NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, March 21, 2011

INCIDENTS

Grand Canyon NP

Search Continues For Missing Aircraft And Pilot

The park is continuing to search approximately 600 square miles of rugged backcountry for a possible downed plane. The red, RV-6 homebuilt experimental aircraft and its pilot - 47-year-old J.R. of Glendale, Arizona - were last seen on Friday, March 11th, and an ELT signal was detected two days later approximately 30 miles northwest of Grand Canyon Village in the vicinity of Fossil Corridor. A search has been underway since then. The NPS has used both a fixed-wing airplane and helicopter in search efforts over the last several days, but no signs of either J.R. or the plane have been found. The National Park Service is leading joint search operations, which are being conducted with the Coconino County Sheriff's Office. Both agencies are grateful to the Civil Air Patrol for its invaluable assistance with investigations, including radar and ELT analyses. [Maureen Oltrogge and Shannan Marcak, Public Affairs Officers]

Big Bend National Park

Rangers Seize More Than A Ton Of Marijuana

Park dispatch received a report of a broken down pickup truck on Black Gap Road around 5 p.m. on March 12th. The seldom-used road, which is an unmaintained 4x4 high clearance route, is in one of the more rugged and remote backcountry areas of the park. When the first ranger arrived on scene, he discovered that the truck was hauling a large quantity of marijuana and that it appeared to have been abandoned - it was off to the side of the road and likely broken down. Most of the marijuana was completely sealed and encased inside heavy steel blocks, more commonly used to smuggle drugs inside fuel tanks.  The blocks were in the bed of the truck and the back seat. DEA was called to come retrieve the drugs and truck and they arrived at 10 p.m. After the blocks were off-loaded, rangers discovered that the entire truck frame was packed with numerous bricks of marijuana. It therefore could not be left on site to be recovered later. Rangers worked throughout the night to remove the vehicle and have it towed out of the rugged backcountry. During daylight hours, it was determined that the truck's occupants had walked 20 miles south back to Mexico via Glen Spring Draw. The final weight of the marijuana recovered was 2,179 pounds. [Allen Etheridge, Chief 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/):

Hawaii Volcanoes NP - While the recent display of lava fountains and flows on Kilauea's east rift garnered worldwide attention, not to be overlooked is the volcano's “other eruption.” This past Saturday marked the third anniversary of the ongoing eruption within Halema‘uma‘u Crater at the summit of Kilauea Volcano.

Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the NPS. Today's summary contains seven newly introduced bills, including bills that would authorize new area studies and the establishment of a Civil War sesquicentennial commission.

Northeast Region - Gay E. Vietzke has been selected as Northeast Region's deputy regional director for park operations. She will assume her duties on April 10th. Photo.

Fire and Aviation Management - Cindy Ramsay, fire program management assistant at Mesa Verde National Park, has received the 2010 Jeanie Harris Award. 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 Communications and 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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