NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, November 3, 2011

INCIDENTS

Joshua Tree NP

Pinto Basin Road, Other Facilities Reopen

The park continues to recover from the torrential rains and severe flooding that seriously damaged the park on September 13th. Park Route 11, the Pinto Basin Road, was reopened for visitor use on Tuesday. The Cottonwood Visitor Center also reopened. The Cottonwood Campground and Cottonwood Springs Oasis will remain closed, though, as repairs to the campground and area trails have not yet been completed. Other visitor facilities that reopened on Tuesday included the following four-wheel drive roads that intersect the Pinto Basin Road - Old Dale Road (from Route 11 north to the park boundary), Black Eagle Mine Road (from Route 11 east to the park boundary), and Pinkham/Thermal Canyon Roads (from Route 11 southwest to the park boundary). Two self-guided natural trails, the Botanical Nature Trail located adjacent to the visitor center and the Bajada Nature Trail near the park's south boundary just north of Interstate 10, have also reopened for public use. The Pinto Basin Road is open for two-lane travel along its entire length, but several short unpaved sections remain where travelers should reduce speeds and exercise caution. For further information about Joshua Tree National Park facilities and services, the public can call 760-367-5500, or visit the park's website at: HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/jotr_" www.nps.gov/jotr. [Joe Zarki, Public Information Officer]

Morristown NHP

October Snowstorm Inflicts Serious Tree Damage On Park

Park staff continue to remove hundreds of downed trees, limbs and large tree branches throughout the park following the record-breaking snowstorm that hit the Northeast on Saturday, October 29th. The effects of the unusual fall snowstorm, with its very wet, heavy snow, were compounded by the fact that many leaves still remained on the trees in the mostly-wooded park. Since Sunday, crews have been working to restore the park to normal operations. Roads, over 27 miles of hiking trails, and developed grounds were all littered with trees. Electricians from Gateway will assist Morristown later this week in restoring downed lines for a critical housing generator at the Cross Estate section of the park. [Anne DeGraaf, Management Assistant]

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/):

Gateway NRA - Gateway NRA has given visitors a new reason to come to New York City - to go camping. Since the Fourth of July weekend, almost 1,500 visitors have pitched their tents or parked their RVs overnight at Floyd Bennett Field, a former municipal airport and Naval Air Reserve training station in the park and on the edges of Brooklyn.

Denver Service Center - In FY 2011, Denver Service Center successfully managed $1.8 billion in project work -- the highest volume of project work in its history.

Office of Communications - The White House Council on Environmental Quality has announced the winners of the 2011 GreenGov Presidential Awards for exceptional efforts to promote sustainability in agency operations. Grand Canyon's "Green Team" was one of the recipients.

Mississippi NR&RA - The 50,000th student boarded the riverboat Anson Northrup in late September for a “Big River Journey” to learn about the science, heritage, and stewardship of the Mississippi River.

NPS Alumni - Family, friends and previous coworkers are mourning the death of retired ranger William A. Larson, who passed away at the age of 67 on Sunday, October 2nd.

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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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