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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, November 21, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Gauley River NRA Whitewater Rafting Season Concludes The fall whitewater season on the Gauley River has concluded, with rangers logging responses to numerous EMS and search and rescue incidents. Ranger Charles Mitchum assisted in the evacuation of a rafter with a dislocated shoulder and broken nose and a rafter with head and neck injuries. Ranger Randy Fisher investigated a drowning and assisted with an elbow dislocation during the annual Gauley downriver race. River ranger Bryan Hunter provided EMS to a raft guide who suffered a mild heart attack during his trip. The raft guide was evacuated and transported to a hospital. River rangers conducted numerous rescues of accidental swimmers and visitors on pinned rafts and recovered an array of lost equipment. Summersville Reservoir is a center for powerboat recreation during the summer months and at the end of the season the Army Corp of Engineers must lower the lake by 75 feet to make room for next spring's floods. The dependable flows from this fall drawdown attract thousands of paddlers to one of the country's most popular runs on the Class V Gauley River. These scheduled releases begin on the first Friday after Labor Day and continue every weekend for five weeks. According to American Whitewater, a whitewater rafting organization, the rapids on the Gauley - Pillow Rock, Insignificant, Lost Paddle, Iron Ring, and Sweet's Falls - are world famous and deserve their notoriety. They are big, steep, demanding, and can have severe consequences for the paddler in the wrong place. [Randy Fisher, Park Ranger] Colorado NM Special Event: Rim Rock Run On November 11th, 259 runners competed in the 14th annual Rim Rock Run, a 37k foot race held within the park. Rim Rock Drive, the main road through the park, was limited to one-way traffic during the event, with vehicles utilizing one lane while the runners used the other. A commissioned ranger from Black Canyon NP and several deputies from Mesa County Sheriff's Department assisted with the successful event. [Phil Akers, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news from today's edition of InsideNPS, the National Park Service's home page: National Parks Magazine - Article from the fall edition on how national parks within the fragile Great Lakes ecosystem face serious environmental threats. San Francisco Maritime NHP - San Francisco Maritime's Aquatic Park Lagoon has been closed to swimming due to confirmed reports of a sea lion or seal biting local swimmers. Yellowstone NP - Billings Gazette article on new snowmobile plan. Devils Tower NM - The park is recruiting for a GS-11 chief ranger. The announcement closes December 9th. 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. --- ### --- |