NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, June 23, 2008

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INCIDENTS

Denali NP&P

Follow-up On Successful Search For Missing Backpackers

After successfully locating missing backpackers A.F., 25, and E.N., 23, last Wednesday, park search managers interviewed the pair to determine what had taken place during their extended stay in the backcountry. The point where the pair was last seen was on the trail on the west side of the Savage River on Thursday afternoon, June 12th. They had gotten a wilderness permit for one night in a backcountry unit in the Mount Healy area. The two women had decided to traverse the unit, accessing it at the Savage River check station, located at Mile 15 on the Denali Park road, and exiting via Dry Creek. They intended to hike back from there to their housing area in Healy. They didn't inform anyone of their plan. The estimated distance of this hike is 15 miles, all cross-country over rugged terrain. The women crossed the Savage River at a point where there were several channels, the recommended method for backcountry river crossings. Their first night's campsite was in the Ewe Creek drainage, approximately four miles from where they had begun the hike. The next day they planned to go over a ridge and drop down into one of the drainages that lead into Dry Creek. The only map the two hikers had was the Trails Illustrated map of Denali, which doesn't provide detailed information due to its large scale. Instead of their planned route, the pair hiked down a different drainage that led back to the Savage River. They told search managers that on Friday and Saturday they hiked for eleven hours each day, traveling up the east side of the Savage River until it flowed into the Teklanika River, then up the east side of the Teklanika. They remembered crossing an ATV track, which search managers believe was the Stampede Trail, the northern edge of the search zone, on either Saturday or Sunday. Hiking at this rate would have placed them out of the search area before the aerial search was begun on Saturday. Believing that they were in Dry Creek, and that it was just taking longer than they had thought to complete their hike, they continued to move north. They eventually followed ridges to the east, and when finally located were just north of the park boundary and approximately eight miles from the Parks Highway, the major thoroughfare between Anchorage and Fairbanks. They didn't travel as far during the last two days, spending more time in their tent because of rain. With only two sandwiches and five granola bars between them for what was supposed to be an overnight trip, they shared their last granola bar over the last two days. They didn't have a stove, and had supplemented their two bottles of water with rainwater and melted snow. E.N. turned her phone on daily to see if she could get a signal, which finally occurred when they were far enough to the east to hit the Nenana cell site. When she contacted her mom the second time on Wednesday, June 18th, she was told to end the call in order to conserve battery strength and use the text message feature to provide information on what they could see and hear from their location. Technology based on signal strength and azimuth from the cellular tower gave searchers a general location for the pair and their description of the features they could see from their location - specifically the large domes housing the communication equipment at the U.S. Air Force's Clear Air Station twenty miles to the north - and of aircraft that they could see overflying the area together helped searchers finally pinpoint their location and spot them from the air. All told, the women had hiked approximately 25 miles through very difficult and mostly trail-less terrain. Media interest in the search was very high. Besides the major news outlets in the state, the incident was of high interest to outlets in Minnesota (A.F.'s home state), Nevada (E.N.'s home state) and Texas and to the national media outlets of all the major networks. Two Anchorage TV networks were present when the women were reunited with their families, and Good Morning America and the Today Show interviewed them and their families early the next morning. The incident information officer fielded hundreds of calls from media and facilitated interviews with the family. The women's employer, Princess Tours, provided invaluable support and assistance to the incident by supplying all of the meals for personnel and housing for out-of-area searchers. In addition to park searchers, assistance was provided by various Alaska volunteer rescue groups, the Alaska State Troopers, and Grand Teton, Mount Rainier, Yosemite, and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks. The search was managed by a Type 3 team consisting of Denali National Park and Preserve employees and technical specialists on contract. At the height of the search over 100 people and five aircraft were assigned. [Kris Fister, IO]

Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs

Thousands Of Marijuana Plants Destroyed In Three Eradication Operations

The park continues its aggressive efforts to find and eliminate marijuana plantations on NPS lands. So far this year, staff have found and removed 19,348 plants in three separate operations:

April 22nd - On Earth Day, 7,922 plants were found and removed, along with the associated infrastructure and camping area.

