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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, November 8, 2011 INCIDENTS Great Smoky Mountains NP Pursuit Ends Through Deployment Of Stop Sticks On the morning of Wednesday, November 2nd, supervisory park ranger Bobby Fleming contacted a man in a parked vehicle in the Chimneys picnic area. While talking to the man, Fleming saw drug paraphernalia in plain view and ordered the man out of his vehicle. He refused to do so and instead fled at a high rate of speed. A pursuit ensued down Newfound Gap Road and north toward park headquarters and Sugarland Visitor Center. Gatlinburg PD officers and district ranger Steve Kloster joined the chase. Kloster placed stop sticks on the highway just south of the Little River Road - New Found Gap Road intersection. The man swerved onto the shoulder, but the stop sticks still caught and flattened his left front and rear tires, which began to shred. He continued driving on the rims for another mile before stopping. He was taken into custody without incident. Several charges were filed and others are pending. For several years, the park has prepositioned stop sticks at its three main entrances; in 2011, the park purchased more of them for patrol vehicles and ranger stations. In this incident the stop sticks were critical in ending the pursuit quickly without a motor vehicle accident or injuries to anyone involved. [Steve Kloster, Tennessee 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/): Department of the Interior - An agreement was signed yesterday that paves the way for the establishment of Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park as the nation's 397th national park. Park Facility Management Division - The National Park Foundation is seeking applications for the 2012 Transportation Scholars in the Parks program. Parks must submit grant applications by no later than November 18th. Big Cypress NP - Over the next few weeks, Wolf Trap National Park For the Performing Arts, The Wolf Trap Foundation, The David Parsons Dance Company and a film crew from Blue Land Media will be using the South Florida National Parks as a backdrop for the next “Face of America” dance production. San Juan Island NHP - Former NPS ranger Darlene Wahl passed away last Friday following a long fight with cancer. Cultural Resources - Kevin J. Foster, historian and coordinator of the Service's National Maritime Heritage Program, retired on September 30th. * * * * 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). --- ### --- |