole-sized trees, according to Robinson; a term used to describe trees 6 inches in diameter or less.

Robinson, who works for both the Kaibab National Forest and Grand Canyon National Park in fuels management, added that “wildfire is a commodity that we can’t afford to live without. So we do our best to manage these naturally-caused fires by manipulating the fire and keeping it at the low-and-slow intensity we want so nature can run its course. This natural disturbance process allows fire to reduce excess fuels, lessen the risk of future high-intensity wildfires, and allow fire to return to the ecosystem safely and effectively in an environment that needs fire to remain healthy.”

Both the Burnt Complex and the Locust Fire continue to be in monitor and patrol status, and fire managers are asking forest visitors to avoid entering the recently burned area as interior fuels may still be putting out heat and smoke.

“Successful management of these lightning-caused fires starts with communication and information. Firefighter and public safety is always the most important consideration as part of that process,” said North Zone Fire Management Officer Ed Hiatt. “We want our visitors to understand that even though a recently burned area may look like a safe place to explore, it isn’t. There may be fire-weakened tree hazards overhead or stump-hole hazards on the ground, which can cause serious injury, so it is always best to be aware of your surroundings, be on the lookout for such hazards and use extreme caution if hiking or camping in the vicinity.”