June 6th - Another 5,166 plants, most of them nearing maturity, were found in another area of the park, along with a nursery and drying racks. They were destroyed.

June 9th - Staff eradicated 6,260 plants, most of them still seedlings that hadn't yet been planted.

Also removed from these areas were 20 pounds of hazardous material (including rodenticides and insecticides in original containers), 158 pounds of unused fertilizer in original containers, two five-gallon propane tanks, two backpack sprayers containing small amounts of unknown liquids, and about 10,000 feet of drip irrigation tubing. Since 2000, more than 176,000 plants have been removed by law enforcement rangers in the two parks. They've also found and removed 18,465 pounds of garbage and hazardous waste, including 445 small propane canisters, empty and partially empty packaging from nearly ten gallons of liquid insecticides and 12,900 pounds of fertilizer, and about 23 miles of irrigation hose. All of this was collected from more than 105 plantations and camps illegally cut into the wilderness of Sequoia National Park. The long-term damage that this illegal activity has done on once pristine wilderness is not easy to evaluate at this time, but it is evident in the erosion of the land and the volume of poisons and fertilizers that have been used by the growers in connection with these activities. A more extensive cleanup of these illegal cultivation sites is planned for later this year. The associated investigation continues. [Alexandra Picavet, PIO]

Mojave NP

Search For Missing Hiker Suspended

On the evening of Sunday, June 8th, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department received a 911 call reporting an overdue 67-year-old hiker from the Philippines who'd last been seen by her hiking companion at Fort Piute on the evening of June 7th. Rangers and deputies interviewed the reporting party, then conducted a hasty search of Piute Canyon with ground teams and an infrared-vision-equipped helicopter. She was not found. An interagency search was conducted through Friday, June 13th, with up to 50 searchers employed each day. Also employed in the effort were helicopters and as many as six search dogs. The canyon is steep and narrow, with ledges and rugged terrain, and daytime temperatures were over 100 degrees (there is water in the canyon, though). The search has been suspended, but the investigation continues. [Kirk Gebicke, Supervisory Park Ranger]

HYPERLINK "http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/missing_3556___article.html/piute_search.html_" http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/missing_3556___article.html/piute_search.html

Wilson's Creek NB

Park Flooded Due To Heavy Rains

On Friday, June 13th, over five inches of rain fell on the park. The county road into the battlefield was closed, as was the tour road inside the battlefield due to flooding at two locations. Because of the latter, the battlefield was closed until the following day. Half of the park's walking trails and more than half of its equestrian trails were also closed. Rains that fell four out of seven days last week made it impossible to work on the trails on a consistent basis. The park is working with a contractor to remove trees that have been wedged into a box culvert in order to prevent the entire culvert from being damaged. [Jackie Henman, RLES, MWRO]

OTHER NEWS

Other stories can be read on InsideNPS at one or the other of these two sites:

NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

Among the stories in today's edition are the following:

Grand Teton NP - A dedication ceremony to mark the grand opening of the new Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve Center was held this past Saturday. The preserve includes the new interpretive center, 1100 acres of land, and eight miles of woodland trails.

Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service.

Natural Resource Program Center - The most recent edition of Earth, Wind and Water, the quarterly newsletter for the Natural Resource Program Center, has been posted.

Yosemite NP - Mary Vocelka, a long-time employee of Yosemite National Park, passed away on June 1st. Although Mary held several positions in the park, she is best known for her years of work in the Yosemite Research Library and as the school librarian at the Yosemite Elementary School.

National Capital Parks East - Julie Kutruff has been named the new site manager for Frederick Douglass NHS and Fort Circle Parks - East. She will begin work today and will manage the overall operations of the historic sites.

Midwest Region - Blanca Stransky, currently superintendent at Agate Fossil Beds, will take the helm at Perry's Victory on August 17th.

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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).

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