NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
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INCIDENTS
Pacific West Region
Major Storm Causes Some Park Closures, Outages
A major storm hammered parks across the region last weekend. Stern travel advisories and public information about the storm and its impacts may have helped reduce significant incidents during this widespread event. Recovery continues, as many communities shovel out, attempt to restore utilities, or wait to dry out. Another storm system is expected to bring rain/snow beginning early today. Here's a wrap-up from Pacific West parks:
Lassen Volcanic - Lassen is without power, phones and email. About eight feet of snow is reported at the southwest entrance on the Mineral side. Park staff are hunkering down, using small emergency generators, heating with wood stoves, and cooking on wood stoves and camp stoves. Few if any visitors are on the move, with just a few folks showing up yesterday to cut cross country trails in the very deep powder.
Oregon Caves - It has been difficult to contact the park because phones are out and there's no cell service (unrelated to the storm). The park received about 44 inches of new snow in 48 hours, and the park will remain inaccessible by road until state plow crews clear Highway 46.
Point Reyes (and parts of Golden Gate) - Power is out at the lighthouse and at a couple of other park residences. Many trees are reported down, including some on power or phone lines. All roads are open except for Bolinas-Fairfax Road (GOGA). Trails are open, though assessments are still being made to determine how many trees are down blocking the park's more remote trails.
Redwoods - The park received three inches of rain and wind gusts up to 80 miles per hour over Friday and early Saturday - typical for a severe storm in northwest California at this time of the year. A power outage affected HQ for part of Friday.
Yosemite - Windy conditions on Friday prevented Badger Pass ski area from opening. Normal operations resumed on Saturday. Localized power outages occurred in the Mather District, including the Hodgdon and Crane Flat housing areas. Rain fell at the lower elevations, turning to snow Saturday night. Snow accumulations varied from six inches in Yosemite Valley, to over 30 inches at Crane Flat, to nearly four feet in Tuolumne Meadows. There were no significant incidents.
[Karen Newton, PWRO, with reports from Charles Cuvelier (YOSE), Craig Ackerman (ORCA), Ron Martin (LAVO), Nancy Wizner (REDW), and Colin Smith (PORE)]
Knife River Indian Villages NHS
Pickup Trucks Pulled from Frozen River
Just before dusk on New Year's Day, park employees received a telephone call from a distraught park neighbor who had been illegally driving his truck on the frozen Knife River within the park. The truck had evidently broken through the ice and was sitting on the bottom of the shallow riverbed. He'd attempted to pull it out with a second truck, but it also broke through the ice. Due to safety concerns and the lateness of the day, it was determined that the vehicles would have to be removed the following day. The temperature the next morning was -9 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was blowing, resulting in the trucks being cemented into place in the frozen river. Extrication of the vehicles was difficult due to the high river bluffs and the weakened ice along the river's corridor. Eventually, a commercial tow truck with 170 feet of cable was staged on the nearest bluffs, ice was removed from around the frozen vehicles with a chainsaw, and a canal was cut to the closest riverbank. The trucks were then pulled out of the ice and up the bluffs using a tractor and the tow truck. Special care was required in removing them because of the close proximity of Taylor Bluff, a significant cultural site. A nearly identical incident occurred on New Year's Day of 2004. Although lessons learned resulted in two years of incident free river activity, recent investigations reveal that local residents have been challenging each other to driving on the frozen river for years, with boasting rights as their prizes. Citations were issued to all parties involved. [John Moeykens, Chief Ranger]
Sleeping Bear Dunes NL
Two Lost Snowboarders Rescued
Two brothers from Maple City, Michigan, ages 16 and 21, were snowboarding in the dunes late on December 23rd when the temperature dropped by 20 degrees, the wind increased to 45 to 55 mph, and visibility dropped to less than 100 feet. The brothers were not prepared for the change in weather and lacked any survival equipment other than a lighter. They used a cell phone to call out and report that they were lost. District ranger Chris Johnson responded, and, because the extreme conditions added to the urgency, called for assistance from the Glen Arbor Fire Department. A unified command was established and a search team with a quad-runner ATV equipped for dune rescue set out along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Meanwhile, contact was maintained with the brothers via their cell phone. The GPS unit in the phone worked intermittently, showing that they were somewhere near Sleeping Bear Point, several miles north of the point where they'd begun. They were told to head for the shoreline, as the search team was coming for them from that direction. Due to the extreme wind and surf conditions, the ATV was hit by high waves, causing it to freeze and rendering it inoperable. Although the searchers lost contact with the brothers, they found them an hour later on the Lake Michigan shoreline and walked them out two hours after the search began. They were cleared medically, but given warnings about checking weather forecasts before venturing out and about out-of-bounds snowboarding. Park employees on a second ATV later retrieved the original ATV. For additional details, click on the link below. [Larry Johnson, Chief Ranger]
HYPERLINK "http://www.leelanaunews.com/blog/2007/12/29/lost-brothers-create-lakeshore-scare/_" http://www.leelanaunews.com/blog/2007/12/29/lost-brothers-create-lakeshore-scare/
OTHER NEWS
The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS (internal) or NPS Digest (external):
President's Park (White House) - The park-produced ornaments and other decorations that adorned the White House during the holiday season are on display in the White House Visitor Center throughout January.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6127" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6127
Fire and Aviation Management - Smokey Bear Awards are presented to organizations and individuals for outstanding service in increasing public awareness of the need for continued fire prevention efforts. Nominations are due by January 15th.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6122" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6122
Big Bend NP - Over the period from December 4th to December 14th, Big Bend hosted an 80-hour driver/operator training course to certify structural fire engine operators.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6121" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6121
Intermountain Region - Golden Spike superintendent Maggie Johnston died on January 4th after a long battle with cancer, which she courageously fought even while continuing to work at the career she loved so much.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1794" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1794
Chief Information Officer - Joseph (Larry) Curran has been selected as the chief information officer for the National Park Service.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1793" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1793
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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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