Zion National Park (UT)
Two Climbers Rescued from Streaked Wall
On Friday, January 7th, climbers K.B. and C.S. were rescued from Zion's Streaked Wall after being stranded there in a winter storm for four days. The two had successfully ascended the Latitudes route, a difficult (5.9, A4+) 1,500-foot overhanging big wall route, reaching the top on January 2nd after an eight-day climb. They began their descent the next day, but chose the wrong route. During the descent, they experienced whiteout conditions and heavy snow, which iced up the steep slickrock slabs they were navigating. They realized that they had gone the wrong way, but were unable to retreat due to terrain and weather. Rangers were notified that the climbers were overdue on January 4th; the storm cleared enough to perform an aerial recon on January 6th. The two climbers were located on steep icy slabs late in the day during a weather window which opened just long enough for rangers to drop them a package containing a radio and food. The climbers called on the radio and reported that they had been without food for three days, were relying on snow melt for water, and were wet and cold. Fortunately, they had brought their portaledge (a device that functions as a "portable ledge" for sleeping, resting, or belaying) along as insurance against bad weather. The National Weather Service predicted clear conditions for the morning of January 7th, but with the proviso that they would deteriorate rapidly by noon. Arrangements were made for Grand Canyon to send a short haul helicopter and crew at first light. The uninjured climbers were extracted by short haul early that morning; the storm, which forecasters said would bring heavy snow and last four days, arrived as scheduled. [Submitted by Kevin Killian, Canyon District Ranger]
Shenandoah National Park (VA)
D.D.R. Prosecution Update
D.D.R., the Maryland resident convicted in the July 9, 1997 attempted abduction of a female bicyclist in Shenandoah National Park and a suspect in the 1996 murders of J.W. and L."L."W., also in the park, was indicted by a Prince William County, Virginia, grand jury last June for a 1996 incident in which a female motorist was assaulted near Manassas. The woman was driving home from work along Route 234 between Manassas and Woodbridge when a motorist behind her flashed his lights and honked his horn. The woman accepted a ride when the seemingly polite man told her sparks were flying from under her car. He then attempted to assault her; although she was able to escape, she suffered a broken ankle and other injuries in the process (click on "More Information" below for a news article on that indictment). D.D.R. was charged with abduction with intent to defile, robbery and malicious wounding. A trail has been scheduled for February 7th in Manassas. The NPS and FBI case agents from the J.W.-L.W. homicides have been working closely with detectives from Prince William County and with the Commonwealth Attorney's Office in preparation for that trial. Several pre-trial motions are expected, with the next one set for January 11th. Numerous NPS employees are scheduled to testify. D.D.R.'s current sentence from the attempted abduction in Shenandoah in 1997 ends on July 17, 2007. [Submitted by Tim Alley, Special Agent] More Information...
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Alaska Region
Dual Career Opportunity at Klondike Gold Rush NHP
Dates: 01/05/2005 - 01/18/2005
Klondike Gold Rush NHP in Skagway, Alaska, is currently advertising two positions - a GS-12 supervisory facility operations specialist and GS-9/11 administrative officer. The people selected for these two positions will work with a dedicated management team in the management of 16 historic structures, cultural landscapes, a campground, the historic Chilkoot Trail, and a large leaseback program. An additional position, a secretary/administrative clerk, is expected to be advertised before a selection is made for these two positions. The two positions are on USAJOBS, open through January 18th. Skagway — the most visited national park in Alaska — is home to 850 year-round residents, growing to about 3000 in the summer. The city, in Southeast Alaska, offers a school (K-12), grocery store, restaurants, community recreation center, clinic, and several churches. It is accessible by road, air, and the Alaska Marine Highway. Learn more about Skagway at www.skagway.com, www.skagway.org, and www.nps.gov/klgo.
[Submitted by James Corless, james_corless@nps.gov, 907-983-2921]
National Capital Region
Joseph Lawler Named Regional Director
Joseph M. Lawler, a career manager with the National Park Service, has been named regional director for the Service's National Capital Region. He had been serving as deputy regional director since January 1997 and replaces Terry R. Carlstrom, who has retired.
As the regional director, Lawler will assume the management of the National Capital Region, which is comprised of the nation's oldest federal parks, including the White House grounds, the National Mall and the grounds of the Washington Monument, as well as the World War II Memorial, dedicated last Memorial Day.
"I look forward to working with the talent, experience and insight that Joe Lawler brings to this position," said National Park Service Director Fran P. Mainella. "Joe's 30 years of National Park Service experience in the greater Washington area will help us fulfill our core mission and attain new levels of service. His expertise in working with partners is an asset for everyone."
