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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, March 15, 2011 INCIDENTS Pacific Coastline Parks Two Hawaiian Parks Continue Recovery From Tsunami Park staff at Pu`uhonua o Honaunau and Kaloko Honokohau National Historical Parks continue to assess damage to park resources, trails, and coastal areas caused by Friday's tsunami, which entered into the parks' near coastal regions, overtopping walls and surging inland hundreds of feet. Pu`uhonua o Honaunau - Much of the park remains closed as resource crews assess damage and begin clearing debris. Visitors at present are able to access limited areas of the park, including the visitor center, paved parking area, the amphitheater, and the canoe halau. The royal grounds, pu`uhonua, picnic area, coastal and 1871 trails all remain closed to entry. Tsunami surges entered the royal grounds and fish ponds throughout the day on March 11th, scattering marine debris and coastal vegetation throughout park grounds. Kaloko Honkohau - The unimproved road to Kaloko Fishpond remains closed as the coastal trail, picnic and parking area at the pond have been damaged and debris cover the ground far inland. The Hale Ho`okipa visitor contact station along Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway remains open daily to provide visitors information about the park and safe access paths to the coastal regions. [Eric Anderson] Everglades NP Intensive Week-Long Search Conducted For Missing Man On the evening of Saturday, March 6th, park staff at Flamingo began a search for a 67-year-old man who had been reported missing by his family after going for a walk in the Flamingo campground area. Ground search teams, K-9 units, dive teams and aircraft were utilized in the search. They focused on the Flamingo campground and the Eco-Pond area. The search area was expanded after no clues or signs of the man were found in the primary search area. A week of intense ground and air searches followed, during which no further information on his location and no further clues were discovered. Aircraft, K-9 units and ground search teams were accordingly released last Friday. Operations continue at this time with specialized teams and local resources. The support of all divisions has been crucial in this search effort. The incident management team extends its thanks to all the park employees who helped with the search. In addition to Everglades staff, employees from Big Cypress NP assisted along with personnel with Miami Dade Fire Rescue, Miami Dade Police Department, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Florida Department of Corrections, Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Miramar Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Miami Dade Emergency Operations Center. [R. Bruce Gantt, SERO] 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/): Fort Pulaski NM - On March 5th, the park presented a living history event to commemorate the adoption of the first Confederate national flag. As part of the fort's ongoing recognition of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, re-enactors lowered the Georgia flag of secession and raised the flag known as the “Stars and Bars.” Everglades NP - The Everglades Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area has installed new exhibits at Big Cypress, Everglades and two other non-NPS sites that encourage viewers to quickly report observations of nonnative plants and animals. Great Smoky Mountains NP - Almost 350 volunteers and Great Smoky Mountains National Park staff got together on the evening of Saturday, March 4th, for the park's annual volunteer recognition banquet at the Park Vista Hotel in Gatlinburg. Photo. * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |