NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Parks
GIS Teams Assist With Spill Mapping
The Department of the Interior recently requested GIS
specialists to serve for two week rotations between September 24th and
November 30th at the unified area command/Gulf Coast incident management
team, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chris Furqueron, acting chief of
Southeast Region's Science and Natural Resources Division, sent out the
call, explaining the urgent need for individuals with GIS expertise to
assist and respond to the incident. Response from NPS staff was
overwhelming. Positions were filled quickly for two week rotations
beginning in September and ending in November. A second rotation of
individuals was also assembled and remains ready to go if needed. Elena
Robisch, Southeast Region's geospatial program manager, and Mark
Ruggiero, NPS emergency manager, coordinated scheduling and travel plans
for team members from almost every NPS region. Upon arrival at the
unified area command (UAC), team members coordinate with The Response
Group (TRG), a group of more than 20 GIS professionals who have been
working on the incident for several months. They also coordinate with
USFWS and NOAA staff - USFWS personnel develop many of the wildlife data
layers for the incident relating to national wildlife refuges and
migratory birds, while NOAA staff keep track of marine mammals and sea
turtles. NOAA staff also developed a HYPERLINK
"http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/" public
interactive mapping tool. Mapping information for this tool is
currently under development and is updated and added to the website on a
regular basis. NPS GIS staff work on a variety of assignments at the
UAC. Wildlife operations branch staff request various project maps for
different resource-related tasks, such as beach surface cleanup,
wildlife monitoring, and metadata acquisition and verification. Map
requests are also generated by DOI liaisons and Louisiana Department of
Fish and Game biologists, who are developing maps that portray active
colonies of migratory birds located on islands that were under special
protection from noise disturbance (no work was permitted near these
islands). Park-specific requests are made through the NPS liaison. NPS
GIS specialists on the incident are also tasked with Section 7
(endangered species) and Section 106 (cultural and archeological)
assignments by request, and serve as liaisons between various
specialists and the GIS team, communicating information to the group at
daily meetings. Communication is critical in an operation of this
magnitude. TRG GIS analysts are very helpful to newly arriving NPS GIS
team members, assisting them in their orientation to a new GIS
architecture and data management system. TRG GIS analysts handle the
majority of the tasks for priority projects, such as daily/weekly
mapping needs and data loads, as they have been performing these tasks
for many months. The opportunity to serve on this detail provides a
great atmosphere for all involved. Learning new and creative ways to
work with GIS data made this a valuable career experience. Working with
a team of individuals committed to the restoration of the Gulf of Mexico
is an invigorating and refreshing experience.
For more information on current operations, click on the NPS, DOI and national oil spill response pages:
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
[Eddie Childers, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]
Great Smoky Mountains NP
Hiker With Severe Injury Evacuated From Park Trail
Ranger Brad Griest was heading up the Alum Cave Trail on the afternoon of October 10th to checkout a report of an ill hiker when another hiker told him that a man had fallen on the trail about three miles further on and that he'd sustained a head injury and was complaining of back and neck pain. Griest reached him about 45 minutes later. The man reported that he had no feeling below his neck, and Griest found an obvious spinal deformity in the upper back and confirmed that the man had no motor or sensory functions below the deformity. He put a cervical collar on him, administered oxygen, managed for spinal trauma, and monitored the man's vitals until a litter crew comprised of 13 park personnel arrived on scene. The man was secured to a rigid backboard and placed on a litter. The evacuation was complicated by steep and rocky terrain, deep creek crossings, a short section of technical rope belay, and darkness. The carryout was completed just before 10 p.m. The man was taken by Gatlinburg FD ambulance to the Sugarlands Visitor Center and flown via Lifestar helicopter to the Level 1 trauma center at University of Tennessee Hospital. Ranger Chuck Hester was the IC for the incident. [Steve Kloster, Tennessee District Ranger]
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/):
Office of Public Affairs - Park visitors had a great time digging up the past during the first annual National Fossil Day, held this year on October 13th. This event, part of Earth Science Week, was designed by the National Park Service and the American Geological Institute to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils.
Badlands NP - A young girl discovered the fossilized remains of a 32-million-year-old saber toothed cat during a Junior Ranger program at Badlands earlier this year. Photo.
Klondike Gold Rush NHP - A Smith and Wesson pistol from the late 1800s was recently discovered inside a sealed wall during the restoration of a historic structure in the park. Photo.
Colorado NM - Park staff and researchers have recently discovered tracks of a dinosaur, lizards and turtles in the park. All of these various prehistoric fossilized tracks are similarly aged at roughly 150 million years old. Photo.
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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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