NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

INCIDENTS

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Search In Progress For Missing Hiker

About 30 people are involved in a search for D.L., 24, of Louisville, Tennessee, who has been missing since last Thursday. D.L.'s car was found on Saturday morning at the Newfound Gap parking area in the middle of the park. On Saturday and Sunday, rangers hiked over 40 miles of trails that radiate out from Newfound Gap, looking for signs of D.L. and interviewing hikers they encountered to see if anybody had met him, but without success. Search managers now believe that he's off-trail if he is still in the park. Three search dog teams combed the woods yesterday along the Appalachian Trail and along an old, abandoned section of U.S. 441 that leaves the parking lot southbound. A Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter has been assigned to search the area from the air. Searchers from Blue Ridge Parkway have joined Great Smokies staff in the effort. Cherokee Tribal EMS has a unit on scene, and three dog teams - two from the North Carolina Search and Rescue Dog Association and the third from the South Carolina Search and Rescue Dog Association - are also supporting the operation. Rangers have also considered that D.L. may have left the park and are asking anybody who may have seen him since Saturday to contact the park at (865) 436-1230. [Bob Miller, Management Assistant]

Organ Pipe Cactus NM

Two Groups Of Smugglers Arrested In One Week

Rangers intercepted two groups of smugglers within a week's time this month. The successful operations confirmed the park's joint strategy with the Border Patrol to aggressively respond to illegal activity near important park visitor use locations. As a result, they have pushed cross-border smugglers into territory away from one of the park's most popular spots for bird-watching and viewing of spring wildflowers. As recently as six months ago, lower reaches of Alamo Canyon were being used as illegal alien and narcotics smuggling routes. Joint efforts by NPS rangers and Border Patrol agents focused on putting remote sensors in place and stepping up responses to illegal activity there. On March 8th, rangers responded to NPS ground sensor transmissions and arrested 13 suspects and seized 529 pounds of marijuana. With help from Border Patrol agents, the rangers secured the suspects, documented evidence in the field, and walked them more than a mile out of the backcountry to Alamo Canyon Campground. They were then processed at the Border Patrol's Ajo Station north of the park and interviewed by special agents from the NPS and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), formerly known as Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Eleven of the 13 suspects were turned over for prosecution by the US Attorney's Office. On March 15th, just a week later, four suspected smugglers were arrested in the same area, confirming the park's assessment that smugglers are moving out of the part of Alamo Canyon used by visitors. Such targeted enforcement actions enhance visitor and employee safety in the areas of the monument open to the public. [Matt Vandzura, 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/):

Death Valley NP - Hundreds of people descended on Death Valley for the first ever “Mars and the Mojave Festival” on the second weekend of March. The event, which celebrated similarities between the Mojave Desert landscape and the Red Planet, was hosted by NASA and the NPS.

Office of Policy - Director Jarvis has approved a policy memorandum regarding the National Heritage Areas program. The purpose of the memorandum is to affirm the Service's support for the program and encourage NPS managers to help these areas succeed.

Climate Change Response Program - The January/February 2012 Climate Change Response Program's newsletter is now available. A link is provided.

Fire and Aviation Management - Claire Scolnick, fire program management assistant at Grand Teton National Park, is the recipient of the 2011 Jeanie Harris Award.

* * * *

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).

--- ### ---