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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, October 31, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Great Smoky Mountains NP Park Continues Recovery From Severe Windstorm Recovery from the windstorm that ravaged the Tennessee side of the park on October 16th and 17th is expected to cost over $500,000 by the time all the park's trails are cleared and damage to park vehicles and structures is repaired. Park managers have already submitted a $350,000 storm damage relief request to offset the park's costs to clear roads and to repair buildings and vehicles. As of October 19th, all park roads had been reopened, just in time for the heavy visitor traffic that occurs during the fall color season. Park campgrounds and picnic areas had also returned to normal operations for this time of the year. The storm, which brought high winds gusting to a peak of 106 mph, left virtually all the roads on the Tennessee side of the park blocked by fallen trees and debris, totaled three park vehicles, and damaged several park buildings. The most serious damage was sustained by the historic Dan Lawson Barn in Cades Cove, which was blown partially off its footings when one wall buckled inward. Park personnel spent much of last week conducting a preliminary assessment of the trails on the Tennessee side and found damage to be widespread all the way from the Abrams Creek area in Blount County to Cosby in Cocke County. They found well over 1,000 downed trees, creating an obstacle course for hikers and prompting the park to close 24 trails to horse travel. Many trails also have hot-tub-sized holes where trees were uprooted. “Now that we have some idea what our impacts are, we have crews starting work to get trails reopened, beginning with the most popular trails first,” said assistant superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald. “In the interest of getting the most miles of trail open as soon as possible, our crews will focus on cutting a path through blocked areas and removing any damaged trees and large limbs which are still hanging overhead and could pose a hazard. We only have about a six week window of weather to do trail work, so we will have to put off repairing the large holes and other major damage to trail surfaces until next spring. So there will be a number of trails that will remain closed to horse use throughout the winter.” The park intends to expand its trail crews next spring in order to get the remaining damage repaired as early as weather permits. Crews currently assigned to clear trails consist of about two dozen experienced Smokies trail workers and firefighters who'd normally be laid off by late October but have been extended until Christmas on an emergency basis. The park expects that their additional salary and overtime costs this fall will total up to about $200,000. To provide up-to-date information on the condition of specific trails, the park has posted a trail status report to its website: HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm" http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/temproadclose.htm. [Bob Miller, Management Assistant] Yosemite NP Visitor Dies In 400-Foot Fall On Sunday, October 29th, Valley District rangers, SAR personnel and a California Highway Patrol helicopter were involved in a hasty search for a 28-year-old Missouri man who was overdue from a hike. Patrick Watt had last been seen the day before scrambling up the Grizzly Peak Gully by himself east of the John Muir trailhead in the Merced River Canyon above Yosemite Valley. Ground searchers found Watt's body southeast of Grizzly Peak above the tree line between Vernal Fall and the Vernal Fall foot bridge. It appears that he fell at least 400 feet. The body was hoisted out of the area by the CHP helicopter. [Leslie Reynolds, Valley District Ranger] Mount Rushmore NM Follow-up On Body Found In Park On October 19th, 2006, rangers received a report of a body in a backcountry area of the park. The victim has now been positively identified as J.B.V., 51, of Yuma, Arizona. The preliminary report from the post mortem examination states that J.B.V. most likely died of natural causes several months ago. Rangers continue to work with the FBI and the Pennington County Sheriff's office to wrap up the investigation. [Mike Pflaum, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news from today's edition of InsideNPS, the National Park Service's home page: Report on Great Smokies' continuing recovery from this month's big windstorm. Great Basin had an open house to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Fire and Aviation Management is soliciting nominations for their annual Pulaski Award. WWII journalist Ernie Pyle's home has been designated a national landmark. News article on the Appalachian Trail and how its broadening its mandate to deal with larger issues. Report on death of Yellowstone special policeman Patrick Kramer, killed in a patrol vehicle accident outside the park. Bill Paleck will be retiring from North Cascades in January. To link to InsideNPS, click on HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/ * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |