NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

Beach Sifters Tested On Perdido Key

Towed sand sifters have been tested at Gulf Islands and have worked so well that they are now being employed in cleanup operations. Here are the details of yesterday's operations:

Gulf Islands NS - In cooperation with US Fish and Wildlife Service, the NPS tested an alternative way of removing tar balls from the normally white sands of Perdido Key. Two “sifters” were towed behind very large tractors. As the machines pass over the beach they pick up sand, then sift debris and tar from it before returning the cleaned sand to the beach. The sifters use a rotary system to lift sand onto a conveyor, which allows the clean sand to fall through while retaining tar balls and debris in a bucket at the rear of the machine. A machine with a coarse sieve passes first, followed by another with a fine mesh. This allows even very small particles to be removed. The machines work at night when the temperature is below 80 degrees Fahrenheit. At and below that temperature, the tar balls increase in viscosity so they are firmer and do not disintegrate or stick to the sieve. The trial went well so the operation is continuing.

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.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.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm" NPS Oil Spill Response

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

HYPERLINK "http://www.restorethegulf.gov/" Restore The Gulf

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

[Jeff Wolin, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]

Acadia NP

First Family Visits Park

President Obama and his family visited Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park from Friday, July 16th, through Sunday morning, July 18th. On Friday, the First Family bicycled around the Witch Hole Loop section of the carriage roads, where they also enjoyed a picnic lunch. Next, they were off to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, where they were greeted by Superintendent Sheridan Steele. They hiked the loop trail around the summit, then headed into Bar Harbor for an ice cream cone and a little private time at their hotel. The First Family ended their first day's park experience boating among the Porcupine Islands in the park's lobster boat. That trip was cut short due to an incoming fog bank. After a morning of private time at the hotel on Saturday, the Obamas visited the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse and hiked the Ship Harbor Trail. They spent the evening in Bar Harbor. Security and logistics for the event required the close coordination of many local agencies and the hard work and long hours of many members of the incident command team. Seven NPS rangers from Northeast Region, one USFWS officer, and one EPA special agent were brought in to assist with the operation, which went off flawlessly. The NPS staff provided advisors in the motorcade, assisted the jump teams and advance teams, posted barricades and detours, provided security at the hotel, answered media and public inquiries, and managed visitors displaced by the rolling closures that took place during the visit. [Stuart West, Chief Ranger]

Grand Teton NP

Two Injured Hikers Rescued In Separate Incidents

Rangers rescued an injured hiker from Paintbrush Canyon on Sunday evening, July 18th, using the Teton Interagency contract helicopter. A 48-year-old man was hiking near the 10,720-foot elevation Paintbrush Divide when he slid about 30 feet when the snow he was walking across collapsed. He then somersaulted down a talus slope another 70 to 100 feet and sustained a serious leg injury. He had an ice axe with him, but fell onto his back and was unable to self arrest. The man and his brother were on the second day of an overnight backpacking trip, hiking the Paintbrush-Cascade Canyon loop trail. The men were approaching the top of the east side of the divide when the incident occurred just before 2 p.m. The man's brother, with the help of two hikers, stabilized the leg injury before running down Paintbrush Canyon until he was able to call for help on a cell phone. Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received the report around 3 p.m. and immediately launched a rescue response. Rangers conducted an aerial reconnaissance flight to locate the man before dropping off two rangers on a snowfield near the top of the divide at about 4:20 p.m. The rangers hiked a short distance to the accident site, approximately 200 feet below the Paintbrush Divide summit, and provided the injured man with emergency medical care before placing him into a rescue litter for aerial evacuation. Just after 6 p.m., he was short-hauled to the same snowfield at the top of Paintbrush Divide where the two rangers had been dropped off earlier; three additional rangers were stationed at the snowfield, waiting to receive the litter. The man was then placed inside of the helicopter for a flight down to Lupine Meadows, where a park ambulance was waiting to transport him to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson. While rangers were in the midst of this rescue, they received a request from Teton County Search and Rescue to assist with another injured hiker in Alaska Basin. Rangers remobilized and flew to Sunset Lake, where they met a 66-year-old woman from Salem, Oregon, who had sustained a leg injury and was unable to hike out. Rangers and SAR personnel decided it would be most efficient to fly her out rather than perform a challenging and lengthy 16-mile evacuation by wheeled litter, putting rescuers and the patient at risk for potential injury. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

