NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Monday, July 26, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Parks
Operations Resume Following Tropical Storm
After a stand down for Tropical Storm Bonnie, workers and equipment will head back to the beach today to resume cleanup operations.
Gulf Islands NS - Once Tropical Storm Bonnie dissipated and it was safe to return to the beach, contractors and incident staff started preparing to return to cleanup duties. Truckloads of UTV's, comfort stations and other tools and equipment were moved to staging areas along Gulf Islands National Seashore near Pensacola Beach. Cleanup crews and resource advisors are expected to return to work on Monday using the equipment delivered yesterday. All equipment and supplies had been moved to safe havens farther inland in preparation for potential hazards presented by the weather. A shoreline condition assessment team (SCAT) at Fort Pickens was prepared to go back to work yesterday, but encountered multiple midmorning thunderstorms. Anytime there is lightning, there is a mandatory half-hour stand down. Coping with rapidly changing weather and adjusting to the changed environment brought on by the oil spill have become the new standard for all who work along the northern Gulf of Mexico. Gulf Islands interpretive staff also went back to their public contact duties and offered several programs, including “Life Along the Edge” and “Treasures of the Gulf Coast.”
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 and Ken Wires, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]
Zion NP
Boy Scout Dies During Backpacking Trip
On July 21st, twelve members of a Las Vegas-based Boy Scout troop were completing the second day of a planned four day backpacking trip in the park. C.B., 17, was having difficulty and lagged behind as the group hiked south along the Hop Valley Trail. Around noon, a leader who was hiking a short distance in front of C.B. turned around and did not see him. He hiked five minutes back down the trail to the point where he last saw C.B., but could not find the boy. Rangers conducted a hasty search that afternoon by foot and helicopter with no success. More than 25 NPS personnel participated in the search the next day. Four dog teams from the Zion K-9 SAR Team, based in Hurricane, Utah, joined the operation. Early in the afternoon, two of the dog teams alerted on a side canyon near the point last seen. Ground searchers discovered C.B.'s body there. It appears that he hiked about 500 feet off of the trail and into the brushy side canyon. A cause of death will be determined by the state medical examiner's office. [Ray O'Neil, Plateau District Ranger]
Rocky Mountain NP
Climber Rescued From Longs Peak Diamond
On the afternoon of July 20th, rangers learned that C.D., a 27-year-old climber from Fort Collins, had gotten stuck while descending a section of The Diamond on Longs Peak. C.D. found herself off the fixed rappel route while descending and was unable to ascend or climb to the correct rappel station. She and her partner tried to resolve the situation for about two hours, but were unsuccessful. C.D. was able to set up an anchor and attach herself to the wall while her partner rappelled to the base of Mills Glacier and went to get help. She was well prepared with clothing to help her weather the elements; a heavy rainstorm moved through the area at 5:30 p.m. At 7:15 p.m. four rangers who specialize in climbing and mountain rescue were flown to the 14,259-foot summit of Longs Peak. They then descended from the summit to Table Ledge on the upper part of The Diamond, where they established an anchor system to lower one ranger to C.D.'s location. The ranger reached her at 12:15 a.m. and gave her dry clothes, food and water. The ranger was able to assist the stranded climber up the fixed ropes to Table Ledge and back up to the summit of Longs Peak via the upper Kiener's Route, a vertical gain in altitude of approximately 700 feet and a distance over terrain of approximately 1,200 feet. They reached the summit at 3:00 a.m. Rain continued off and on through the evening and the temperature was 39 degrees. C.D. was rescued without incident, warmed and fed at the summit, and flown out at 8:00 a.m. Due to the inclement weather, the last ranger and helicopter crew member weren't flown off the summit until 10:00 a.m. There were roughly 25 people involved in this rescue operation, including five members of Rocky Mountain Rescue who were on standby to assist park rangers if a carry-out was necessary. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]
Grand Teton NP
Rangers Recover Climber's Body From Garnet Canyon
