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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Monday, September 17, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Yosemite NP Major Search Underway For Missing Hiker A large-scale search is underway in the park for R.H., 58, of Corcoran, California, who was last heard from on September 14th via cell phone while driving to the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point area near Glacier Point. R.H. is described as 5'8" tall with brown hair and brown eyes. He is not an experienced hiker but is in good health. Search and rescue teams from Fresno, Madera, Marin, Mono, and Tulare Counties have joined park staff in the search effort. Dog teams and air searchers are being used as well. Anyone who was hiking near the Sentinel Dome/Taft Point area or off of the Glacier Point Road between Friday and Sunday is asked to call Yosemite National Park at 209-372-0529. [Adrienne Freeman, Public Affairs Officer] Whiskeytown NRA Second Marijuana Plantation Raided Agents and rangers from the WASO Investigate Services Branch and the park, working with the Shasta County Sheriff's Office SWAT and marijuana eradication teams, DEA, state officers, and the California National Guard, raided a major drug plantation run by a Mexican drug trafficking organization on Crystal Creek on September 10th and seized 13,857 marijuana plants. The raid was part of a week-long operation on NPS, USFS and private lands in which a total of 29,686 plants were destroyed. The Crystal Creek site was less than a mile from the complex raided on August 29th. This plantation sprawled over more than two acres, which sustained significant environmental damage. An investigation into this operation is continuing. [Alan Foster, Special Agent] Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs Man Bitten By Bear Near Mist Falls In Kings Canyon A 65-year-old man was bitten by a bear in Kings Canyon National Park on the afternoon of Thursday, September 6th. The man had been sleeping on a rock near Mist Falls, a four-mile hike from Roads End in Cedar Grove. He was awakened by other visitors who were yelling to him to warn him that he was being approached by a bear. As he sat up, the bear bit his right thigh, causing numerous puncture wounds. The man yelled and swatted the bear, but the bear did not leave the immediate area. Several people helped scare it away. Ten days before the incident, warning signs were posted at the Roads End Ranger Station following reports of a small bear approaching people near Mist Falls. Wilderness rangers looked for the bear on several occasions, but could not find it. On Saturday, this yearling female bear was found, tranquilized and euthanized by bear management staff. The man's injury was treated by park medics at Roads End. He then went to Sierra Kings Hospital for further treatment. [Alexandra Picavet, Public Affairs Officer] Yellowstone NP Bear Attack Prompts Temporary Area Closure A man was mauled by a bear while elk hunting north of the park in the Beattie Gulch area on the morning of Friday, September 14th. The Forest Service subsequently closed a portion of the Gallatin National Forest due to public safety concerns, and the park closed an abutting section of Yellowstone west of Gardiner. The northeast corner of the closed section of the park is where Reese Creek meets the park's northern boundary west of the Yellowstone River. The closure continues southwest along the park boundary until turning due south to Electric Peak. From Electric Peak, the southern boundary of the closed area follows the Montana/Wyoming state line east back to Reese Creek. Reese Creek forms the eastern boundary of this temporarily closed area. Hikers and backcountry users are encouraged to check with staff at the Albright Visitor Center or the Backcountry Office in Mammoth Hot Springs before planning any trips into this section of the park. [Public Affairs] OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) 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 are, respectively, HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/ and ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). * Fire and Aviation Management - Brad Cella, 55, who was in the process of moving from his FMO position in Alaska Regional Office to become budget and planning chief at the Branch of Wildland Fire in Boise, died of injuries sustained while sky diving outside of Star, Idaho, on Saturday, September 15th. * Northeast Region - Director Mary Bomar has announced the selection of Independence National Historical Park superintendent Dennis R. Reidenbach as the new regional director for the Northeast Region. * Eisenhower NHS - Over forty World War II living history groups gave programs and demonstrations to visitors on Saturday and Sunday to commemorate General Eisenhower's role as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II. * Gateway NRA - On September 13th, a U.S. District Court judge in Trenton, New Jersey, issued a final ruling on a lawsuit that was filed to stop the park from proceeding with its plan to preserve 36 buildings in the Fort Hancock Historic District of Sandy Hook. The court rejected the suit. * Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's legislative activities update. * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-686-3828). --- ### --- |