NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, January 18, 2008

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INCIDENTS

Yosemite NP

Children Rescued From Car In Merced River Bottom

A car left Highway 140 and ended up on the Merced River bottom just after noon on December 31st. The driver was reportedly attempting to pass several cars on a wet and sandy bend in the road when the accident occurred. The vehicle came to rest on rocks, with its tires in shallow water. A park roads employee who was traveling home reported the accident. Two adults in the vehicle were able to get out, but two children with serious injuries had to be removed by emergency responders. Firefighter Bernie Spielman put ICS into effect while Ruth Middlecamp provided initial medical care. Units were called in from Yosemite Valley and Mariposa County to provide EMS and traffic control, and three air ambulances were brought in. One child suffered head fractures and the other had a punctured lung. The California Highway Patrol is investigating. [Bernie Spielman]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS (internal) or NPS Digest (external):

Assateague Island NS - Assateague Island National Seashore held it's second annual hunt for persons with disabilities on January 7th and 8th. This hunt was developed last year to address an overabundance of introduced sika and indigenous whitetail deer in the park's developed area.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6149" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6149

Wilderness Program - The national wilderness steering committee is recruiting for candidates to fill four vacant positions. Nominations are due by February 8th.

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6147" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6147

Natural Resource Program Center - A draft update to the ten-year-old procedural manual for wetlands protection is now out for comment. It will be posted on the web for review through February 8th.

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6143" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6143

Shiloh NMP - Gerald Skaggs, the park's chief of maintenance, retired on January 2nd following 33 years of federal service, 31 of them with the National Park Service. Photo.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1805" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1805

Training Calendar - A listing of upcoming training courses offered by both the NPS and its partners across the nation. Added this week are three courses, all in February - a Flashpoint for fixed assets subsystems course at NCTC, a motorboat operator certification course at Everglades, and an annual law enforcement refresher at Gulf Islands in Mississippi.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=775" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=775

Events Calendar - Today's listing of upcoming NPS and NPS-related events across the nation. New on this week's calendar is the twelfth annual Gettysburg Seminar, to be held at the park in April.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=776" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=776

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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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