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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office Day/Date: Thursday, January 24, 2002 INCIDENTS 02-017 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Serious Employee Injury Park wilderness coordinator S.G. suffered a serious back injury while sledding with his children at Massanutten on the morning of Sunday, January 20th. He was taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a "burst fracture" of the lower thoracic area of his spine (T-12); although he initially lost all sensation and movement in his legs, he responded well to medication and regained significant movement and sensation in both legs. S.G. underwent surgery on Tuesday morning and is currently in the hospital's neurological intensive care unit. The objectives of the operation, deemed a success, were to remove a bone fragment which was placing pressure on his spinal column and to replace the section of the spine that was damaged. Due to the nature of the injury, there are no tests that doctors can perform that will determine how complete his recovery will be or when it will occur. Current plans are to transfer him to a rehabilitation unit in Charlottesville in the near future. S.G.'s spouse, ranger L.G., has asked friends and colleagues to refrain from calling or visiting him at he hospital so that he will have a chance to recover from the surgery. Notes and cards can be sent to him at Room 6182, UVA Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA 22908, or you can send a note via email to the family at wergreen@earthlink.net. If you have kids, you might get them to produce and send drawings, as the park hopes to plaster his bedroom walls with such art. The G. family extends its sincere thanks for the outpouring of support they have received already. Further updates will appear in the Morning Report. If you're in the NPS, you can also get on an email mailing list to receive direct updates by sending a note to Tracy Thetford at Shenandoah NP; if you're outside the NPS, you can do the same by contacting Skip Wissinger at longwalk3@aol.com. [Tracy Thetford, Clay Jordan, SHEN, 1/23]PARKS AND PEOPLE Washington Office (DC) - Dick Ring, associate director for park operations and education, has asked Vaughn Baker, currently superintendent at Lake Roosevelt NRA, to come to Washington to serve on a four-month detail as his deputy, effective on February 11th. Those needing to reach the associate director can contact either one of them as of that date. [Dick Ring, WASO] Prince William Forest Park (VA) - The park is recruiting for a GS-401-11 natural resource manager. The person selected will serve as division chief and principal advisor on NRM issues for the 17,000-acre park, located 32 miles southwest of Washington, DC. The announcement (PRWI-02-02) opens today and closes on February 13th. For more information, call 703-221-2391. [Kate Richardson, PRWI] Intermountain Region Support Office (CO) - Tom Wylie, natural resource program supervisor, has announced his plan to retire on March 1st, culminating a 35-year career with the National Park Service. Tom's NPS career began as an intake trainee at the Horace Albright Training Center at Grand Canyon NP in 1966. He served as a ranger in Yosemite and Canyonlands, then applied his educational skills in biology to become Canyonlands' chief for resource management for ten years. Tom left Canyonlands to become the superintendent of Florissant Fossil Beds NM in 1985. After three years there, he returned to resource management with an assignment in Rocky Mountain Regional Office. Tom has held a variety of natural resource positions and participated in several reorganizations of the regional office while in Denver. It was this period of change that allowed Tom to bring his extensive field experience to the restructuring, reengineering, and downsizing efforts that the central office staff participated in. Tom was recognized for his common sense approach to these efforts, which always focused on the needs of parks, by his selection as natural resource program supervisor five years ago. A retirement dinner is planned for March 9th in Denver. His office is collecting photos, cards, letters and other memorabilia for a scrapbook. For information about the dinner, contributions to the scrapbook, or other questions, please contact Bob Moon at 303-969-2856. [Bob Moon, IRSO] * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |