NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, May 8, 2008

===============================================================================================================

INCIDENTS

Buffalo NR

Injured Man Rescued From Ponca Wilderness

On Thursday, April 24th, eight members of a boating group attempted to hike out of the Ponca Wilderness after they wrapped three canoes and a raft around trees on the Buffalo River during a period of high water. Just before 2 p.m., J.C., a member of the group, slipped on a steep scree slope and injured his ankle. Another member of the group ran down the Buffalo River trail to the Steel Creek campground for help. The campground host in turn notified rangers by radio. After interviewing the reporting party, a ranger/ EMT determined J.C.'s location and reached him around 4:30 p.m. The park's SAR team was activated shortly after the initial call and followed the flagged route, arriving at 5:45 p.m. J.C. was evaluated and determined to have suffered a fracture of his left ankle with full dislocation. He was evacuated in a wheeled litter through a mile and a quarter of wilderness, then driven another two miles over four-wheel-drive roads to a waiting ambulance. Six separate low angle belays were rigged to facilitate the evacuation. Hospital staff confirmed a fractured fibula and ankle dislocation. Eleven members of the park's SAR team, two EMT's from North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, and a ranger from Ozark Scenic Riverway participated in the two-hour carryout. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]

Suitland Parkway

Illegal Dumping Arrest

While on patrol of Suitland Parkway on Wednesday, May 2nd, USPP officer Mark Mason saw a commercial dump truck on NPS property. Mason contacted the operator and discovered that he'd just dumped over four cubic yards of soil in the park. The crime scene was documented by the Park Police identification unit. The operator was arrested and charged with CFR violations for dumping without a permit, dumping refuse from a vehicle, and operating a commercial vehicle without a permit. The truck was seized as evidence. [Sergeant Robert Lachance, Public Information Officer]

Buffalo NR

Young Boy Drowns In Buffalo River

On the afternoon of May 4th, L.D., her seven-year-old son W.D., and a friend were floating the Buffalo River below Erbie when their canoe hit a rock and capsized. The canoe then got pinned under a tree, commonly referred to as a strainer. W.D. was unable to get out of the canoe in time and was trapped. Other canoeists reported the incident to the Newton County Sheriff's Department, which dispatched emergency personnel. The canoe was eventually released by using a chainsaw. CPR was begun by a ranger and a deputy sheriff. The young boy was transported to a North Arkansas Regional Medical Center ambulance and later transferred to an AirEvac helicopter. He was pronounced dead at the medical center at 4:55 p.m. The boy is from Harrison, Arkansas, and is the grandson of the park's B&U foreman. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS:

Washington Office - Gary Moses of Glacier National Park in Montana is this year's recipient of the Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for excellence in the field of “rangering.”

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6482" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6482

Office of Policy - A proposed regulatory change that would allow firearms in the parks has generated much discussion within the NPS and the news media. To provide employees more complete insight into the history of firearms regs, the Policy Office has compiled an extensive summary of park-specific regulations that pre-date the first Servicewide regulations.

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6479" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6479

Servicewide - Police Week 2008 will be held from May 11th through May 17th this year. During this period, the National Park Service and the United States Park Police will honor the memory of NPS protection rangers and law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6483" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6483

United States Park Police - The United States Park Police Horse Mounted Unit graduated its training class on Friday, May 2nd.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1917" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1917

* * * * *

Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363

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).

--- ### ---