NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, September 12, 2011

INCIDENTS

Eastern Areas

Regional IMT's Demobilize From Recovery Operations

The Midwest IMT (Jim Hummel, IC) and the Eastern IMT (Zeph Cunningham, IC) have demobilized, respectively, from recovery operations at Cape Lookout and the Outer Banks Group. The Eastern IMT has filed one last report, the highlights of which follow:

One assessment team member will remain at the incident command post to work on damage assessment project statements and contract documents.

Protection rangers on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands have returned to normal duties. Ocracoke rangers will resume delivery of ORV permits; Bodie rangers will continue to assist the North Carolina Highway Patrol with traffic control at the checkpoint on heavily damaged NC Highway 12. Rangers will post “No Vehicle” signs and establish ORV routes on beach areas parkwide, and will also continue beach patrols and contact all visitors to inform them about high surf and rip tide warnings in effect.

Maintenance in all groups will be returning to normal operations.

The saw crew will complete hazard tree removal operations at Fort Raleigh with Genie operations for overhead hazards.

A park Type 3 IMT (Jon Anglin, IC) has assumed responsibilities for further cleanup operations. [Bill Halainen, Editor]

C&O Canal NHP

Flashfloods Lead To Area Closures

Heavy rains caused flash flooding on Friday that led to a number of closures throughout the park:

The entrance road to Great Falls closed for the day, but was expected to reopen on Saturday.

The visitor center was also expected to reopen on Saturday, but boat operations will not resume until canal conditions upstream are evaluated.

The Gold Mine, Ford Mine and Billy Goat Trails are closed due to high water and severe erosion.

Parking areas and towpath access at Pennyfield Lock, Rileys Lock and Viollettes Lock are closed until damage assessments can be completed and the areas are determined safe for visitor use.

Boat ramps throughout the park are open but will be silt covered as the Potomac River recedes. Towpaths have also been scored in some areas, and downed trees have created unsafe conditions throughout the park. For more information on park conditions, go to HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/closures.htm" http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/closures.htm . [Brad Clawson and Peggie Gaul]

Everglades NP

Search For Missing Visitor Terminated

The search for visitor J.O. has concluded with the park officially declaring him as missing and transferring the case to other law enforcement authorities. After a week of searching in the park and investigating clues from the search and those provided by the public, J.O.'s whereabouts remains unknown. The search, which involved 45 staff from several agencies, three dog units and two helicopters, began on August 30th when rangers on routine patrol noticed that a vehicle that had been parked at the Pine Glades lake area for a number of days had not been moved. Rangers ran a vehicle check on the 1998 green Isuzu pickup, which had a Texas license tag, and contacted the vehicle owner of record, T.O., who identified the current operator of the vehicle as his son, 23-year-old Ja.O.. Further investigation determined that Ja.O. had entered the park on August 24th. Anyone who may have seen J.O. while visiting the park or who might have other information as to his whereabouts is requested to contact park dispatch at 305-242-7740. [Linda Friar, Public Information Specialist]

Rocky Mountain NP

Ailing Visitor Rescued From Lake Haiyaha

On Thursday, September 8th, a 65-year-old visitor from Tulsa, Oklahoma, had a medical emergency that caused him to collapse and fall on rocks and then roll in to Lake Haiyaha. A family member and other visitors were able to pull him out of the water. Park dispatch was notified of the incident just before noon by a visitor who had climbed to a spot where a cell phone connection could be made. A park trail crew was working in the area and reached the man within minutes. Other park staff in the area also assisted. Two rangers reached the scene around 1 p.m. and provided advanced medical care. A litter team comprised of park staff brought the man down the trail to the Bear Lake parking area. As the rescue progressed, the man's condition continued to improve. He was taken by Estes Park Medical Center ambulance to the Glacier Basin campground, where he was flown by AirLife of Denver to Swedish Medical Center. Eighteen park staff were involved in the field on this rescue. Lake Haiyaha is just over two miles from the Bear Lake 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/):

Flight 93 NM - The permanent Flight 93 Memorial was dedicated and opened to the public for the first time on Saturday, with the passengers and crew of the doomed airliner remembered during Sunday's tenth commemorative service. President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and former presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton were among the dignitaries who participated in the weekend's events.

Olympic NP - A proclamation signed last Thursday names this week “Celebrate Elwha River Restoration Week” in the state of Washington. Removal of the Elwha Dam and restoration of the river will officially begin this coming Saturday. Photo.

Workplace Enrichment - The newest article in the "From Where I Sit" leadership and management series has been posted. Superintendent Stan Austin shares his thoughts on employee development. Photo.

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - Today's legislative summary includes a half dozen new bills of interest to the Service and a report on a hearing on two bills pertain to recreational fishing, hunting and shooting on federal public lands.

NPS Alumni - James Askins, 79, founder of the Service's Historic Preservation Training Center, died on Tuesday, September 6th, following a lengthy battle with cancer. Photo.

* * * *

The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

--- ### ---