NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, May 27, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

Spill Operations Continue, Parks Prepare For Holiday Weekend

As the oil spill response continues in the Gulf of Mexico, park units around the Gulf are planning for high visitation this Memorial Day weekend. Gulf Islands National Seashore in Mississippi and Florida has been reporting only small amounts of tar balls and oiled debris on its shores. There has not been any oily sheen on its beaches. The parks in South Florida have not had any confirmed tar balls from this oil spill. All NPS units in the Gulf remain open and are conducting normal park operations. Visit individual park websites to view a list of ranger activities and programs that are available this weekend.

Jean Lafitte NHP&P - The park continues to monitor the NOAA surface oil forecast as well as actual movement of discharge products toward the Barataria Estuary. Although the preserve is buffered from the Gulf by miles of marsh and waterways, oil has now reached islands in Barataria Bay.

Gulf Islands NS - Better weather allowed resource missions to occur yesterday. A total of 77 tar balls were recovered from Horn Island, in addition to four pieces of burned/oiled debris. By request of NOAA, one dead sea turtle was collected on Horn Island in the Mississippi District by an NPS resource team. The turtle was turned over to a NOAA team, was inspected, and had no evidence of oil.

South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, DeSoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - Natural resource baseline condition assessments continued yesterday at Everglades and cultural resource assessments continued at Biscayne. Assessments are expected to continue throughout the week. Entrix, BP's environmental consulting firm, continued baseline sampling at Everglades, accompanied by an NPS advisor. NPS personnel continue to conduct daily surveys of the island of Dry Tortugas. Divers began a baseline assessment of a shipwreck site at Biscayne yesterday. The incidence of new tar balls since this past weekend's USCG cleanup has been minimal. Daily beach monitoring is expected to continue at least through the end of the week.

For more information on the NPS, DOI and national oil spill responses and for a link to the BP online oil spill safety training needed by all incident staff, please see the following:

NPS Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm" http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm

DOI Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm" http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm

National Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com" http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

Oil Spill Safety Training - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957

[J. Michael Johnson, Lead Information Officer, Gulf Islands National Seashore Oil Spill Response]

Biscayne NP

Three Rescued From Ocean After Boat Capsizes

Late on the morning of May 22nd, rangers responded to a capsized 23-foot vessel with three persons in the water in the vicinity of Pacific Reef, located approximately six miles from Elliott Key in the Atlantic Ocean. With the aid of state and local agencies, the rangers were able to rescue all three people from the water. Although they were fatigued and suffering from mild dehydration, they were in otherwise good condition. The rangers treated them for dehydration and coordinated the salvage and removal of the overturned vessel. [Frank Stack, District Ranger]

Monocacy NB

Man Pleads Guilty To Possession Of Red-Tailed Hawk

A 32-year-old man has pled guilty to the remainder of violations stemming from a suspicious person contact at Monocacy National Battlefield. On December 3, 2009, ranger Markwood Mackenzie responded to a report of a man entering a trail-less section of woods near the visitor's center. Upon further investigation, he discovered that C.H., 32, was in possession of a red-tailed hawk and the carcass of a grey squirrel. In all, C.H. has pled guilty to the illegal taking of wildlife, to Maryland hunting permit violations, and to several citations resulting from his illegal possession of the federally-protected migratory bird. C.H.'s fines totaled approximately $1,435. The success of this case was the result of the coordinated efforts of National Park Service rangers, Maryland Department of Natural Resources police, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents. [Melissa Brown. Acting Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

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

Channel Islands NP - The public will get an opportunity to view a live broadcast of biologists banding two bald eagle chicks on Santa Cruz Island today. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to noon Pacific time. A link is provided.

Risk Management Division - The Public Risk Management Program is launching a new quarterly newsletter for park staff Servicewide to share information alerts, tips, lessons learned, and best practices that relate to visitor injury prevention. A link is provided.

National Trails System - Teresa Bichard, budget analyst for the National Trails System Office in Intermountain Region, will retire on June 3rd. Photo.

Big Bend NP - Howard "Pat" Russ passed away on May 20th after a long bout with cancer. Pat worked as an automotive mechanic for Big Bend NP from December of 2003 until his retirement in February 2009. 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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