Cape Hatteras NS

Two Arrested For Protected Area Violations

An investigation by rangers into the fifth deliberate vandalism act this season within the park's resource protection areas has resulted in the apprehension of two suspects - D.H., 28, of Maryland, and B.T., 34, of Rodanthe, North Carolina. Charges have been issued against the two men for multiple violations. The incident occurred at approximately 2 a.m. on the morning of July 1st on the beach north of Rodanthe Pier. Evidence of two separate sets of ATV tire tracks were observed heading south on the beach for approximately two miles. The vehicle entered a sea turtle protection area and made multiple swerves, “donuts” and jumping maneuvers. One set of tracks lead to a cottage occupied by D.H., who confessed and identified the second driver. D.H. was charged with unsafe operation, operating an ORV in a seasonal ORV closure area, entering a resource protection area in the national seashore, giving false information, disturbing wildlife and being intoxicated in the park. His ATV was seized as evidence in the crime. B.T. was charged with unsafe operation and operating an ORV in a seasonal ORV closure area and driving on a suspended license. [Cyndy Holda, Public Affairs Officer]

Grand Teton NP

Rangers Assist With Rescue Of Injured Hiker

Rangers assisted with the rescue of an injured hiker from the upper and lower Ross Lakes area in Wyoming's Wind River Range on July 14th. Four rangers, along with a Teton interagency contract helicopter and pilot, responded to the request for aid, which came from Fremont County Search and Rescue. During the early morning hours of July 13th, a hiker in the Wind River Range sustained a serious leg injury and was unable to continue hiking out of the remote backcountry area. The man's father and another hiking partner splinted his injured leg and hiked out to summon help. Late that afternoon, members of a Fremont County Search and Rescue team hiked into the Ross Lakes area, administered emergency medical care, and evaluated options for rescue. Due to the remoteness and complexity of the terrain, rescue personnel determined that an aerial evacuation would be necessary, so they called for assistance from Grand Teton rangers. Coincidently, a Teton interagency contract helicopter was grounded at the Lander Airport because of high afternoon winds, so a ship was available, but not able to fly. As a consequence, the Fremont County rescue team spent the night in the backcountry with the injured man and made plans for a helicopter extrication the following day. On the morning of July 14th, the four rangers drove to the Dubois Airport to rendezvous with the interagency ship and begin a helicopter-assisted rescue mission. One ranger was inserted via short-haul near the injured hiker, and he placed the man in an evacuation suit for an aerial lift to a more appropriate landing spot. The ranger flew in tandem with the hiker to a landing spot where the injured man could then be placed inside the aircraft for a longer flight to the Whiskey Basin trailhead and a waiting ambulance. The helicopter then returned to the backcountry location to pick up the other three rangers and return them to the Dubois Airport. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Virgin Islands NP - The first-ever Ranger-in-Training camp was held at the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station, located within the park, from July 6 to July 9th. The camp was made possible by a small grants award from the National Park Foundation.

Saint-Gaudens NHS - On July 11th, the park hosted a large special event to celebrate two significant occasions - the 125th anniversary of the Cornish Colony of artists and the transfer of the 42-acre Blow-Me-Down Farm from the park's non-profit partner, the Saint-Gaudens Memorial, to the park. Photo.

Grand Canyon NP - Superintendent Steve Martin recently welcomed two new division chiefs to the park's management team - Bill Wright, who is the park's new chief ranger, and Doug Lentz, who will head up concessions.

NPS incident submission standards can be found online at the HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" serious incident notification web page.

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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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