NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

INCIDENTS

Jean Lafitte NHP&P

Major Search Underway For Missing South American Dignitary

A New Orleans-based taxicab transported F.P., the 65-year-old president of ICESI University in Cali, Colombia, from his hotel in New Orleans to Barataria Preserve late on the afternoon of Saturday, May 21st, so that he could photograph birdlife in the park. When F.P. failed to return in a timely manner from a walk along the Plantation Trail in the Pecan Grove section of the preserve, the driver became concerned and sought out park rangers. Rangers Michael Callais, Andrew Brady and Karl Carlson were contacted and conducted an initial search, which proved fruitless. Off-duty supervisory rangers Georgia Shaw and John Hughes were then called in to assist along with four officers and a dog from the Jefferson Parrish Sheriff's Department. The search has since escalated, with the Intermountain All Risk Incident Management Team (Rick Mossman, IC) called in to manage the operation. Team members began arriving yesterday and a unified command is being established to continue the search, which is being supported by local agencies, including the Jefferson and St. Charles Parrish Sheriff's Departments and the Lafitte Fire Department. Helicopters, airboats and various off-road vehicles are being employed. Media interest has been very high from both local networks and Latin American media outlets. The park has accordingly brought in a Spanish-speaking PIO to assist in the operation. [Linda Friar, Public Information Officer]

Chattahoochee River NRA

Fisherman Drowns In Chattahoochee River

A visitor reported a body floating near the center of the river on the evening of Saturday, May 14th. Supervisory park ranger Will Overton and local EMS personnel responded and recovered the body of S.D.S., 51, of Gwinnett County, Georgia. S.D.S. had apparently been fishing in the river. Although other fishermen were nearby at the time, none saw him go under. An investigation is underway. This was the second drowning in less than a month in the Chattahoochee River. On April 13th, a 62-year-old man from Oregon died while kayaking the river with a friend. [Nancy Walther]

C&O Canal NHP

Man Convicted Of Burglary Of Park Neighbor's Residence

On May 3rd, W.A. was found guilty of three counts of burglary and one count of malicious destruction in a jury trial in circuit court in Washington County, Maryland, and sentenced to ten years in prison. The charges stemmed from W.A.'s arrest in the park on outstanding felony warrants last October. During the arrest and related inventory of W.A.'s property, evidence was gathered to charge him with burglary for the forced entry and theft of items from the residence of park neighbor. Rangers Dan Johnston and Martin Gallery were the arresting officers and testified at the jury trial. [Brad Clawson, 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/):

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - The Atlantic basin is expected to see an above-normal hurricane season this year, according to the seasonal outlook issued by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

Public Health Service - The NPS Office of Public Health is offering inaugural micro grants to parks to organize inter-disciplinary, modern-day “Mather hikes” - hikes similar to those once offered by Stephen Mather - that will help improve the health of our nation. Applications are due by July 1st.

Office of International Affairs - May 19th marked the 100th anniversary of the creation of Parks Canada, the world's first national park agency. Photo.

Hot Springs NP - Richard “Dale” Moss, former assistant superintendent at Hot Springs National Park, passed away on May 13th. He was 72. 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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