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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Friday, September 1, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Eastern Areas Tropical Storm Ernesto Update The following summarizes actions that have been or are being taken in Eastern parks in response to Tropical Storm Ernesto (as of 11 a.m. on Thursday): Florida Dry Tortugas NP - Both the park and its concessions are again open. No damage is reported. Everglades NP - The park reopened at noon yesterday; the Florida Bay district will reopen to the public at 6 a.m. this morning. Park staff are cleaning up downed limbs, but no other damage has been found. Biscayne NP - The park opened at 8 a.m. yesterday morning. Normal park and concessions operations have resumed. Big Cypress NP - The park has resumed normal operations. Some minor flooding occurred on Loop Road. Canaveral NS - The park reopened at 8 a.m. No damage has been found. Castillo de San Marcos NM/Fort Matanzas NM - All staff have returned to work and the park is back to normal operations. No damage has been found. Timucuan E&HP/Fort Caroline NM - The park reports a few downed tree limbs, but no other damage. Georgia Cumberland Island NS - No damage has been reported. The park has resumed normal operations. Fort Frederica NM - Park staff reported to work yesterday morning. Damage is limited to one downed tree and fallen tree limbs. Fort Pulaski NM - The park was closed on Thursday but will likely reopen today once a damage assessment has been completed. At the time of the report, the port of Savannah was still closed to inbound traffic. South Carolina Fort Sumter NM - The park was still closed yesterday, but will likely open sometime today. North Carolina Moores Creek NB - The park closed at noon on Thursday and all personnel will released. It will remain closed today and reopen tomorrow. Cape Lookout NS - The park has implemented its emergency weather evacuation plan. Areas south of mile marker 41 on South Core Banks and all of Shackleford Banks closed at 2 p.m. yesterday and will remain closed until further notice. Cape Hatteras NS - Campgrounds located in Ocracoke and Cape Point in Buxton closed at noon yesterday. The predicted high winds and heavy rains will make camping activities inadvisable. These campgrounds will reopen after the storm passes and any damage is repaired. No other Outer Banks Group National Park Service facilities are closed at this time. The Frisco and Oregon Inlet campgrounds remain open; their status will be re-evaluated as the storm approaches. Pennsylvania/New Jersey Delaware Water Gap NRA - The park held a preliminary planning meeting on Thursday to assess the prospects for flooding and begin necessary preparations. Employees who have been evacuated have been asked to contact the Emergency Incident Coordination Center (EICC) at Shenandoah NP to report their status and location. The call in number is 888-246-4335. [Jeff Brice, NPS Assistant Coordinator, Southern Area Coordination Center; Cyndy Holda, Outer Banks Group; Bill Halainen, Delaware Water Gap NRA] Glen Canyon NRA Employee Killed In Off-Duty Accident Early yesterday morning, Kirby Yocum, 24, was killed in a car accident outside the park. Kirby worked in the entrance station at Halls Crossing as a seasonal fee collector. This was his first job with the National Park Service. He was from Griffin, Georgia, near Atlanta. “Our hearts go out to Kirby's family and friends,” said superintendent Kitty Roberts. “He was an exuberant young man, bounding with energy. Kirby's dream was to be a park ranger. The National Park Service family will miss Kirby greatly.” The accident took place around 3 a.m., when Kirby and friends were returning to Halls Crossing after a weekend trip to Aspen, Colorado. The vehicle rolled over at a steep curve on Utah Highway 95 near Blanding. Kirby was riding in the passenger seat. [Kevin Schneider, Public Affairs Officer] Point Reyes NS Marijuana Eradication Operation Rangers and local law enforcement officers seized about 20,000 marijuana plants valued at about $50 million from several marijuana plantations within the park this week. The sites were located in the Olema Valley and Bolinas Ridge areas in western Marin County. Together, these plantations constitute one of the largest marijuana operations ever found in the park or in Marin County. The areas under cultivation suffered extensive resource damage from the growing operations. A comprehensive resource assessment is being conducted, but preliminary estimates show numerous trees were damaged to make the site. Some of the illegal growing sites are in endangered northern spotted owl habitat. Several water holding ponds were dug into the hillside, and an extensive irrigation system was constructed to a spring approximately a half mile from the site. Growers were killing wildlife, diverting streams that contain threatened species of fish, and using harmful pesticides to control vegetation. Efforts are underway to remove all the garbage from the sites and to begin restoration work. Participating in the operation were rangers from Point Reyes and Golden Gate, Park Police officers, and officers from Marin and Sonoma County agencies. Click on “More Information” below for a report on a previous marijuana eradication operation in the park this summer. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewincidentsarticle&type=Incidents&id=2818" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewincidentsarticle&type=Incidents&id=2818 [Don Neubacher, Superintendent] * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |