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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, March 6, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Guadalupe Mountains NP Search In Progress For Missing Aircraft, Pilot A search for a missing airplane and its pilot has been underway since Wednesday, February 28th. J.W. was en route from California to Virginia in a Van's Aircraft RV-6 when the plane disappeared from radar over a remote section of the park (for more on the RV-6, click on the link below). The park was notified on Saturday. An intensive search was begun that involved park staff, Texas Highway Patrol officers, and Civil Air Patrol and Texas Department of Public Safety aircraft. Ground crews have searched all of the high probability search areas and aircraft have conducted both high and low level searches, but no signs of J.W. or his aircraft have been found. Ground crews were scheduled to wrap-up their efforts yesterday. Civil Air Patrol aircraft will continue with air searches. [Peter Pappas, Incident Commander] HYPERLINK "http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv-6int.htm" http://www.vansaircraft.com/public/rv-6int.htm Everglades NP/Dry Tortugas NP Cuban Migrant Landings Increase In Parks Three separate landings by Cuban migrants took place in the two parks during the last week of February: February 23rd - Dry Tortugas rangers received a report around 7:30 a.m. that 21 Cubans had landed on Loggerhead Key. They were transferred to a Coast Guard cutter about 12 hours later, then taken to Key West. February 24th - Around 2 p.m., Everglades rangers were advised of migrants on Cape Sable and subsequently found 46 Cubans at that location. The rangers transported them by boat to Flamingo, where they were turned over to the Border Patrol. February 28th - Thirty-five Cuban migrants landed on Loggerhead Key in the evening. The Coast Guard picked them up the next morning and took them to Key West. So far this year, 121 Cuban migrants have made “dry foot” in Dry Tortugas NP. The Cuban Readjustment Act, also know as the “west-foot/dry-foot” policy, allows Cuban migrants to remain in the United States if they make it to U.S. soil. Dry Tortugas has been dealing with the Cuban migrant issue since 2004. Over that period, more than 1700 migrants have landed in the park. These landings are significant park events and require considerable staff and time to handle due to the logistics of coordinating transportation and transfer to DHS. [Bonnie Foist, Chief Ranger] Delaware Water Gap NRA Passenger Fatally Injured In Accident An accident on Route 209 just north of Bushkill injured the driver of a Ford Explorer and took the life of her passenger just before noon on Friday, March 2nd. The 1999 Explorer was headed south on the highway when it crossed the northbound lane, struck an embankment, catapulted into the trees and landed on its roof. The driver, C.D., was able to extricate herself, but her male passenger - L.H., 58, of New York City - remained entrapped. The first responding ranger, who was on scene within minutes, could not detect any pulse in L.H., who had suffered a traumatic injury despite wearing a seatbelt due to the collapse of the Explorer's roof. Bushkill Fire Department and Bushkill Ambulance personnel were on scene shortly thereafter. Power tools were employed to extricate the passenger, and medics confirmed that he had expired. C.D. suffered serious injuries and was taken to Pocono Medical Center. She was subsequently flown to St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem, where she remains in intensive care. The force of impact was sufficient to lop off the tops of several trees about four feet up from the ground. Some of the trees were at least six inches in diameter. About 30 rangers, firefighters and EMS personnel from the park and Bushkill responded to the accident. An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway. [Bill Halainen, Public Affairs Officer] OTHER NEWS The following stories can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites appear below: Papahanaumokuakea Marine NM - A renaming ceremony was held for the marine monument, giving it a Hawaiian name. Although not an NPS area, this huge marine monument - the biggest in the world - is administered in part by DOI (specifically, USFWS). WASO Cultural Resources - On Thursday, March 1st, Dr. Janet Snyder Matthews was awarded the University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning's Beinecke-Reeves Distinguished Achievement Award during a luncheon hosted by the college. DOI - Thomas S. Kleppe, 87, who served for 15 months as secretary of the Interior Department under President Gerald R. Ford, died March 2nd at his home in Bethesda. Big Bend NP - The park is recruiting for a GS-0201-11/12 human resources officer. Other positions, potential dual-career opportunities, will be announced in the near future, including openings for a chief of facility management, a park engineer and a protection ranger. For more information, go to InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) or NPS Digest ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |