|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, July 29, 2011 INCIDENTS Jean Lafitte NHP&P Man Arrested For Drug Trafficking Ranger Karl Carlson was returning to park headquarters in his fully-marked patrol car on the afternoon of June 18th when he found a grey Mercury Cougar parked in the spot in front of park headquarters that's designated “NPS Law Enforcement Only.” Carlson pulled behind the Cougar and waited for the driver to pull away, as Carlson assumed that he'd seen his patrol car. The driver made no effort to leave, though, and in a few minutes was joined by a man who entered the Cougar's passenger side and closed the door. The car remained parked in spot reserved for the patrol vehicle. Carlson got out and approached the Cougar from the passenger side, witnessing what appeared to be a drug transaction in progress and watched it continue for about 20 seconds. The passenger, later identified as R.V., then saw Carlson and began attempting to hide the evidence. Carlson immediately arrested both occupants and put them in handcuffs. A search of the Cougar led to the discovery of money and sandwich bags containing Xanax pills. R.V. later told Carlson that he was selling the pills to cover his child support payments. He was charged with felony trafficking of a controlled substance. After the investigation was complete, the driver of the vehicle was released and warned not to park in a restricted area. [John Hughes, Chief Ranger] Mount Rainier NP Rangers Conduct Technical Rescue Of Injured Climber On the afternoon of Sunday, July 24th, park dispatch received an emergency PLB (personal locator beacon) signal from a party climbing high on the Kautz Glacier route on Mt. Rainier. After determining the location of the signal, climbing rangers from Camp Muir responded on foot to find a visitor with a probable fractured tibia/fibula. The climber was injured after hitting a rock while glissading down a steep snow slope. A team of ten rescuers worked throughout the night to evacuate the injured climber across three miles of steep and glaciated terrain. The rescue required complex rigging techniques to complete nearly 2000 feet of roped lowering. After reaching the lower Nisqually Glacier, the team was met by seven additional rangers from Paradise who assisted with a technical hauling system and the remainder of the evacuation to the trailhead. The rescue effort lasted 19 hours from the time the initial call was received. Technical evacuations of this length and complexity are infrequent but provide a valuable opportunity for rangers from several districts to work together. [R. Chuck Young, Chief Ranger] Blue Ridge Parkway Wreck Found Below Parkway With Driver's Body Inside Ranger Miranda Cook investigated a report of a vehicle below the parkway on the afternoon of July 22nd. She found the body of a 69-year-old man inside the vehicle. Evidence at the scene indicates that his vehicle left the parkway, travelled 135 feet downhill, and struck a tree. The medical examiner has ruled the cause of death to have been blunt force trauma. The man was last seen the previous evening at his home. [Kurt W. Speers, Ridge District 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/): Yosemite NP - The park dedicated a new photovoltaic system at the El Portal complex on Wednesday. The 672 kilowatt system contains 2,800 solar panels and is the largest NPS-managed photovoltaic project within the Pacific West Region and the largest grid-connected photovoltaic system owned and operated by the NPS. Office of Communications - More than $1.2 million in National Park Service grants have been awarded to help preserve and protect America's significant battlefield lands. A list of recipients is included. Midwest Region - Midwest Region recently entered into a $3.97 million interagency agreement with EPA to take part in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the second year of an unprecedented Federal investment in the health of the Great Lakes. Photo. Canyonlands NP - Longtime NPS VIP Bud Turner died suddenly on July 26th while vacationing in California with his wife, Southeast Utah Group cultural resources program manager Chris Goetze. Photo. Servicewide Training Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses and conferences across the nation, plus online training. Added to this week's calendar are the following - three new Fundamentals V offerings this coming fall, a third one-day workshop (this one on oral histories) before the ANPR rendezvous/conference in October, and two online firefighter and law enforcement officer retirement training courses. * * * * 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). --- ### --- |