NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

INCIDENTS

New River Gorge NR

Visitor Dies During Boat Trip

A 38-year-old Ohio man died on April 17th while on an afternoon boating trip with friends near Lower Keeney's Creek Rapids on the New River. Prior to his death and after he fell out of his boat and swam upper Railroad Rapids, he'd been complaining to his boating companions that he didn't feel well and that he thought he'd pulled a muscle in his chest. At Lower Keeney's, he fell out of his canoe again and swam the rapid, coming ashore downstream. He motioned to his friends to get help and was seen grabbing at his chest. As his friends went for help, he pulled his canoe out of the river and attempted to climb a steep, boulder-strewn hillside up to some railroad tracks. Meanwhile, his friends ran downstream to the Fayette Station takeout to get to his vehicle. Another friend stayed with him but was across the river and was unable to help. Upon reaching the vehicle, they drove to Fayetteville and eventually activated 911. As darkness fell, rangers, Fayette County Sheriff's Office deputies, and local fire and EMS responded and subsequently launched a ground search for the man that continued through the night and into the next morning. The search was suspended about 2 a.m. on Wednesday due to darkness. The man's friends called rangers two hours later and reported that they'd found him and that he was dead. A few hours later and at daylight, rangers coordinated the recovery effort and established visual contact with the victim soon after arriving back on scene. River rescue rangers rafted and kayaked downstream from Cunard and were guided to the location. They found the man on a large rock on the hillside not far above his canoe. River rangers ferried investigating rangers across the New River, assisted with the scene processing, and then conducted the recovery, which required low-angle, semi-technical rope rigging techniques. The river level at the time was approximately 5,624 cubic feet per second (cfs), or about 2.8 feet above normal summer pool. During the recovery, train traffic on the CSX main line was temporarily suspended for rescuer safety. The man's body has been turned over to the state medical examiner's office. Ranger Randy Fisher is the case ranger for the park and is being assisted by field training ranger Eric Oaks and FTEP trainee Damon Derousse. [Frank Sellers, Park 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/):

Office of Communications - For National Park Week this year, the NPS is featuring park videos specifically created to encourage people to "picture themselves at national parks." Out of 50 park videos that were submitted, 25 were selected to be in the campaign.

National Park Foundation - With children spending less time being active outdoors and school budgets for field trips shrinking, the National Park Foundation is stepping up to help. The foundation's “Ticket To Ride” program has provided Cowpens and several other parks with funds to make park field trips for local students possible.

US Park Police - Seven Park Police officers and a law enforcement ranger found Friday the Thirteenth to be a great day - they completed one of the Service's most challenging training programs.

Golden Gate NRA - Marybeth McFarland, a supervisory park ranger at Golden Gate NRA, will retire on April 30th after 31 years with the National Park Service.

* * * *

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).

--- ### ---