NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

INCIDENTS

Mount Rainier NP

Support Pours In For Anderson Family, Park Staff

Family and park staff are receiving an overwhelming outpouring of support in the aftermath of the horrific events surrounding the fatal shooting of Ranger Margaret Anderson. The support of park employees and Margaret's family is now the primary focus of park management. Several teams have been brought in to provide assistance and relief to park staff - a CISM team of six lead by Dirk Wiley, SETT Team 3, and the Western IMT lead by Denny Ziemann and Kevin Killian. Additional staff and resources from several national parks and agencies continue to provide assistance. The park continues to work with the FBI and Pierce County Sheriff's Department on the investigation into the incident. The park is reopening to the public on Saturday, January 7th, after remaining closed since the day of the shooting. The park family is using the time during the closure to begin the recovery. Plans for a memorial service next week are underway with the date to be determined. The family is requesting donations to the Margaret Anderson Fund.KeyBank in lieu of flowers. Additional details will be provided on specifics of making donations as soon as it is available. [Patti Wold, PIO, Western Incident Management Team]

Blue Ridge Parkway

Man Jumps To His Death From Parkway Bridge

On December 27th, rangers were notified of a person standing on the French Broad River Bridge, threatening to jump. Visitors traveling southbound along the bridge saw a man standing mid-span on the bridge with one leg over the railing, but he was not there when they turned around and again crossed the bridge. A ground and air search of the area was conducted, but no body was found. Since it was night and the weather was deteriorating, with cold temperatures and snow, the search was suspended until the following morning. Efforts to locate him that day were also fruitless. On December 31st, duck hunters found a man's body in the trees along the river on Biltmore Estate property. The victim matched the description of the man who'd been seen on the bridge on the 27th. He was subsequently identified as a 51-year-old man from Brevard, North Carolina. Investigation revealed that he'd hired a cab to drop him off on the parkway not far from the bridge. Rangers also learned that he was suffering from some medical issues. [Tim Francis, Pisgah District Ranger]

New River Gorge NR

Body Of Suicide Victim Found Below Bridge

Fayette County Sheriff's Department deputies responded to a report of a vehicle parked on the New River Gorge Bridge on the night of December 29th. The vehicle was unoccupied with no one around. Suspecting a possible suicide jump, deputies conducted a hasty search and notified rangers. Rangers coordinated with deputies and detectives and assisted with the search. Shortly after arriving on scene, the body of a 33-year-old California man was found on the roadway under the bridge. It was recovered and turned over to the state medical examiner's office. Stan Wilson is the investigating ranger for the park. [J. M. Cawiezel, Acting Chief 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/):

John Muir NHS - The park and several partners recently hosted a phenology monitoring workshop for the local public and staff. The event marked the beginning of a pilot project to monitor plant phenology - the timing of seasonal biological events - and to engage local citizen scientists.

Information Resources - Bud McDonald, chief of the Operation Services Division for Information Resources, retired on December 31st following 29 years with the National Park Service.

Intermountain Regional Office - Bruce Keller, line item construction program lead for Intermountain Regional Office, retired on December 31st after 36 years with the NPS.

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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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