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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Monday, August 7, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs Update On Search For Missing Hiker The search continues for a hiker who has been missing in Kings Canyon NP since Monday, July 31st. L.S., 56, of Hershey, Pennsylvania, who was on a multi-day backpacking trip with three companions, was last seen sitting on the bank of the swift-moving San Joaquin River near their camp in Aspen Meadow. When her friends discovered that she was missing, they searched the area, then asked a group of hikers on their way out to Muir Ranch to get help. It was late evening when the Fresno County Sheriff's Office was contacted. The park was notified at 10:30 p.m. that night. Search teams from Kings Canyon and the Fresno County Sheriff's Office arrived on scene early Tuesday morning. Since then, a full-scale search has been conducted utilizing helicopters from Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Yosemite and the sheriff's office; three search-dog teams from California Rescue Dog Association and YODOGS; 13 ground searchers from Sequoia/Kings Canyon; and eight swift-water trained personnel from Yosemite. The sheriff's office has also had two horse patrol units and 15 ground searchers on scene. They have thoroughly covered both the area where she was last seen and areas radiating out from that location. No clues or leads have been produced during the multiple-day effort. The search will continue but has been scaled back. [Alexandra Picavet, Public Affairs Officer] Denali NP&P First Lady Vacations In Park First Lady Laura Bush arrived in the park by train on July 23rd for a one-week vacation at a private inholder lodge in the Kantishna area. Her visit was managed by the park's incident management team. Members of the park staff assisted Secret Service and White House personnel with communications, security and logistics. A small number of rangers from other parks in the region were detailed to Denali to maintain normal operations so that a portion of the park's law enforcement staff could be assigned full-time to augment and assist the Secret Service details. During the week. Mrs. Bush and a small group of friends enjoyed daily hiking excursions throughout the park. On Friday, July 28th, she and her companions traveled to park headquarters to tour the Murie Science and Learning Center, a collaborative venture by Denali, seven other national parks, and several park partners. She later attended a luncheon hosted at the center and greeted park staff and the regional director. [Richard Moore, North District Ranger] Pinnacles NM Employee Killed In Out-Of-Park Accident Maintenance employee John Osborne, 48, was struck and killed while attempting to cross Highway 101 near Salinas, California, just after 9 p.m. on August 4th. He was declared dead at the scene. Osborne worked in buildings and utilities on the west side of the park. Since he was the only maintenance employee in that area, he was responsible for all manner of maintenance tasks. He spent 16 years at Pinnacles National Monument and a total of 23 years in federal service, including time in the Marine Corps and at Point Reyes and Lassen Volcanic. [Dana Sullivan, Protection Operations Supervisor] Redwood N&SP Conviction For Tree Poaching On August 1st, local resident Christopher David Guffie was sentenced to 120 days in jail and three years probation for cutting and attempting to remove old-growth redwood from the park. Guffie was also ordered to pay restitution to the park and the courts. Rangers found Guffie splitting a downed old-growth redwood log inside the park a year ago and apprehended him after an hour-and-a-half long foot chase. Guffie is the fifth local resident successfully prosecuted for wood theft in the past year. [Pat Grediagin, Chief Ranger] Great Sand Dunes NP Fatal Airplane Crash In Sangre De Cristos A Piper Cherokee 180 crashed in the rugged Sangre De Cristo mountains within Great Sand Dunes on Thursday, August 3rd. The plane, piloted by M.D., 54, president of Pueblo Community College, was en route from Pueblo to Alamosa at the time of the accident. A BLM employee who was surveying the preserve's boundary on Medano Pass reported the incident after he heard a small plane fly over with what sounded like engine problems. Moments later, the plane crashed into the side of an unnamed mountain at the 11,500 foot elevation level. The responding ranger met the BLM employee and fixed the crash site, which by now was obscured by lowering clouds. Using a little known and unmaintained trail, the ranger then led the Saguache County sheriff and county SAR personnel to the site, where M.D. was found not to have survived the crash. The body was retrieved the following day. The NTSB investigation is continuing, but preliminary indications are that the plane lacked sufficient power for the altitude at which it was being flown. The wreckage will be removed within the next two weeks. Jim Bowman, the park's chief ranger, is the case agent. [Jim Bowman, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news of interest from today's edition of InsideNPS, which can be found at this address if your inside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) and at this address if you're outside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/). Note that not all articles that appear in the former make it into the latter: Glacier NP - Report on the status of the 27,000-acre Red Eagle Fire, now 50% contained. Devils Tower NM - Announcement of reopening of climbing routes, which were closed due to nesting falcons. * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |