NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, July 8, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

Heavy Surf And High Tides Hinder Cleanup Operations

Although crews at some locations at Gulf Islands faced serious challenges in cleaning up oil from park beaches due to tide and surf conditions yesterday, a crew at Perdido Key was able to fully clean a section of beach for a wedding there on Tuesday. Here are the details:

Gulf Islands NS - Cleanup crews had a pleasant surprise on the afternoon of July 6th when a very excited father and father-in-law-to-be approached the task force leader and advised that a wedding was about to occur at Point K on Perdido Key. After double checking special use permits and determining that all was in order, extra effort was focused by the cleanup crews in the area to clean a segment of beach, a parking area and a path to the beach for the wedding party. The bridal party was most appreciative of the special effort on their special day. Oil cleanup progress was mixed yesterday due to heavy surf and high tides. Boats to the islands in the park's Mississippi District were unable to leave port due to surf conditions; workers on the west end of Fort Pickens road were evacuated as two miles of the road flooded with salt water at high tide. The concern was that workers west of the impacted flooded road would not be able to leave if the flooding continued as salt water washed over the width of the barrier island from the south side (the Gulf of Mexico side) and into Pensacola Bay on the north side. The waters carried oil across the island, and tar balls and larger tar patties were deposited in the washover area. Opal Beach in the Santa Rosa Area experienced strong wave action in the surf or swash zone. The energetic wave action removed sand from the beach, exposing previously buried oil materials. Cleanup crews worked hard to remove as much as possible. Good progress was reported elsewhere in the park. David Stout, task force leader, reported that cleanup operations went smoothly in the Johnson Beach, Perdidio Key Area. Crews cleaned two-tenths of a mile to the west of the main lifeguarded beach (the park boundary) and three-tenths of a mile to the east.

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

[Andy L. Fisher, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]

Olympic NP

Park Volunteer Rescued After Serious Injury

A backcountry volunteer sustained a severe knee laceration while post-holing through a snow-covered boulder field on Saturday, June 26th. He suffered muscle and tendon damage and could not walk out on his own. Rangers from the Lake, Sol Duc, Elwha, Hoh, and Mora subdistricts responded. The ensuing rescue evolved into an arduous overnight carryout in sections of steep, difficult terrain. The injured volunteer was evacuated by ambulance the next morning and taken to the Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles for treatment. He is recovering nicely. [Colin Smith, Chief Ranger]

Devils Tower NM

Stranded Climbers Rescued

On the evening of July 3rd, chief ranger Drew Gilmour received a call from the Crook County Sheriff's Office advising that two climbers were reportedly stuck high on the side of Devils Tower. The visiting climbers had summited around 6:30 p.m. via the Belle Fourche Buttress area on the east side. While attempting to rappel down the same route, they found that they were unable to reach the ledge at the top of the next rappel. One climber was lowered to the ledge and the other rappelled down to make an intermediate anchor, but found that they were unable to pull the ropes to retrieve them. The two climbers did not have headlamps and were still stuck on the tower when darkness fell. Worried friends of the climbers came out to find them and called for a rescue. Protection and climbing rangers reached the base of the route to find friends of the climbers heading up a route leading to the first stranded climber. Climbing rangers Will Buckman and Sean Nelb ascended this party's fixed lines to reach the ledge. They then climbed the remaining distance to reach the ends of the higher climber's ropes, built a temporary anchor, and fixed a rappel to the ledge below. All parties then rappelled to the base of Devils Tower, leaving the stuck ropes and anchor hardware for later retrieval during daylight hours. Rescue personnel and climbers reached the parking lot safely at 3 a.m. Gilmour was IC for this incident. [Drew Gilmour, Chief Ranger]

Buffalo NR

Motorcyclist Killed In High Speed Crash

Park dispatch received a call from an off-duty employee on the afternoon of June 27th reporting a motorcycle accident on Highway 21 near the Boxley Valley Historic District. Rangers Billy Bell, Scott DeVore and Lee Buschkowsky and seasonal VUA Cary Nabors were on scene within minutes and found local firefighters performing CPR on the 24-year-old motorcyclist. While Nabors helped with traffic control, the rangers joined the firefighters in their attempt to revive the man. Following the arrival of advanced life support personnel from a regional medical center, an assessment of the man's condition was made and permission was given by medical control to terminate resuscitation efforts. The operator had struck a guardrail on a downhill curve and landed about 20 feet down a steep embankment. Excessive speed appears to have been the cause of the accident. [Bob Maguire, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

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

James A. Garfield NHS - The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival performed two plays at the park during the Fourth of July weekend. On Saturday, over 200 visitors took in the tragedy Titus Andronicus; on Sunday, the comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor drew approximately 300 attendees.

National Park Foundation - The National Park Foundation has had a busy summer supporting the parks. An update on current activities is provided.

Northeast Region - Nancy Woods, chief of Northeast Region's Office of Park Partnerships, is retiring on July 31st with 25 years of service. 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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