NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

Spill Operations Continue, Impacts Remain Minimal

All NPS units along the Gulf remain open and are conducting normal park operations. None has yet received the types and concentrations of oil that are impacting the coastline of Louisiana. Jean Lafitte has yet to receive oil due to its location, buffered from the Gulf by miles of marsh and waterways. Gulf Islands continues to receive small and varied amounts tar balls and oiled debris on its beaches.

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. Park staff are working with the Gulf Islands IMT, the JIC in Houma, Louisiana, and state and parish officials to plan for any necessary defensive actions.

Gulf Islands NS - Periods of severe weather over the Memorial Day weekend postponed several planned operations, requiring them to be rescheduled when favorable conditions become present. The holiday weekend also brought out lots of visitors to the park, with people enjoying its many beaches, recreating on the water, and at the visiting its many historical sites. The NPS Midwest IMT transitioned out over the weekend, with command moving to the unified command in Mobile, Alabama. On Monday, a press event was held on Santa Rosa Beach near Ft. Pickens, where media were invited to learn about shoreline cleanup assessment technique (SCAT) teams, oiled bird recovery teams, and natural resource damage assessments.

South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, DeSoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - Natural and cultural resource assessments have been completed at Everglades and Biscayne. Personnel continue to conduct daily surveys at Dry Tortugas. An underwater robot nicknamed “Waldo” that was launched by Mote Marine to patrol waters looking for oil and dispersants became the focus of NPS personnel at Dry Tortugas. The robot went astray in strong currents and stopped signaling valuable information. A successful rescue at sea was played out with the help of skilled NPS employees. “Waldo” has been examined and is resting securely, waiting to be deployed to continue his mission in the waters north of the park.

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]

Denali NP&P

Avalanche In Ruth Gorge Claims Two Lives

Two climbers were killed in an avalanche in Ruth Gorge on the afternoon of Saturday, May 29th. Canadian A.H., 39, and I.A.M., 42, both current residents of Toronto, Ontario, were descending a steep snow and ice gully wedged between Werewolf Tower and London Tower on the southeast side of the Gorge when the avalanche occurred. Another climbing party in the gorge witnessed the avalanche. Aware that a team had been climbing in the vicinity and had not returned to their camp, they skied closer to investigate and observed what appeared to be two climbers and gear in the avalanche debris. The witnessing party used a satellite phone to call National Park Service mountaineering rangers at 9 p.m. Saturday night. The Talkeetna-based NPS helicopter with two rangers on board flew to Ruth Gorge and picked up one of the witnesses, who directed them to the debris site. Shortly before 11 p.m., rangers confirmed that the two men had died in the fall. Due to the late hour, the helicopter and crew returned to Talkeetna. Both bodies were recovered on Sunday morning. [Maureen McLaughlin, Public Information Officer]

Denali NP&P

Grizzly Bear Shot By Backpackers

Two backpackers, a man and woman, encountered a grizzly bear last Friday evening while hiking in the dense brush along the edge of Tattler Creek, which is at the west end of Igloo Canyon, approximately 35 miles from park headquarters. The man, who was in the lead, drew a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol when they heard a noise coming from the brush. When the bear emerged from the thicket and ran toward the other hiker, he fired approximately nine rounds in its general direction. The bear stopped, turned, and walked back into the brush, where it quickly disappeared from view. The backpackers ran and hiked approximately a mile and a half back to the road, where they encountered a National Park Service employee who called in the incident to the park's communication center and transported them to the Toklat Road Camp. A ranger there did a short preliminary interview with them around 10 p.m. Because of the concern that a wounded bear was in the area, four backcountry units were immediately closed and bus drivers were instructed to not drop off day hikers in Igloo Canyon on Saturday. Early Saturday morning, rangers and wildlife technicians flew to Toklat via helicopter to conduct a secondary interview with the two backpackers. Afterwards they flew over Tattler Creek and all of side tributaries, very low at times, to determine if there was an active, wounded bear. No bears were seen during the overflight. Late in the afternoon, three rangers hiked into the site and found the bear dead in a willow thicket approximately 100 feet from the pistol casings. The bear's body was transported via helicopter to a landing site on the park road and brought back to headquarters on Sunday, where park wildlife biologists are assisting with the investigation of the bear carcass. The backcountry units have been reopened. The case is still under investigation, and the names of the backpackers are not being released at this time. Park wildlife biologists and rangers are trying to determine if there was a justification for shooting the animal. It is legal to carry a firearm in the former Mt. McKinley National Park portion of the park, but it is not legal to discharge it. This is the first known instance of a grizzly bear being shot by a visitor in the wilderness portion of the park. The estimated grizzly bear population in the park north of the Alaska Range north is 300 to 350 animals. [Kris Fister, Public Affairs Officer]

