NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

Workers Make Progress On Gulf Shore Beaches

Well over a thousand workers were engaged in cleaning oil from several beaches at Gulf Islands NS on Tuesday. Here are the details:

Gulf Islands NS - Following a rainy morning, cleanup crews were able to make progress cleaning beaches yesterday. Johnson Beach crews cleaned over a half mile of beach, and 650 workers cleaned Opal Beach and the Santa Rosa area. Beaches at Fort Pickens were cleaned by 450 workers. Due to rough seas in the Gulf, no vessels were able to travel to the barrier islands in the Mississippi District.

South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, Desoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - No new developments.

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

HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/documents/NPS%20-%20Public%20Health%20Notice%20SIGNAGE%206-26-10.pdf" Gulf Islands Public Health Precautions Notice

HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/archive/features/oilspillresponse/OilSpillSafety/index.htm" Public Health Service Oil Spill Safety Video

HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/archive/features/oilspillresponse/" Oil Spill Media Page

[Denise Robertson, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]

Amistad NRA

Park Hit By Record-Breaking Floods

The remnants of Hurricane Alex have produced record-breaking flooding on Lake Amistad and the Rio Grande River. From Friday, July 2nd, to Tuesday, July 6th, Amistad's lake level rose from 1114 feet to over 1129 feet - 12 feet above conservation level and the highest lake level since 1973. Despite a brisk July 4th weekend visitation, visitors have lost only one boat, one jet ski, and one truck due to the rapidly rising waters. A concession-owned houseboat was caught on the downstream side of the railroad and Highway 90 bridges during the rapid rise and is now unable to return to its marina without hitting the bottoms of the bridges. Park facilities are heavily impacted, with three out of the four park campgrounds underwater along with multiple day use areas. Maintenance crews are working long hours to save docks at the 17 boat ramps throughout the park. Releases from Amistad Dam, administered by the International Boundary and Water Commission, are at 35,000 cubic feet per second, flooding the U.S. community of Vega Verde just down river from the park. Across the river, over 10,000 homes have been evacuated and are flooded in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. The lake level continues to rise and if current conditions persiste could rise an additional two feet per day. Flood stage water levels are expected for at least the next two weeks. Visitation remains brisk as people come to view the amazing amount of water. The lake can be viewed in real time from the park's HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/webcams-amis/camera0.jpg" webcam mounted on the Diablo East Ranger Station. [Regina Klein Dissler, Chief Ranger]

Canaveral NS

Man Arrested For Lewd Behavior

Rangers from the park's Playalinda District recently investigated a Wisconsin man for filming an unclothed minor on a park beach. This area has been frequented for many years by nudists. A local family had come to the beach for a day of nude recreation. As the young girl's mother dried the girl off, the man attempted to film her. The girl's father confronted him and a fight ensued. Rangers Rob Romer and Ben Hansel responded to a 911 call from the Brevard County Sherriff's Office concerning a fight in progress. The man with the camera fled south on the beach, but Hansel found him and obtained his consent to look at the images on the camera. These were shared with the sex crimes unit of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. Information obtained during a joint agency interview led to a search warrant being issued for the man's home in Evansville, Wisconsin. Detectives with the Rock County Sherriff's Office who served the warrant discovered child erotica, child pornography, and a number of camera systems. The Rock County Sherriff's office arrested the man when he arrived at the local airport on his return trip from Florida. Romer's investigation led to the arrest of a man who hadn't been on any agency's radar and showed excellent interagency cooperation. [Eric Lugo, Chief Ranger]

Glen Canyon NRA

Two Visitors Seriously Injured And A Third Saved

Rangers responded to three serious incidents within 48 hours in late June:

A three-year-old boy from Cortez, Colorado, was discovered floating face down in the swimming pool at the Lake Powell Resort just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 29th. The child was unconscious, so his father and a vacationing off-duty firefighter immediately began CPR. When rangers arrived minutes later, the boy had regained consciousness and begun breathing on his own. They maintained his airway and monitored vital signs. The boy and his mother were flown by Classic Lifeguard to the Flagstaff Medical Center for further treatment. He was held overnight for observation and released the following morning.

On Monday, June 28th, an 11-year-old boy from California was struck and injured by a jet ski on Lake Powell in Reflection Canyon. He was transported by private boat to Dangling Rope Marina and airlifted to Flagstaff Medical Center, where he remains in the intensive care unit. The jet ski was being driven by an underage operator at the time of the accident.

On Monday evening, a 46-year-old woman from Idaho was severely injured when winds came up unexpectedly at their campsite in Bullfrog Bay. A houseboat was blown towards the shore, and crashed into a ski boat. The woman attempted to save the ski boat and became trapped between the two vessels. She suffered traumatic head injuries and was stabilized by NPS rangers at the Bullfrog Clinic before being flown to the Valley Medical Center in Orem, Utah, for further treatment.

[Scott Sticha, Public Affairs Officer]

Colonial NHP

Pursuit Of Drunk Driver Ends In Crash

Late on the evening of Friday, June 25th, park dispatch was notified of a possible impaired driver operating a Ford sedan on the Colonial Parkway. Ranger Jason Lichtblau soon saw the car near the Jamestown end of the parkway. The operator was driving erratically and nearly hit an oncoming car. Lichtblau attempted to stop him, but the driver instead accelerated away. A pursuit of over 25 miles ensued at speeds of more than 70 mph, with officers from local police departments and the Virginia State Police assisting. The driver eventually left the park and struck several vehicles in York County and Newport News before crashing. The driver was arrested and charged with multiple federal and state violations. [Steven Williams, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

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

Commercial Services - The National Park Service Accessibility Program is accepting nominations for the 2010 National Accessibility Achievement Awards.

Climate Change Response Program - The July 2010 issue of the Climate Change Response Program's newsletter is now available. A link is provided.

Fire and Aviation Management - Twenty-six new stories have been added to the NPS Fire and Aviation website, highlighting great work happening on behalf of the National Fire Plan. Photo.

Conservation and Outdoor Recreation - Three NPS staff were honored by the American Recreation Coalition and Coalition for Recreational Trails during Great Outdoors Week 2010. 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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