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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Wednesday, May 2, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Olympic NP Hoh Rain Forest Road Reopens The park continues its recovery from the impacts of the storm that hammered much of the area last November. Yesterday, the Hoh Road reopened following a six-month-long storm damage closure. The road had been closed since November 6th, when heavy rain and floodwaters severely damaged it in three places. The most significant damage occurred at West Twin Creek, where a 65-foot-long and 25-foot-deep section of road completely washed away. A temporary one-lane bridge now spans the creek. Two other creeks also flooded, damaging nearly 1,000 feet of roadway. Visitors are being asked to use caution when traveling the road and visiting the Hoh area, as additional repair work will continue throughout the summer. In particular, the one-lane bridge over West Twin Creek will require motorists to yield to oncoming traffic until a traffic light is installed later this month. The Hoh campground is open and Hoh Visitor Center will open on Friday. It will be open Friday through Sunday, then open daily for the summer beginning on May 25th. Park trails, including the Hoh River trail, also sustained heavy damage during the fall and winter storms. All hikers should check for current trail information by calling the Wilderness Information Center at 360-565-3100. For current road information, people should call the Olympic National Park recorded road and weather information line at 360-565-3131. [Barb Maynes, Public Affairs Officer] Blue Ridge Parkway Rangers Assist In Arrest Of Felon While conducting a search for lost Boy Scouts on April 14th, a Blue Ridge ranger contacted a person who was camping on Forest Service lands adjacent to the park. Later, while watching the local news at his residence, the ranger saw a story about a man wanted in numerous jurisdictions for grand larceny. The photos of the man and the description of his vehicle matched those of the man he'd contacted. Two park rangers returned to the campsite with a local deputy and a USFS law enforcement officer and placed R.M. under arrest. R.M. had outstanding warrants against him - three of them felony warrants - from six jurisdictions. [Bruce Bytnar, Ridge 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: Cape Hatteras NS - Representatives of the North Carolina state government, private industry and environmental groups gathered on Coquina Beach on April 20th to celebrate the installation of a wind turbine that represents the first generation of grid-tied wind energy in eastern North Carolina. WASO - Gordon Wissinger, chief ranger at Shenandoah National Park is this year's recipient of the Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for excellence in “rangering.” Yellowstone NP - Associated Press news story - Grizzlies were delisted from the Endangered Species Act as of yesterday, but a lawsuit to reverse the administration's ruling is already being drafted. 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 ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |