NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, September 27, 2007

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INCIDENTS

Rocky Mountain NP

Missing Hiker Found After Night In Mountains

B.S., 56, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was dropped off at the Lawn Lake trailhead to climb 13,425-foot-high Mummy Mountain at 7 a.m. on the morning of Monday, September 24th. He failed to return to the trailhead to meet his wife as scheduled that afternoon, and she reported him as overdue at 8 p.m. The weather above tree line on Monday was wintry (Trail Ridge Road was closed due to snow and ice on Sunday afternoon). The park began searching for B.S. with hasty teams early on Tuesday morning. An area search by helicopter was begun at mid-morning and a dog team began working the area in the afternoon. No sign of B.S. was found that day. At 6:30 p.m., a group of four searchers from the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group hiking into Lawn Lake encountered B.S., who was hiking out on the same trail. He was in good condition. They notified the incident command post that he'd been found - just as his wife and two other family members were arriving for an evening briefing. B.S. arrived at the trailhead just after 8 p.m., where he conducted a brief interview with the media before being reunited with his wife and family at the ICP. He was debriefed by incident commander Cindy Purcell and her team. B.S. said that he'd become disoriented in whiteout conditions while descending the peak and had entered the wrong drainage. After discovering his mistake, he tried to retrace his steps and ran out of daylight. He crawled into a small “cave,” stacked rocks around him, covered himself with a plastic bag, a “rescue blanket” and clothing items he had with him, and weathered the night above tree line while 60 to 70 mph winds blew through the area. Both of his water bottles froze solid. He stayed in place until 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning, when the weather had greatly improved and the sun had come out, then worked his way back toward the area he had come from, sat on a high point for three hours after seeing a helicopter, and finally made his way back to the Black Canyon and Lawn Lake trails, where he was found. He required no medical treatment. Media interest was considerable. [Larry Frederick, Acting PIO]

Grand Teton NP

Two Bull Elk Poached In Park

Two bull elk were illegally shot and killed in the park during separate incidents this past week. Early last Friday, the park received a report of possible poaching in the area of Two Ocean and Emma Matilda lakes. Three men suspected of poaching the elk were contacted by rangers the next day. The men, all from Lander, Wyoming, were in the process of removing an elk carcass from the kill site near the north shore of Emma Matilda Lake. Rangers confiscated the elk and issued citations. One hunter was cited for illegally hunting in a national park and a second hunter was cited for possessing a weapon illegally in a national park. The third hunter was not cited. On Saturday, rangers who were en route to the poaching scene discovered an elk that had been shot illegally by a minor who was accompanied by his father, both again Wyoming residents. The bull elk was killed approximately one mile down Pacific Creek Road from Highway 89. The elk was confiscated and citations were issued. All charges in both incidents carry mandatory appearances in federal court. The park works closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Elk Refuge, and Wyoming Game and Fish to establish hunt quotas aimed at achieving an optimum bull to cow ratio. Poaching, in addition to being illegal, makes the job of accurately estimating herd numbers difficult and hinders wildlife management efforts. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

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/).

* Servicewide - National Public Lands Day, which this year will be held on Saturday, September 29th, is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands Americans enjoy. All National Park Service sites will waive entrance fees for the day.

* US Park Police - Major Robert J. Kass is retiring from the United States Park Police on September 29th following 29 years of exceptional service.

* Saguaro NP - After a stellar 28-year NPS career, Susan Early will be hanging up her flat hat on October 1st. A traditional NPS retirement barbeque and potluck is planned for Saturday, October 13th, in Tucson.

* Theodore Roosevelt NP - Bruce Kaye, chief of interpretation at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, is retiring on September 30th. Bruce has served as chief of interpretation at the park for nearly 20 years.

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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).

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