NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, August 9, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

Cleanup Crews Continue To Make Substantial Headway

Crews at Gulf Islands cleaned up tons of oil products from park beaches over the weekend.

Here are the particulars:

Gulf Islands NS - Over the course of the weekend, night and day shift crews cleaned up a good deal of material:

Petit Bois Island - Twenty workers with resource advisors (READs) collected 5,775 pounds of oiled material on Petit Bois Island. A SCAT team assessed the north side of the island.

Horn Island - Twenty-four workers and resource advisors collected 3,325 pounds of oil products. The Point Protection Team collected 625 pounds of oiled debris. The task force leader on site provided BP and OSHA employees with a briefing and tour of oil-impacted areas on the island. Transocean was also on the island to search for items related to the oil rig explosion. One turtle crawl was found.

West Ship Island - Twenty three workers and READs collected 990 pounds of oil products.

Cat Island - Six workers and a READ collected 800 pounds of oil product on NPS lands. One non- oiled dead bird was found. An archaeology SCAT team located a shipwreck on the south side of the island.

Opal Beach/Santa Rosa Area - A cleanup crew of 120 with two READs removed 1,080 pounds of oil products. No oiled wildlife was found.

Fort Pickens Area - A crew of 118 with three READs removed 1,601 pounds of oil products. No oiled wildlife was reported.

Johnson Beach/Perdido Key - A crew of 50 workers with four READs collected 3,300 pounds of oil products. Another crew of 34 crew members/six READs removed 1,440 pounds of product.

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

[Barbara Dougan and Mary McBurney, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]

Muir Woods NM

Man Arrested For Assaulting Two Others In Park

Rangers received a report of an assault in the park around 8 p.m. on the evening of July 28th. Also responding were Marin County deputies and Mount Tamalpais State Park rangers. Upon arrival, NPS rangers Ryan Wright and Josh Bennoch were told that one victim had been found and that a second was hiding off-trail because he was afraid that his assailant was still looking for him. Wright and Bennoch, two state park rangers and Marin County EMS began a search of the trail, found the man, and escorted him back to the Muir Woods parking lot. While on their way out, the man described the events that had taken place and also provided a thorough description of his assailant - including a photo of him. Both victims were transported to Marin General Hospital. Rangers Anne Leone and Matthew Harrison accompanied the EMS personnel to the hospital, interviewed the two men, and took photographs of their injuries. While a search for the suspect was being planned with responding agencies, Bennoch and supervisory park ranger Ron Heeren drove back on the paved portion of the trail in Muir Woods in an electric cart and eventually located the suspect at Bridge Four, where he was detained and escorted back to the parking lot. He was soaking wet and told Bennoch and Heeren that he'd been hot and jumped into Redwood Creek to cool down after the fight. He was also transported to Marin General Hospital. Rangers from both agencies determined that one assault occurred on state park property and the second assault occurred on national park property. The first victim suffered a fractured facial orbit and other cuts and bruises; the second victim had pronounced bite marks, cuts and scrapes. Their assailant suffered broken bones in his hand. Blood was also drawn from the suspect and taken to the Santa Rosa Crime Lab for analysis. After receiving treatment for his injuries, he was arrested and taken to the Marin County jail. Rangers from both agencies contacted the Marin County District Attorney's Office, where it was determined that the suspect will be charged with two counts of felony assault as well as two counts of misdemeanor battery. Ranger Ryan Wright and a California State Park ranger are leads on the case. [Kim Coast, Acting Chief Ranger]

Grand Teton NP

Rangers Rescue Mountaineering Guide From Grand Teton

Rangers used an interagency contract helicopter to rescue and evacuate an injured climbing guide from the Grand Teton on Friday, August 6th. The 31-year-old employee of J.H.M.G. fell approximately 20 feet while hiking just below the Lower Saddle of the Grand Teton. He was not guiding clients at the time of the accident, but was instead using personal time to recreate in the area. The man sustained a head injury in the fall, which prompted a timely and expeditious flight from the J.H.M.G.'s Corbet High Camp at 11,200 feet to Lupine Meadows at 6,700 feet, where a park ambulance waited to transport him to medical care in Jackson, Wyoming. A ranger treated him on scene before he was evacuated via short-haul and flew out with him. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

North Cascades NP

Flashflood Causes Substantial Trail Damage

A thunderstorm brought heavy rainfall to the park last Thursday evening, causing flash flooding and debris flows in three creeks along Lake Chelan in Lake Chelan NRA near Stehekin. Substantial damage occurred to the Lakeshore Trail, washing out the bridge at Four Mile Creek and leaving the trail impassable to hikers and stock between Hazard Creek, less than a half mile from Stehekin, and Four Mile Creek, just under three miles from Stehekin. The three watersheds - Hazard Creek, Four Mile Creek and an unnamed creek - were burned by the 2006 Flick Creek Fire. After wildfires, debris flows can occur from significant rainfall because little water absorbs into the soil, causing rapid runoff that converges in drainages. The runoff erodes material from the steep slopes and channels of these drainages and gradually becomes a slurry of soil, rocks and mud. The slurry can quickly pick up speed, as well as additional rocks, large boulders, and trees, and radically modify existing drainages. Photos of the debris flow damage along Lake Chelan can be found at the park's HYPERLINK "http://www.flickr.com/photos/northcascadesnationalpark/sets/ 72157624544175015/" Flickr site. [Kerry Olson, 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/):

Lincoln Home NHS - A series of activities are being held this summer in the park and its environs as part of Springfield's “History Comes Alive” living history program - an effort to transport visitors back in time to the Springfield that Abraham Lincoln knew and loved.

Park Facility Management Division - The National Park Service and Federal Highway Administration are developing a Servicewide approach to congestion management. An initial step is the conducting of an agency-wide survey. Each park is asked to participate.

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.

Pacific West Region - Martha J. Lee, a 27-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been selected as Pacific West Region's deputy regional director for public use management. She will move into her new position on September 20th. Photo.

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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