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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, April 27, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP Rescue Of Seriously Injured Climber Climbing ranger Brent Mims received a report of an accident on a climbing route graded at 5.10 (very difficult) in SOB Gully around 9 p.m. on the evening of April 19th. A 21-year-old man from Colorado Springs was climbing with three other people when he fell about 30 feet below his belay, taking a total fall of 50 feet. He was unresponsive for about two minutes and had an obvious deformity to his right hand. The nearly eight-hour-long rescue involved a 150-foot technical climb to reach the summit of a detached pillar, then the 400-foot lowering of a rescuer to the injured climber's position. A separate haul system was constructed to traverse the rescuer and injured man along the top of the pillar to a point where they could be lowered into the gully. They were then hauled 600 feet to the canyon rim. This rescue was the first of the year utilizing a team of dedicated volunteer climbers who are familiar with the Black Canyon and train with the staff. This complex rescue, led by Mims, would have undoubtedly been exceedingly difficult without the support of these volunteers. [Linda Alick, Chief Ranger] Blue Ridge Parkway DUI Checkpoint Operation Conducted On Parkway On April 20th, rangers and Roanoke County PD officers conducted a DUI checkpoint on the parkway from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., checking over 1,000 vehicles. Four arrests were made - two for DUI, one for possession of cocaine, and one for being a habitual offender. Violation notices were issued for infractions of regulations pertaining to possession of drugs or open containers of alcohol, driving under suspension, operating without a license plate, operating without a valid driver's license, allowing an unlicensed person to drive, operating without a child seatbelt, operating with expired stickers or registrations, and littering. About 30 warnings were also issued for seatbelt, commercial use and driver's license violations. A vehicle involved in a DUI was impounded for 30 days. [John Murphy, Plateau District Ranger] 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: National Center for Recreation and Conservation - A new, 375-mile-long trail will retrace the steps of early explorers and relate the hardships endured by De Soto and his army, while also conveying the devastation these new arrivals brought to the Florida Indians and other aboriginal peoples of the region. Office of International Affairs - The January - March edition of the International Programs Quarterly Bulletin has been published and is available on the web. A link is provided. Branch of Emergency Services - Three statistical reports submitted annually to the Branch of Emergency Services have now been posted to the web and are available to readers within the National Park Service. Keweenaw NHP - James P. Corless, superintendent at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway, Alaska, has been named the new superintendent of Keweenaw National Historical Park. To see the above articles, 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/). For NPS incident reporting standards, go to HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363 * * * * * 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). --- ### --- |