NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

INCIDENTS

North Cascades NP

Debris Slide Affects Use Of Administrative Road

A debris avalanche that occurred on March 15th rendered unusable a local access road that connects two reservoirs within the park. The volume of the debris is estimated at 56,000 cubic meters; the width measures 60 meters at the toe of the avalanche. The Ross Dam haul road, which is about a mile long, is an important administrative road that does not connect to any public road but serves several organizations. It provides Seattle City Light, operator of three hydroelectric dams within the park, with access from Diablo Lake to the Ross Powerhouse and the top of Ross Dam; Ross Lake Resort, a park concession operator of floating cabins on Ross Lake, with transportation service for their guests to and from Diablo Lake; and paddlers with portage between Diablo Lake and Ross Lake. The debris avalanche covers the road and destroyed Seattle City Light's barge dock, Ross Lake Resort's truck, and the National Park Service's canoe and kayak landing. Implications for Seattle City Light operations are significant, as access to the Ross Powerhouse and the top of Ross Dam is limited to foot traffic, prohibiting the use of any heavy equipment that may be necessary for service or repair. The area remains unstable and dangerous. A contractor has been hired to evaluate and stabilize the cliff above the slide. Several large rocks could still fall and double the volume of material, making recovery even more difficult and time-consuming. After the area is evaluated and stabilized, it could take several months to reestablish the road. The size of the slide makes it unfeasible to remove, so Seattle City Light plans to develop a new barge landing upstream of the slide to provide access to Ross Powerhouse. A new dock and trail downstream of the slide are also planned to provide Seattle City Light with access to the top of Ross Dam, support Ross Lake Resort and National Park Service operations, and reestablish portage between Diablo Lake and Ross Lake for paddlers. Additional images of the debris avalanche are available at the link below:

HYPERLINK "http://www.flickr.com/photos/northcascadesnationalpark/sets/72157623673190486"http://www.flickr.com/photos/northcascadesnationalpark/sets/72157623673190486 . [Charles Beall, Public Information Officer]

Organ Pipe Cactus NM

Drug Smuggler Sentenced To Long Jail Term

On March 23rd, H.C.-N. was sentenced in federal district court to five years in prison and 36 months supervised probation for his involvement in a marijuana smuggling operation. H.C.-N. and seven others were arrested by Organ Pipe Cactus rangers last November in a tactical tracking operation; 420 pounds of processed marijuana were seized. Rangers asked for the investigative assistance of an NPS special agent and federal prosecution was secured. The eight smugglers received combined sentences of more than 19 years in federal prison. [Matt Fisher, Special Agent]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Director's Office - Travel to the Tidal Basin in Washington in the most recent Flat Hat Chat with Director Jarvis and see what bone-rattling pile-drivers, Thomas Jefferson, and the Recovery Act have in common.

Natural Resource Program Center - The Western Airborne Contaminants Assessment Project (WACAP) database makes data from a multi-year air pollution study in Western parks available for future analysis. Photo.

WASO Public Affairs - Secretary Salazar has announced that all 392 NPS areas will have free admission during National Park Week, which takes place this year from April 17th to April 25th.

Northeast Region - David H. Moore has been selected as the new associate regional director for administration in Northeast Region. Moore, currently the business manager at Valley Forge National Historical Park, will succeed Frank Connor, who retires at the end of March.

Intermountain Region - Andrew Veech was recently appointed to the staff of Intermountain Region's archeology program, headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo.

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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