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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Monday, June 6, 2011 INCIDENTS Buffalo NR Body Of Drowning Victim Recovered The body of a missing 21-year-old Wisconsin man was recovered from the Buffalo River on the evening of Saturday, May 28th, concluding a joint search effort of dozens of agencies that spanned five days. The search began on the evening of Tuesday, May 24th, when Midwest Region Ozark Communications Center dispatch received a report that the man had disappeared after attempting to swim across the rain-swollen river (then flowing at 3,400 cubic feet per second) in the Blue Hole area of the Upper Buffalo District. An eyewitness in his party told rangers that she saw him struggle, disappear underwater, reappear unresponsive on the surface, and then get swept around a bend by the swift current. Park staff responded along with personnel from Newton and Boone County Sheriff's Offices, a dozen volunteer fire departments, two dive rescue teams, several neighboring county and volunteer SAR teams, the Harrison Fire Department's swiftwater rescue team, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Arkansas State Police, North Arkansas Regional Medical Center, and numerous local private citizens. Tactics included surface searches from paddle craft and motorboats, dog teams, dive operations, overflights, sonar and underwater sweeps, ground searches of shorelines and previously inundated islands, and multiple boat-supported dragging operations. Over the course of the search, the water level of the river dropped and its clarity and visibility increased, which enabled a team of five to see the victim lodged under a mid-channel strainer in waist-deep water near a large island a half-mile downstream of the point last seen. [Kevin Moses, Acting Chief Ranger] Chattahoochee River NRA Young Girl Drowns In River, Two Others Rescued Three young people - a nine-year-old girl, a twelve-year-old boy, and a 19-year-old girl - were reported missing on the north section of the Chattahoochee River early on Friday afternoon. They were all floating down the river in tubes of various types. The body of the youngest girl was subsequently recovered, and her two companions were found, both seriously injured and hypothermic. They were taken to an area hospital. Personnel responded from all area counties, the Georgia highway patrol and DNR, the Army Corps of Engineers, and several swiftwater rescue and dive teams. [Patty Wissinger, Superintendent] Springfield Armory NHS Park Closes Temporarily Due To Nearby Tornado Impacts On Wednesday, June 1st, at least one tornado touched down in the city of Springfield and surrounding communities. The funnel passed just to the south of Springfield Armory National Historic Site, sparing it from any damage. Due to the ongoing cleanup and traffic issues throughout the city and along the main entrance route to the park up State Street, though, the park was closed throughout the weekend. Plans are to resume normal operations this morning. [Michael Quijano-West, Superintendent] Rocky Mountain NP Man Seriously Injured In Fall Evacuated From Ouzel Falls A visitor contacted a trail crew working near Calypso Cascades in the Wild Basin area last Thursday afternoon and reported that a 53-year-old man had fallen near Ouzel Falls and was seriously injured. The trail crew was on scene within 30 minutes and found a visitor assisting the injured man. A park medic arrived about two hours later and found that the man had suffered numerous traumatic injuries and needed advanced life support. A team of 20 rangers and trail crew members, assisted by seven Rocky Mountain Rescue volunteers, brought the man down through deep snow on a rescue toboggan and then employed a wheeled litter to traverse the lower section of the trail. The man was taken by ambulance to Estes Park Medical Center. While the cause of this accident is still under investigation, backcountry users have been advised to be aware of the unusually deep snow and high water in the backcountry, which are creating additional early season hazards that must be accounted for when travelling beyond the trailhead. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Specialist] 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/): Department of the Interior - On Friday, the Department of Interior announced the designation of 41 trails in 17 states as new National Recreation Trails, adding almost 650 miles of trails to the National Trails System. Dinosaur NM - Dinosaur National Monument sponsored a swiftwater rescue course on the Green River from May 2nd through May 6th. Photo. Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the NPS. Included in this week's summary are two new bills and an upcoming committee oversight hearing on NAGPRA. Women's Rights NHP - Tammy Duchesne has been selected as the new superintendent of Women's Rights National Historical Park. She replaces Tina Orcutt, who recently was named superintendent of Fort McHenry and Hampton. Photo. Intermountain Region - Cathy Lopez, the administrative officer at Petroglyph National Monument, will retire in early July. 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). --- ### --- |