NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Monday, March 8, 2010
INCIDENTS
Big Bend NP
Multiple Incidents Mark Opening Of Park's Busy Spring Season
Big Bend rangers responded to a variety of calls during the week beginning Monday, February 22nd, including several injury accidents and the medical evacuation of an ailing teenage hiker:
February 22 - Dispatch received a request for help regarding a motorcycle accident on Old Ore Road. Rangers Phil Basak and Rob Dean responded and transported a 63-year-old man with a broken clavicle to the regional hospital, a round trip of over 200 miles.
February 24 - Rangers Mark Franklin, Rick Roberts, Phil Basak, Sean Marick, David Yim and John Craig responded to a vehicle rollover on Route 14. The driver of the vehicle was subsequently cited for failure to maintain control and possession of a controlled substance. Route 14 was temporarily closed as the road crew performed clean up and the vehicle was towed from the scene.
February 25 - Park dispatch received a satellite phone call from a school group hiking on the Marufo Vega trail, located in a very remote section of the park. A 14-year-old girl was reported to be suffering from dehydration. As the party was unsure of the group's location, park pilot Curtis Cebulski took to the air to find them. He was successful in locating them and directed horse patrol rangers Joe Roberts, Sean Marick and David Yim to her location. She was treated and transported back to the trailhead on horseback.
February 26 - Rangers Keith Gray, Rick Roberts, Jost Zwiebel, Manuel Uribe, John Craig and Phil Basak responded to a motorcycle accident near the midpoint of the remote River Road, a dirt road near the Mexican border that traverses the length of the park. A 73-year-old man had sustained multiple serious injuries in the accident. He was airlifted by Carestar helicopter to Fort Stockton, Texas.
February 27 - Dispatch was notified of a motorcycle accident at Castolon and a separate single vehicle rollover at the remote Black Dike backcountry campsite. Rangers Keith Gray, Phil Basak and Jost Zwiebel responded to the calls. The driver of the motorcycle was treated and released. The driver of the vehicle was not injured but the vehicle had to be trailered from the scene.
This week marked the opening of the traditional busy spring season in Big Bend. In addition to a dramatic increase in visitation that week, the park also experienced both warm sunny days and an accumulating snowfall at midweek. [Allen Etheridge, Chief Ranger, and Joel Yocum, Dispatcher]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Jewel Cave NM - On February 27th, three groups of volunteer cavers from South Dakota, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Utah explored and mapped over 3,000 feet of passages, bringing the cave's total surveyed length to just over 150 miles. Jewel Cave remains the second longest cave in the world, following Kentucky's Mammoth Cave, which is more than 367 miles in length.
WASO Public Affairs - The National Park Service has saved $129 million on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) projects through favorable pricing, and will invest that sum in another 30 high priority projects across the country.
Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service.
To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):
NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify
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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. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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