The National Capital Region encompasses over 87,000 acres of federal parkland in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Park sites include the Washington Monument; Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans and World War II Memorials; Frederick Douglass National Historic Site; Ford's Theatre National Historic Site; George Washington Memorial Parkway; the Baltimore-Washington Parkway; Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts and Rock Creek Park. Outlying parks include the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, from Georgetown to Cumberland, MD, and the Civil War parks of Manassas National Battlefield Park, VA, Antietam National Battlefield, MD, Monocacy National Battlefield, MD and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, WV. Popular camping and natural areas include Prince William Forest Park in Virginia and Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. The National Capital Region employs more than 1,300 park rangers, maintenance and support personnel and attracts a combined total of more than 40 million visitors annually to its park sites. The region's budget is more than $150 million.
Lawler held top posts in numerous parks in Washington, D.C., including support office superintendent in 1996. In 1994, he served as ARD for operations.
Lawler was director of Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts from May 1992 until September 1994, and general manager of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from 1988 until 1992.
All previous park posts have been within the National Capital Region over a 30-year span. Assignments include the assistant superintendent of Rock Creek Park (1983-1985), chief of interpretation and visitor services at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts (1979-1984), and site manager at Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, Washington, D.C. (1978-1979). Lawler also held mid-level management training assignments at Everglades and Yellowstone National Parks and worked on Alaskan lands legislation for the National Park Service in Washington, D.C.
Entering the National Park Service in 1972 as a park technician in the community programs branch, Lawler next moved to the division of special events of National Capital Region headquarters in 1974. Becoming a permanent park ranger in 1975, Lawler was assigned to President's Park, serving there until 1978. Short-term assignments took him to the Kennedy Center as chief of visitor services in 1977, and in 1983, to Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, MD, as acting assistant superintendent.
Lawler has earned numerous special achievement awards, most notably for developing the White House visitor program ticket system for the 1976 American Bicentennial Celebration. In 1994, Lawler was named National Capital Region "Superintendent of the Year" while serving as Director of Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. In 1997, he received the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award for fostering partnerships with the private sector. In 2003, Lawler completed the Department of the Interior, Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program.
Lawler is a native of Pittston, PA. He holds a B.A. degree in English from the University of Scranton, Scranton, PA and has done graduate work in public administration at George Washington University and George Mason University. He and his wife Libby, a teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas Regional School in Woodbridge, VA, reside in Lake Ridge, VA, and have two adult sons, Joseph, Jr., and Michael.
[Submitted by Bill Line, Public Affairs Officer, NCRO]
Morristown National Historical Park (NJ)
Randy Turner Selected as Park's Superintendent
Northeast Regional Director Marie Rust has selected 31-year NPS veteran park manager Randy Turner as the new superintendent of Morristown National Historical Park. Expected to assume his new position later this month, Turner will take the reins from John Hnedak, who has served as acting superintendent since Michael Henderson became curator of six national park units in Manhattan last summer. Hnedak will resume his duties as director of resource management at Gateway NRA.
Turner will be moving from Fairfield County, Connecticut, where since 2001 he has been superintendent of Weir Farm National Historic Site. Under his stewardship, National Park Service staff and members of the Weir Farm Trust strengthened their partnership for the park and expanded their work with other organizations throughout the state engendering new support from the Norwalk River Watershed Association, Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce, Aldrich Museum, Connecticut Fund for the Environment as well as local Eagle Scouts, schools, and Boys and Girls Clubs. Today these partnerships are working to make Weir Farm National Historic Site relevant to a wider audience. Also under Turner's watch, the NPS rehabilitated the park's historic Burlingham Barn which provided the park's first public restrooms and year-round meeting space.
"I look forward to working in a park I have visited many times over the past twenty years and am excited that I will be involved with activities commemorating the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution," said Turner. "Morristown National Historical Park has a long and impressive history of partnership projects and programs. Ensuring their success by working with neighbors and partners such as the Washington Association of New Jersey will be among the highest priorities for me and the park staff."
In 1973, Turner began his NPS career as a seasonal park technician telling thousands of visitors the stories of the Natchez Trace Parkway (MS). This assignment was followed with a series of advancements at locations around the country including Cumberland Gap National Historical Park (KY), Fort Caroline National Memorial (FL), Gulf Islands National Seashore (FL&MS), Herbert Hoover National Historic Site (IA), Statue of Liberty National Monument (NY), Gateway National Recreation Area (NY&NJ), and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (PA&NJ). From 1981-82, he worked in the private sector at Dell Graphics Inc. as assistant to the president. Upon his return to the NPS, Turner also served on numerous task forces and was awarded the highest NPS regional honor for his field of interpretation—the Freeman Tilden Award. In 1999, he received the prestigious Bevinetto Congressional Fellowship and worked in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (1999). He then accepted an assignment as deputy superintendent at Manhattan Sites where he served for a year before becoming superintendent of Weir Farm National Historic Site. A native of Tupelo, MS, Turner holds a BA in communications from Mississippi State University.
Authorized by Congress in 1933 as the first National Historical Park in the National Park System, the park commemorates the commitment of George Washington and his army, who spent the two critical winters of 1777 and 1779 in Morristown during the American Revolution. The park features the Ford Mansion (Washington's Headquarters), Jockey Hollow and Fort Nonsense.
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.