NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

INCIDENTS

Grand Teton NP

Rangers Rescue Stranded Climber On Teewinot Mountain

Rangers rescued a stranded climber from the east face of Teewinot Mountain on the evening of Wednesday, October 20th, with the assistance of an interagency contract helicopter. E.S., 26, of Wilson, Wyoming, called a friend via cell phone to report that he was in a location on the mountain from which he could not continue climbing without risk of falling. The friend then contacted the Teton Interagency Dispatch Center to report E.S.'s predicament, and rangers launched a rescue mission to reach E.S. and bring him to safety. During a reconnaissance flight, rangers determined that E.S. was located on a steep pinnacle, high on the east face of Teewinot. With little remaining daylight and predicted low overnight temperatures, a decision was made to insert one ranger via the short-haul technique and place E.S. in an aerial evacuation suit for a short-haul extraction from the peak. The ranger soon arrived and prepared him for the flight to the Lupine Meadows rescue cache. The rescue concluded just 40 minutes before “pumpkin hour,” the designated time beyond which the ship cannot fly according to FAA regulations. E.S. told rangers that he'd intended to climb the fourth class route up the east face of Teewinot Mountain. Being somewhat new to mountaineering, E.S. had climbed multiple peaks in the park this summer with various partners, but this was his first solo climb in the Teton Range. When he realized that he could no longer continue to climb without great risk of falling, he made the prudent decision to call for help. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

Grand Canyon NP

Grand Canyon Resident Charged With Child Abuse

On October 13th, park resident E.B., 35, was indicted by a federal grand jury in on a single count of child abuse under circumstances likely to produce death or serious physical injury of a child. The indictment stems from a September 9th incident in which E.B. was responsible for watching a toddler. E.B. became intoxicated and passed out, allowing the toddler to exit the mobile home and wander into the woods, where he was later found approximately a half mile from his home. After crossing South Entrance Road, one of the busiest streets in the park, he was rescued by a road construction worker who saw him sitting along the roadside. A joint investigation into the incident was conducted by rangers and Investigative Services Branch special agents. A conviction of child abuse under circumstances likely to produce death or serious physical injury of a child is a Class 2 felony and carries a maximum penalty of 10 to 25 years in prison and a fine. [Christopher Smith, Assistant Special Agent in Charge]

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/):

Hawaii Volcanoes NP - The fire severity situation within the park is at an all time high. Since last December, a mere five inches of rain have fallen in areas of the park that would normally receive 50 inches or more annually. Fire personnel have been brought in from throughout the West as part of the preparation efforts.

Grand Canyon NP - Grand Canyon National Park's trail crew recently completed work on Phase V of the Grand Canyon Greenway. Photo.

Intermountain Region - The Park NAGPRA program is soliciting project proposals from parks and offices Servicewide for its 2011 internship program.

Southeast Region - Jim Creech, a retired Southeast Region architect, passed away on Sunday, October 17th, in Athens, Georgia. He had been fighting cancer, often with successes, for the past few years.

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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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