Rangers are investigating the death of a young University of Michigan student who apparently fell 80 feet after summiting the 12,804-foot Middle Teton on the evening of Tuesday, July 20th. J.D., 21, of Chelsea, Michigan, became separated from her climbing partner as they descended the mountain. When J.D. failed to return to a backcountry camp in Garnet Canyon, the group's leader began to search for her. He discovered J.D.'s body around 9 p.m. The Teton Interagency Dispatch Center received a cell phone call from the University of Michigan group leader at 7:30 on Tuesday evening. He reported that a member of their group of eight was missing and that they were searching for her whereabouts; a second cell phone call was received just after 9:00 p.m. reporting that J.D.'s body had been found. Because of the late hour and waning light, a helicopter flight was not possible. Four rangers were therefore dispatched to hike up to the Garnet Canyon campsite to begin a recovery operation. They arrived around 1:30 a.m. Six of the University of Michigan students hiked out of the canyon to the valley floor in the early hours of Wednesday morning, while park rangers remained with J.D. and the group leader to make preparations for an aerial evacuation with daylight on Wednesday morning. An interagency helicopter flew J.D. and the group leader out at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, just a few hours before a severe lightning storm enveloped the Teton Range. The lightning storm injured 17 climbers on the 13,770-foot Grand Teton (see HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewincidentsarticle&type= Incidents&id=5244" last Friday's report) and a full-scale rescue mission was launched by park rangers to rescue and extricate the injured climbers in the aftermath of the J.D. evacuation. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]
Whiskeytown NRA
Marijuana Cultivation Sites Eradicated
On June 22nd, rangers and NPS special agents joined a multi-agency task force for three weeks of marijuana raids and investigations in Shasta County. These operations were conducted on Forest Service, NPS and private lands that had access through or included federal property. Over the three-week period, they eradicated 176,974 marijuana plants worth $707,896,000, made multiple arrests, and recovered many firearms and much ammunition. The three-week operation included two days of raids in Whiskeytown. In the first day of the Whiskeytown raids, rangers found two freshly abandoned sites and raided one additional site, eradicating a total of 4,718 plants. On the next day of raids, they eradicated 15,508 plants. The Whiskeytown plants alone represented seizure of $80,904,000 worth of marijuana. Also removed were hazardous materials, including fertilizer. Future cleanup missions will remove camping equipments, hoses, tools and discarded food along with other garbage. Evidence from the investigations suggest that the growers were from Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Most of these missions were conducted by helicopter short-haul, which has been shown to improve safety by improving officers' tactical advantage and greatly reducing sprains, heat injuries, poison oak exposure and other injuries that are common in this very challenging environment. Pacific West Region's SET Team 3, comprised of six US Park Police officers, participated fully in the Whiskeytown raids and in the ensuing investigations. The in-park raids and investigations were led by a resident NPS special agent and supported by the NPS Investigative Services Branch. Shasta County led the nation in marijuana eradication last year. Additional marijuana planting activity is under investigation at Whiskeytown. [Jim Richardson, Chief Ranger]
Rocky Mountain NP
Body Of Backcountry Skier Found Near Cony Lake
Rangers were notified of an overdue backcountry skier early yesterday morning, The 40-year-old Colorado man was reported to be an experienced backcountry skier. He planned on hiking to Finch Lake on Saturday and skiing on a nearby snowfield. Rangers found the man's car at the Finch Lake trailhead and began looking for him. They found his body on a snowfield above Cony Lake in the Hutcheson Lakes drainage near the park's southern boundary, about ten miles from the nearest trailhead. It will be recovered today. The cause of death is not yet known. [Kyle Patterson, 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/):
Grant-Kohrs Ranch NHS - Twin eight-week-old longhorn heifers made their debut at the visitor center pasture last week, delighting hundreds of visitors to the park. The twins are fraternal, pure Longhorn and rare. Photo.
Fort Stanwix NM - On July 4th, a local soldier who was killed in Afghanistan on June 25th was presented with military honors in the park. The ceremony was attended by about 500 people. Photo.
Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service.
NPS Alumni - Clarence Calvin Gill Jr., 83, who worked for the NPS for 34 years as an electrical engineer at the White House, passed away on July 2nd.
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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