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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, December 14, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Shenandoah NP Parts Of Skyline Drive Still Closed After Thanksgiving Storm Portions of Skyline Drive remain closed weeks after a Thanksgiving eve ice storm knocked down trees, treetops and limbs along the scenic drive. From Big Meadows to Swift Run Gap, crews have been working to clear the downed debris felled the night of November 22nd. Next, the chainsaws will move south to the area toward Rockfish Gap. Some parts of the scenic drive just north of the Blue Ridge Parkway were hit harder than others, particularly at the top of the mountain near U.S. 33. Although teams have been working nonstop since the storm, there's no estimate as to when the roadway will reopen. Fifty-two miles of the drive are currently open. In addition to a contracted team, the park's maintenance, trails and fire crews are all pitching in, including seasonal employees normally let go for the winter. Some staffers worked 13 hours on Thanksgiving in the wake of the ice storm. The Appalachian Trail and other trails were also devastated. The Blue Ridge Parkway, which starts just south of Skyline Drive on Afton Mountain and continues into North Carolina, was not hit as hard, and is open to traffic. [Liesel Nowak, Charlottesville Daily Progress] Cape Hatteras NS Park Beach Inundated With Doritos During the early morning hours of November 30th, a sea cargo container filled with Frito-Lay Doritos potato chips came ashore in the park, spilling its contents on Frisco beach. The damaged container held over 5,000 bags of Doritos, hundreds of which were broken open and lay scattered across the beach. Rangers, maintenance workers and local volunteers acted quickly to move the container off the beach and begin cleanup operations. A joint investigation by the NPS and Coast Guard led to the discovery that a cargo ship bound for Costa Rica lost severe reefer containers during the strong nor'easter that struck the East Coast a week earlier. The park has contacted the shipper's insurance company and will be reimbursed for the costs of removal, cleanup and storage. Media interest was high, with stories appearing on CNN and National Public Radio and in local newspapers. [John McCutcheon, Hatteras District Ranger] Natchez Trace Parkway. Victim In Motor Vehicle Accident Identified On Thursday, December 7th, park dispatch was notified of a single-vehicle accident near milepost 156. Rangers and local police and firefighters responded and found that the car was engulfed in flames. The driver had evidently been headed north on the parkway when the car left the road and hit a tree. One body was removed from the badly-burned car. Due to the severity of the damage to it and the subsequent fire, identification of the driver proved difficult. The victim was taken to the Mississippi Mortuary Service for autopsy and help with the identification. Rangers, assisted by several local agencies and by Mississippi Highway Patrol accident investigators, scoured the vehicle for identification information, but without success until ranger Jack Corrao found a small scrap of paper with some medical information on it. Corrao used this lead to determine the name of a possible victim - T.F., 38, of Booneville, Mississippi. The medical examiner used dental records to confirm this identification. Local media interest was high. The cause of the accident remains under investigation. Ranger Larry Brown in the investigating ranger. [Allen S. Etheridge, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news from today's edition of InsideNPS, the National Park Service's home page: Everglades - In a continuing effort to protect roseate spoonbills in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park will close Carl Ross Key and Frank Key Channel to public entry during the winter nesting season from December 23rd to March 15th.
Yellowstone - The park is seeking qualified candidates for a lateral transfer to a WS-4749-10 maintenance mechanic supervisor position in the plumbing craft shop in Mammoth Hot Springs. 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. --- ### --- |