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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, January 9, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Rocky Mountain NP Park Rocked By Hurricane Force Winds Gusts of up to 100 mph buffeted Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday, blowing some sports utility vehicles off the roads and leading to the closure of the eastern side of the park. Winds were steady between 30 and 50 mph, said park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson, causing blowing and drifting snow, reducing visibility to zero and creating slick road conditions. The park shut down Saturday afternoon because of white-out conditions, Patterson said, and the park urged visitors not to visit on Monday, as gusts of up to 90 mph were expected, decreasing to 60 mph by afternoon. "With that forecast of 90 mph winds, it becomes a pretty futile effort for snowplows," she said. "Roads get drifted as soon as they plow. It's a good time to stay inside right now." Wind and ice caused a few large SUVs to go off the side of the road, but no one was injured. Patterson said Sunday afternoon that the park was not aware of anyone camping in the backcountry. There were no reports of people stranded in the park, she said. Park rangers were keeping their eyes on some cars in parking lots, but Patterson said they could belong to people sledding or snowshoeing. Rangers were planning to check them again on Monday to determine if anyone might be stranded. The National Weather Service is predicting that another storm will move through the area later in the week, possibly bringing more snow and frigid temperatures. The snow could start falling Thursday and last through Saturday, with "significant accumulation" possible late Thursday into Friday. The storm also could bring freezing temperatures with highs not expected to climb out of the single digits by Friday and Saturday. [Sara Reed, The Coloradoan] Badlands NP Body Of Missing Man Found After Intensive Search On Monday, December 18th, rangers came upon a vehicle with an Illinois registration parked at a popular backcountry access point called Sage Creek Basin overlook. Although nothing appeared amiss, they became concerned because they couldn't see any evidence of camping or backpacking gear inside it and because there were no recent entries in the backcountry permit station register. To complicate matters, the National Weather Service was forecasting a severe winter storm with heavy snow accumulation for the area within several days. An investigative inquiry was begun to assure that the vehicle's occupants were well-prepared for winter camping in wilderness areas. Family members were finally located and interviewed. They were extremely concerned when they heard the news and advised that the missing person, a 54-year-old man from LaGrange, had little camping or backpacking experience and would not be prepared for camping in winter conditions. They also reported that he was depressed because he'd learned that his father had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. They searched the man's home and found an empty box with a foam inset which contained the shape of a shotgun. An intensive search was begun the following morning that included 28 ground searchers from Badlands, Minuteman Missile NHS and Pennington County SAR, a South Dakota Highway Patrol helicopter, and two Rapid City PD dog teams. Several potential leads were found but proved inconclusive. Search efforts were halted at nightfall for safety reasons, then resumed the next morning with additional personnel from Mount Rushmore and Wind Cave. Despite below freezing temperatures and wind gust up to 20 mph, about 40 searchers began working their way into the interior of the Sage Creek Wilderness Area. Within hours, they found the body of a man matching the description of the missing person. It was located about a mile-and-a-half southwest of the access point and was well-hidden in a deep ravine with an overhang. The county coroner reported that the cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. No camping or backpacking gear were found with him. Investigators learned that he'd told family members that he would drive until he ran out of gas, then walk off and “take care of things.” He also told them that nobody would find his body. Although the man had a wallet with him, all identification had been removed from it and from the vehicle. It's believed that he may have buried them somewhere in the park to prevent his identification should he be discovered. [Mark Gorman, Chief Ranger] Grand Canyon NP Man Rescued Following Leap From Rim Rangers conducting a DUI enforcement operation in South Rim Village in the early morning hours of January 1st attempted to stop a Toyota sport utility vehicle for traffic violations, but the driver refused to pull over and accelerated away when the patrol vehicle's siren was activated. The license plate on the Toyota came back to a 2003 Saab. The rangers pursued him for about eight miles on Highway 64 (Desert View Drive) until the driver came to a sudden stop at the Thor's Hammer overlook, jumped out, ran toward the rim of the canyon, and disappeared from view. The rangers followed his tracks to the rim and discovered that he had gone over the edge. A technical rescue was begun. The 23-year-old man, who had sustained only a minor injury, was found about three hours later approximately 600 feet below the rim in thick vegetation covered by ice and snow. Rangers reached him via two separate technical lowerings, then short-hauled him from below the rim to Highway 64. He was taken by ambulance to Flagstaff Medical Center, where he was treated for an ankle sprain and released. He was then taken to the Coconino County detention facility, where he remains detained following an initial appearance on multiple charges. Nineteen park employees and a pilot were committed to the rescue, which took more than 10 hours to complete. Rangers determined that the man had stolen the vehicle from a dealership where he'd been employed in Florida but that the theft had not yet been reported. He'd come to the Grand Canyon to commit suicide. [Michael Nash, Incident Commander] OTHER NEWS Other news from today's edition of InsideNPS, the National Park Service's home page: Eastern National - Eastern National, in partnership with American Park Network, is soliciting your story ideas for an updated version of Oh, Ranger!, the classic book about the national parks by Horace Albright and Frank Taylor first published in 1928. Chickamauga/Chattanooga - Southeast Region has announced that Shawn T. Benge has been selected as the new superintendent of Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, effective February 4th. Yellowstone - The park has an opening for a GS-12/13 fire management officer. The announcement closes on January 29th. 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. --- ### --- |