NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, April 28, 2011

INCIDENTS

Grand Canyon NP

Driver Survives Car's 200-Foot Plunge Over Rim

On the evening of Monday, April 26th, a visitor reported finding an injured man in the roadway on Desert View Drive near Twin Overlooks on the South Rim. The injured man told the visitor that he had accidently driven his vehicle over the canyon rim. Responding rangers found the reporting party and the driver of the vehicle near Twin Overlooks. The 21-year old male driver told them that he had extricated himself from the car, climbed up to the rim, and flagged down a passing motorist. He was treated at the scene and then taken by ambulance to Flagstaff Medical Center. Rangers found the vehicle about 200 feet below the rim the next morning, lodged against a tree. A plan is being developed to remove it in the near future. An investigation is underway. [Maureen Oltrogge, Public Affairs Officer]

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Former Seasonal Sentenced For Poaching In Park

A former Great Smokies seasonal employee has been sentenced in federal court in Kentucky for taking a deer and a bear in the park while working there in 2009. J.T., 25, pled guilty in April to three counts of violating the Lacey Act by unlawfully transporting taken wildlife - specifically, a black bear skin and an eight-point set of antlers - from the park to his home in Edmonson County, Kentucky. He admitted that he'd shot the animals while working in the park. J.T. also aided and abetted the fraudulent use of a social security number to obtain a “confirmation number” from the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources for the deer he killed in the park. Following a plea agreement, he was ordered to pay $3,000 in fines and restitution and was banned from hunting or accompanying anyone while hunting anywhere in the world for two years. The case was investigated by the National Park Service, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. [Stephanie Collins, Department of Justice]

Cuyahoga Valley NP

Suicide Victim Found By Rangers

On the afternoon of April 21st, Boston Heights Police Department notified the park of a vehicle left unattended for more than 24 hours on Boston Mills Road. Investigation by NPS rangers led to the discovery of the body of a 30-year-old woman with a rope around her neck hanging from a branch of a tree in a wooded area near the bottom of a ravine north of the parking lot. She had no signs of life. The Summit County medical examiner responded to the scene shortly after the discovery and determined that the death was a probable suicide. Carl Dyer, the park's law enforcement specialist, is investigating along with the medical examiner's office. [Chris Ryan, 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/):

Martin Luther King, Jr. NHS - Secretary Salazar and Director Jarvis joined a host of dignitaries at a mid-April ceremony celebrating the completion of the restoration of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Civil War Sesquicentennial - Eastern National is offering all NPS employees and parks a 25% discount on The Civil War Remembered, the new NPS handbook on the Civil War.

Intermountain Region - Rena Fugate, a ten-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been named the associate regional director for business and technology for Intermountain Region. Photo.

Intermountain Region - Janet Wise, Intermountain Region's climate change coordinator, has retired after a 20-year career with the National Park Service. 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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