NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

INCIDENTS

New River Gorge NR

Ranger Successfully Intervenes In Planned Suicide

Ranger Randy Fisher recently responded to a report of a vehicle parked on the side of the road on the north end of the New River Gorge Bridge. When Fisher contacted the driver, he noticed a pill container, cell phone, and pen and paper on the passenger side front seat. He also noticed that the paper had writing on it that filled most of the page. Fisher has had four previous successful suicide interdictions on the 867-foot-high bridge, which is a common location for suicide attempts. Fisher's experience led him into a conversation with the driver, during which he was able to learn that the man was going through some hard times. The man voluntarily gave Fisher his note, which described a family crisis that he was involved with. Fisher was able to help him understand that there was help available, and the man decided to try a voluntary committal for mental health. General Ambulance arrived on scene and he was transferred to a local hospital along with the note and his pill container, which contained prescribed hydrocodone. Ranger Tim Swicegood assisted. [Jeff West, Chief Ranger]

Gila Cliff Dwellings NM

Part Of Park To Close Due To Road Repairs

The park's Cliff Dwellings Unit will be closed from tomorrow until a planned reopening on Thanksgiving Day, November 24th. The park visitor center, though, will remain open during the entire period. The closure is due to major repairs scheduled for the West Fork Bridge on New Mexico Highway 15 a mile south of the park. The north approach to the bridge was damaged by flooding in 2008 and again in 2010. After the road reopens, there may be brief closures of the roadway due to continued construction activities on the abutments on both ends of the bridge. To allow visitors a unique experience during this closure, guided tours will be available at no cost at the TJ Site. Tours of the TJ Site will provide visitors the opportunity to examine the above-ground evidence of an unexcavated Classic Mimbres pueblo with more than 200 rooms located just east of the visitor center. [Steve Riley, Superintendent]

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/):

Office of Communications - Director Jarvis led a tour of Everglades National Park as part of the 21st Annual Society of Environmental Journalists Conference that concluded Sunday in Miami, taking the writers into the knee deep waters of the River of Grass to see wading birds, alligators, crocodiles, Burmese pythons and more.

Pacific West Region - Uwe Nehring, a supervisory park ranger at Mount Rainier, has been selected as the recipient of Pacific West Region's Harry Yount Award. Photo.

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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).

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