Glacier Bay NP&P

Two Hikers Injured By Ice And Debris From Calving Glacier

On the afternoon of May 26th, the park received an urgent request for assistance from the Coast Guard. Two hikers were reportedly injured in a remote section of the park. They'd been hiking with others along the face of Crillon Glacier at the head of Lituya Bay when the glacier calved and large amounts of ice and debris struck them, causing severe injuries. The Coast Guard immediately launched a rescue operation, dispatching helicopter from Air Station Sitka. The response time was two hours, though. Ranger Todd Bruno coordinated a simulataneous NPS response, sending district ranger Jacqueline Ashwell and seasonal ranger Erin Shandley from the Yakutat office via an airplane equipped with tundra tires that could land at the face of the glacier. Although they got to the scene before the Coast Guard, they were unable to land. Instead, they assisted the Coast Guard helicopter by maintaining communications with Sector Juneau while its crew was on the ground, treating the victims. One had suffered a head injury and possible concussion; the other had an open arm fracture. The third person in the group was not injured but was unable to operate the boat that they'd used to reach Lituaya Bay. All three were flown to Air Station Sitka, where the two injured people were admitted to a local hospital. Crillon Glacier is not a tidewater glacier and does not actively calve; since there is constant movement of ice and debris from the face of any glacier, though, visitors are always reminded to avoid walking or boating within a quarter mile of the glacier. Lituya Bay is approximately 100 air miles from Juneau. It's seldom visited and can only be reached by boat or plane. Marine VHF communications are spotty at best. [Gus Martinez, Bay District Ranger]

Denali NP&P

Several Climbers Evacuated From Mt. McKinley

A Canadian climber was evacuated from the West Rib route of Mt. McKinley on the afternoon of Thursday, May 27th. L.B., 40, of Montreal, reportedly fell 1,000 feet while solo climbing the technically challenging West Rib route the evening of May 26th. Unable to safely ascend or descend from his elevation at 14,000 feet due to an injured shoulder and a loss of gear, L.B. radioed for assistance from park mountaineering rangers the following morning. At midday, the park's A-Star B3 helicopter flew to the site with Denali mountaineering ranger Tucker Chenoweth on board. Unable to find a suitable landing zone, helicopter pilot Andy Hermansky performed what is known as a ‘toe-in' landing maneuver, a stabilized hover technique in which only the tips of the skids touch down on the snow. L.B. was swiftly evacuated to the Kahiltna Basecamp at 7,200 feet, where he was examined by an NPS volunteer physician, then flown to Talkeetna in a fixed wing aircraft and released from NPS care. Three additional air evacuations occurred earlier in the week. On the night of May 20th, NPS rangers treated a guided client for high altitude pulmonary edema at the 17,200-foot camp. The following day, rangers assisted the man down to the 14,200-foot camp, from where he was evacuated on May 22nd when his condition did not sufficiently improve. On May 24th, a non-ambulatory climber suffering from severe altitude illness was treated and evacuated from the 14,200-foot camp. His symptoms quickly resolved once he reached Talkeetna. Lastly, a climber experiencing acute pain and illness related to a kidney stone was evacuated from the 7,800-foot camp on the West Buttress on the evening of May 26th. The park helicopter transported him back to Talkeetna and transferred him to a ground ambulance for further medical care at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. Denali mountaineering operations reached their peak last week. On May 27th, there were 452 mountaineers climbing Mt. McKinley. So far this season, 165 climbers have completed their expeditions, 39% of whom reached the mountain's summit. [Maureen McLaughlin, Public Information Officer]

OTHER NEWS

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

Palo Alto Battlefield NHP - The park recently teamed up with local fourth grade students for the first ever interactive distance learning broadcast to elementary schools across Texas from Brownsville. The broadcast featured “Flat Leaders,” an interdisciplinary educational program focusing on nine pivotal figures from the opening battles of the U.S.-Mexican War.

Valley Forge NHP - A ribbon-cutting ceremony earlier this month capped a four-year leasing process that brings major benefits to the park and its community. Dangerously derelict historic buildings were rehabilitated through a multi-million dollar investment of private funds and now have a vital new use as a pre-school. Photo.

Harper's Ferry Center - Harpers Ferry Center for Media Services has accepted five National Association of Government Communicator awards for superior work in publications, exhibits and video production. 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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