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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Wednesday, January 26, 2011 INCIDENTS National Park of American Samoa Repairs Begin Following Passage Of Tropical Cyclone Wilma Crews began assessing park trails after destructive Tropical Cyclone Wilma moved south and weather improved. Initial reports are that the three-and-a-half mile long Mount Alava Trail sustained major damage, including countless downed trees, mudslides, and eroded trail surfaces. So far, about a third of the trail has been cleared, and work will continue on it through the remainder of the week. The park has yet to determine the damage caused by the snapping of the massive cable from an old cable car system that stretched a mile across and about 1600 feet above Pago Pago Harbor and into the park. Other park trails, including areas on the Manu'a Island, have yet to be assessed for damage. Tropical Cyclone Wilma struck Tutuila and Aunu'u Islands early Sunday morning with sustained winds of 65 mph, gusts up to 80 mph, and heavy rain. No injuries to park staff have been reported, and no damage was inflicted on the visitor center and headquarters building. [Michael Larson, Public Information 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/): Biscayne NP - On December 20th, staff from the South Florida/Caribbean Network overflew Biscayne National Park in MetLife's Snoopy One blimp to determine if it might prove as or more effective than a helicopter for aerial monitoring of park natural resources. Photo. Intermountain Region - Four projects in three regions have been selected for support in 2011 through the Park NAGPRA internship program. Photo. Fire and Aviation Management - The Branch of Wildland Fire Management has announced the winners of the 2010 Fuels and Ecology Awards. Photo. Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - Rosalyn Alston has been selected as the Service's new personnel security specialist. She comes to the NPS from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where she served as that agency's security specialist. * * * * 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). --- ### --- |