NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, June 24, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

Oil Cleanup Continues At Gulf Islands

Some small tar balls and tar mats were reported at Gulf Islands yesterday, and a health advisory was posted for parts of the park due to oil coming ashore. A stranded dolphin was also rescued. Here are today's updates:

Gulf Islands NS - The Escambia County Health Department has issued the following notice: “As of June 23, 2010, Gulf Islands National Seashore remains open. At this time there is an advisory in effect by the Escambia County Health Department from Walkover 23 on Pensacola Beach to west tip of Santa Rosa Island including Fort Pickens. This advisory extends to the Perdido Key area including Johnson Beach. Because of significant quantities of oil in the water and coming ashore, signage and flags advise visitors to not wade or swim in the water.” Scattered tar balls - smaller than dime size and distributed over a wide area - were reported on Langdon Beach yesterday. Tar mats distributed over a wide area were also reported in the Fort Pickens area. A stranded dolphin was reported by visitors to park staff today. A veterinarian, two technicians, staff from the U.S. Coast Guard, State of Florida Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife responded. The dolphin was stabilized on the scene, covered with moist towels and splashed with water; fluids and a sedative were administered. The animal was then transported to Panama City, Florida For more information on oil impacts and conditions (including swimming and fishing information), visit the Deepwater Horizon link below.

South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, Desoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - Scientists are analyzing baseline data that has been collected from five Florida national parks. This data will be important - if and when Florida parks receive oil impacts - in making damage assessments.

Jean Lafitte NHP&P - No new developments.

Padre Island NS - No new developments.

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 sites:

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

HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/" Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response

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

HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/" National Oil Spill Response

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

HYPERLINK "http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/" GeoPlatform

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=1006&id=9336" NPS ICS 209 Incident Status Summaries

[Lynne Murdock, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]

Mount Rainier NP

Woman Seriously Injured In Fall Through Void Under Snow

On the evening of June 18th, a park visitor contacted a volunteer roadside assistance ranger in the Paradise parking lot to report that someone had fallen into a "sinkhole" in the snow across the road and south from the Jackson Visitor Center. Climbing rangers responded within minutes and discovered that heat from an electrical transformer buried under 20 feet of snow had melted a large cavern in the snow. A 57-year-old California woman walking on the surface had broken through the ceiling of this cavern and fallen at least ten feet onto the hard surface of the transformer and from there onto the ground, sustaining multiple traumatic injuries. Climbing rangers at Paradise lowered a rope into the hole and stabilized the woman. Rangers and EMTs responded to the incident from all parts of the park, including a climbing ranger who skied down from Camp Muir to direct the technical rope rescue. The woman was raised to the surface in a litter with use of technical rescue gear. Meanwhile, Pierce County District 23 Station 1 advanced life support responded by ground and Airlift Northwest by air from Olympia. The injured woman was flown to Harborview Medical Center, where she is currently in the intensive care unit. [R. Chuck Young, Chief Ranger]

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Former Concession Employee Pleads Guilty To Theft

On May 19th, L.L., a concession employee who'd been charged with the theft of over $5,000 from the Cades Cove Riding Stables, entered a plea of guilty in federal court, changing it from a previous plea of not guilty. Ranger Todd Roessner, with the assistance of an agent from the Investigative Services Branch, had conducted an investigation into the theft of the money from the stables and found that L.L., who'd worked as a cashier for the company, had taken it over the course of a period of about four months. L.L. was interviewed and confessed to stealing the money. She will be sentenced in August. Roessner and the agent conducted an extensive review of the company's remittance records to obtain the necessary evidence to make the case prosecutable. This case was a fine example of teamwork between Great Smoky's protection ranger division and ISB investigators. [Jeff Carlisle, Special Agent, Investigative Services Branch]

OTHER NEWS

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

Biscayne NP - Biscayne National Park, along with many other parks and areas in south Florida and the Caribbean, is being invaded by the exotic Indo-Pacific lionfish, a voracious predator. Lionfish are being observed in and collected from areas throughout the park. Photo.

Blue Ridge Parkway - This past Monday, June 21st, marked the twelfth anniversary of the murder of Ranger Joe Kolodski. A ceremony remembering him was held at the site where he was murdered. Photo.

Mather Training Center - Mather Training Center hosted the second offering of the Instructor Institute for the National Trainer Development Program (NTDP) on the week of May 24th. A group of 24 trainees gathered from around the Service during that week to complete the final requirements for this rigorous program. Photo.

Prince William FP - On Saturday, June 12th, the park hosted the Marine Corps Marathon's Crossroads 17.75k Run. Over 1,200 runners, ages 12 to 73, ran the race, including the nine miles that traversed the park. Photo.

Denali NP&P - Dutch Scholten, Denali's chief of maintenance, was feted by over 100 people in an informal gathering that took place on Thursday, June 17th, to wish him well upon his retirement at the end of June. 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

* * * *

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).

--- ### ---