NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Thursday, March 20, 2008
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INCIDENTS
Hawaii Volcanoes NP
Update On High Sulfur Dioxide Emissions
The park has experienced high levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) at the summit of Kilauea Volcano since early January. As a result, park officials have developed contingency plans for potential evacuation and have ordered a Type II incident management team to help with preparations. Neither the park nor the surrounding communities are currently being evacuated. [Jim Gale]
Big Thicket NP
Ranger Finds Man Missing For Three Days
On the afternoon of Saturday, March 15th, ranger Johnny Stafford found a man who'd been the subject of an intensive three-day search at the Cooks Lake day use area. W.F., 57, of Orange County, Texas, left his home on the Neches River just outside the park on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 12th, telling a friend that he was going for a short boat ride on the Neches River and wouldn't be gone long. When he hadn't returned by dark, his family notified the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Coast Guard. The agencies immediately began a search for him. On the following morning, the county advised the park and requested assistance in the search. Rangers Mike Hughes and Johnny Stafford and resource manager Dusty Pate responded in park boats and began searching the Neches River within Big Thicket. Texas Parks and Wildlife agents also joined the effort, which was conducted by helicopter and boat. No sign of W.F. was found and the county accordingly scaled the search back on Saturday, March 15th. Stafford was checking some water areas outside the original search area that afternoon when he came upon W.F. According to W.F., he'd gotten lost on his way back up the river while heading home and had ended up in Pine Island Bayou. He wound his boat through the bayou until he ran out of gas at Cooks Lake on Wednesday evening. He said that he'd gone for three days without any food or water while waiting to be rescued. Several fishermen came and went from Cooks Lake during the three days he was there, but W.F. said he was scared and reluctant to ask for help. He'd slept in the bushes at night and had made a fire to keep warm. Stafford immediately gave W.F. some water and determined that he didn't need any medical treatment. The two then went to a nearby McDonalds, where Stafford bought W.F. the first food he'd had in three days. The search generated a lot of local media interest, including coverage by three television stations from the Beaumont, Orange, Port Arthur area and newspapers from Beaumont, Vidor and Orange, Texas. [Keith Flanery, District Ranger]
Biscayne NP
Rangers Again Deal With Immigrant Smuggling Incidents
The Coast Guard contacted park dispatch around 10 a.m. on March 14th to report a suspicious vessel at anchor near Sands Cut, which connects Biscayne Bay to open ocean waters. They reported that the vessel appeared to have been staged there to conduct smuggling operations during the day. On board, they'd found 44 five-gallon containers containing gasoline, 13 one-gallon water jugs, and canned foods and crackers. The batteries had been removed from the boat, apparently in an attempt to keep others from stealing it. Rangers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement criminal investigators arrived on scene and took possession of the smuggling boat. Rangers impounded the vessel. On Sunday, March 16th, rangers joined the Coast Guard and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue in picking up 33 Cuban migrants (20 men, 10 women and three children) from Soldier Key, the northernmost island in the park. All 33 had evidently been smuggled onto the island the previous night. Under the United States' "wet foot/dry foot" policy, these 33 migrants will not be deported and will be allowed to stay in the country. They were transported to the mainland and transferred to the United States Border Patrol. [Didier Carod, Law Enforcement Specialist]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS:
Midwest Region - A plan to keep viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) out of parks and a reservation on or near Lake Superior has been approved and is now in place.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6313" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6313
Rocky Mountain NP - On March 4th, the U.S. District Court in Colorado denied a motion to dismiss the federal government's lawsuit against a company whose diversion ditch through the park breached in 2003, causing considerable damage.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6315" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6315
Visitor and Resource Protection - Garry Oye has been named chief of the Service's Wilderness Stewardship and Recreation Management Division in Washington. He is currently a district ranger on the Inyo National Forest in California.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1859" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1859
Concessions - Clay James has been selected to chair the National Park Service's Concessions Management Advisory Board.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6311" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6311
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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).
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