|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Wednesday, June 14, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Yosemite NP Update on Landslide on Route 140 Yosemite National Park continues to deal with the closure of Highway 140 near Savages Trading Post, about seven miles outside the park's boundary. The closure, known as the "Ferguson Rockslide Incident," is currently being managed by the South Central Sierra interagency incident management team (Allen Johnson, IC) out of Mariposa. USGS geologists are currently on-site analyzing the slide as alternatives are being formulated. There is currently no estimate for the reopening of the road. The geologists, along with engineers, are looking at possible solutions that would replace the current road. The slide continues to be active and has so far deposited about 300 million cubic yards of shale onto the roadway and into the Merced River. About 400 NPS and concession employees living in Midpines and Mariposa are commuting up to two-and-a-half hours each way every day to arrive at work sites in El Portal and Yosemite Valley. The park is looking at transportation mechanisms to get employees into the park. Additionally, the park is setting up temporary housing units in El Portal and Yosemite Valley and taking measures such as allowing self-contained trailers and RV's to locate temporarily in the El Portal trailer park. The economic impact to all of the gateway communities (Mariposa, Groveland, Sonora, Oakhurst) is unknown at this point, but business is noticeably down. The economy of Mariposa is largely dependent on visitors to the park. Participating agencies include the National Park Service, US Forest Service, BLM, Mariposa County Sheriffs Office, Cal Trans, California Highway Patrol, PG&E, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Public meetings about the closure and its impacts are being conducted in Mariposa and El Portal. [Scott Gediman, Chief, Media & External Relations] Denali NP&P Active Search for Climbers Missing on Mount Foraker Suspended The search for missing Mount Foraker climbers Karen K.M. and S.N. was again put on hold on Sunday due to poor flying conditions. Clouds shrouded the lower elevations of Mount McKinley and the ranger camp at 14,200-foot elevation received six inches of new snow overnight. Weather conditions were not expected to improve significantly through at least Wednesday. Only limited aerial searches have taken place since Monday, June 5th, due to cloud cover and poor flying conditions in the search area. After a thorough analysis of the situation and in light of the predicted weather, search managers have determined that a continued focused search effort will not provide any different results from those that have been obtained to date and have accordingly decided to suspend active search operations. The goal of locating the climbers will continue, as weather and resources allow. This will include further examination of the summit area and periodic examination, as melting occurs, of the avalanche debris where the backpack and other gear items were found. Since June 1st, the National Park Service has conducted 27 hours of low-level aerial search with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft as conditions allowed, all within a five mile radius of Mount Foraker. All of the search segments, including areas of the summit, have been flown on multiple occasions, and at every opportunity that weather conditions have allowed. During this time, there has been no sighting of the climbers on the route, nor any evidence of activity on the snow surface in the vicinity of the summit or any of the various routes leading off the mountain. It is believed that even if the two climbers had all of their fuel containers with them, assuming none were in the backpack that was discovered at the base of the avalanche chute, they would only have lasted 18 days under the best of conditions. Without the ability to melt snow into water, climbers rapidly become dehydrated, increasing the probability of debilitating frostbite, hypothermia and weakness. Eating snow for water provides some relief, but generally hastens hypothermia and depletes the calories needed for warmth. In the best case scenario, S.N. and K.M. have had no water for ten days. S.N., 36, of Vail, Colorado and K.M., 37, of Canmore, Alberta, Canada, were last seen on May 14th at the base of the Infinite Spur route on Mt. Foraker. [Kris Fister, Public Affairs Specialist] Antietam NB Ku Klux Klan Rally The World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan held a demonstration at the Mumma Farm on June 10th under the terms of a First Amendment right special use permit. The permit covered the period from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a 2 p.m. start time for the demonstration. A multi-agency planning effort began in April, with the early involvement of the DOI Solicitor's Office in the development of the permit and a record of determination for special closures. An emergency law and order request was submitted to the Washington Office to cover the security and management of the demonstration. Law enforcement officers from the NPS, the US Park Police, the Maryland State Police and the Washington County Sheriff's Office provided security, staffed checkpoints, and separated the 50 Klan members and supporters from an opposing group of 40 Confederate re-enactors, townspeople and anti-Klan demonstrators who had been issued a permit for their counter-demonstration. The event was managed under ICS. Klan members and their supporters had to go through a magnetometer and were then driven to the Mumma Farm rally site in NPS vans driven by NPS rangers. Towards the end of the rally, a USPP reaction team and a horse-mounted team were position between the two groups due to heated exchanges between them. At the same time as this event, the park was also hosting a 5K run and a weekend artillery demonstration. There were no significant incidents at the Klan demonstration. The park extends its appreciation to the US Park Police, Maryland State Police, Washington County Sheriff's Office and Colonial NHP for their support in the planning for the demonstration and the support of nine other NCR and NER parks and to NCRO for providing 19 protection rangers and status check-in personnel. [Ed Wenschhof, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news of interest from today's edition of InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/): Comprehensive update on NPS incident management program and launch of new web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4543" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4543 Memorandum on release of incident information to the media and general public: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4544" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4544 * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |