NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

BLACKBERRY EDITION

Thursday, February 23, 2006

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INCIDENTS

Lowell NHP

Canal Rescue

On the afternoon of February 14th, rangers received a call from Lowell PD reporting that a person was in the waters of the canal that runs through the park. Rangers and local police, fire and EMS personnel responded. Lowell PD officers were first on scene and found him in the moving, icy water below a railroad trestle that crosses the canal. They were able to toss a throw bag to him; one of the responding rangers then got a life jacket with a throw line attached to him to keep him afloat. Much longer ropes were then tied to the throw line and the victim was brought to the edge of the canal and pulled from the water. He was taken to a local hospital. [Dan Kuja]

Grand Teton NP

Skier Rescued Near Taggart Lake

Rangers rescued an injured backcountry skier near the west shore of Taggart Lake on Saturday evening, February 18th. A 42-year-old woman from Jackson, Wyoming, fell and seriously injured her right leg while skiing in Avalanche Canyon and was unable to ski out to the Taggart Lake trailhead on the Teton Park Road. The woman's companion employed a cell phone to make a 911 call. While rangers on snowmobiles headed toward her location, the woman and her companion fashioned a makeshift splint to stabilize her leg. They met up with three other skiers who were in the vicinity, and they helped her in her efforts to ski further. The group worked their way down Avalanche Canyon for about two miles before a change in terrain made it difficult for the woman to continue. Rangers reached her at 7:20 p.m. and placed her in a rescue sled towed behind a snowmobile. After they transported her to the trailhead, she was driven by private vehicle to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson for treatment of her injuries. Rangers credited the woman, her companion, and the other backcountry skiers for their emergency self-rescue work. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Specialist]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services

Incident Management Program Steering Committee Update

The steering committee, led by program manager Dan Pontbriand, continues to work on establishing a Servicewide all hazards incident management program. The committee met for three days in January. Recent activities include:

Distribution of an application packet to current members of the regional and national incident management teams for review of their training and experience against the all hazards qualification guide drafted by the committee. The packets were reviewed by a work group of individuals with extensive knowledge of ICS and with command and general staff experience in wildland fire and all hazard incident management. These team members will be the first entries into an NPS all hazard incident qualifications and certification system. Of the 37 application packets that were reviewed, 18 were rated as fully qualified for certification, 5 are required to submit additional documentation and 20 need to submit an all hazard task book and/or complete a training assignment. Some people will qualify for multiple jobs, which accounts for more positions than applicants. The committee will extend the application process opportunity to all NPS personnel with incident management experience at the command and general staff or unit leader level.

Drafts of an all hazards reference manual (RM-55), qualifications guide and position task books were reviewed and rewrites for second drafts for field distribution and review are underway. A directors order (DO-55) draft will also being prepared.

The superintendent's representative vacancy on the steering committee was filled by superintendent Mark Lewis of Biscayne National Park. Holly Rife, chief ranger of Catoctin Mountain Park, who serves as the eastern field representative on the committee, was selected as vice chair.

The IMPSC charter and action plan was reviewed and updated. Several tasks were prioritized, including development of NPS all hazards supplements to the interagency incident business management handbook and establishment of an audit process for all hazards incidents.

Karen Taylor-Goodrich, associate director for visitor and resource protection, and Don Coelho, chief of the division of law enforcement and emergency services, briefed the steering committee on the National Leadership Council's interests regarding the incident management program and plans for support and review.

For further information on the incident management program, contact Dan Pontbriand at HYPERLINK "mailto:dan_pontbriand@nps.gov" dan_pontbriand@nps.gov .

[Holly Rife, Vice Chair/ Eastern Field Representative, IMPSC]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Mammoth Cave NP

Henry Holman Retires

Henry Holman was and is an institution at Mammoth Cave National Park, working there from 1971 through 2006. Henry's natural interest in the hills and hollows, caves and rivers of the park, along with his steel-trap memory, made him the source on park resource information.

“Throughout his career, Henry was the consummate professional,” said Bruce Powell, deputy superintendent. “With an extensive knowledge of park resources, he was always meticulous with detail, always thorough, and dedicated to the National Park Service mission at Mammoth Cave National Park.”

Henry started at Mammoth Cave as a summer cave guide while he was in college. After graduation (Western Kentucky University, 1973), he was hired as a permanent, and soon became a “split ranger,” annually dedicating four months to the cave, four months to resource management, and four months to law enforcement.

When the splits were phased out, Henry settled into law enforcement and resource management. He facilitated land swaps to straighten the park boundary, caught marijuana farmers, and knew where chestnut stumps, 60 years dead from the blight, were sprouting new growth. A thinker and man of action, Henry designed and built reroutes of the backcountry trails, improving them both ecologically and recreationally.

In 1999, Henry was promoted to management assistant, to ride herd over hundreds of park projects, while ensuring environmental compliance.

In 2003, Henry received the NPS Honor Award for Superior Service, a national honor.

“In every position Henry held, he represented Mammoth Cave National Park and the National Park Service well in establishing long-lasting relationships with park neighbors and partners to facilitate and enhance park operations,” Powell added.

Henry and his wife Susan plan to travel, spend time with their daughters Emily and Ellen, and play with their young granddaughter.

Henry retired in January 2006. Mammoth Cave staff are planning a retirement dinner on March 9. Anyone interested in attending, or sending a letter for a memory book, may contact Gayle Giesecke at 270/758-2184, or HYPERLINK "mailto:gayle_giesecke@nps.gov" gayle_giesecke@nps.gov. Mail letters to Mammoth Cave National Park, P.O. Box 7, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259.

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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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