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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, October 23, 2012 INCIDENTS Fires Island NS Two Killed In Small Plane Crash On the afternoon of Saturday, October 20th, rangers heard a report of a plane crash over Suffolk County Police Department's command radio. Rangers Bernie Felix and Steve Olijnyk responded immediately. The plane came down in the middle of Moriches Inlet at the eastern end of the seashore and just inside the park's boundary. The Coast Guard was already on scene when rangers arrived and the plane was completely submerged and upside-down. Witnesses at the scene said that the plane was flying low when it went into the water and that they'd heard the engine sputtering. Volunteer fire department dive teams from the local area soon arrived on scene and attempted to recover the occupants of the plane. Initial efforts were unsuccessful, though, due to strong currents and low visibility. Suffolk County Marine Bureau vessels and divers arrived on scene shortly thereafter and took over recovery operations. The plane and bodies of the two adult male occupants were recovered late that evening. The deaths are being investigated by Suffolk County Police Department and the National Transportation Safety Board. Both men were from Queens; one was 51 and the other 72. The plane, a Globe Swift Aircraft, departed from Spadaro Airport, located in East Moriches. [Lena B. Koschmann, Chief Ranger] Cumberland Gap NHP Rangers Make Two Ginseng Poaching Cases Rangers at Cumberland Gap were able to make ginseng cases against five people in two separate incidents at the end of this year's ginseng season. Ranger Brad Cope was watching a truck at the park boundary on Tuesday, October 16th, when two people walked by on the trail. Just as one of them was advising the other of presence of a ranger vehicle, Cope stepped out and said "Yes, there's a ranger." The two men admitted to digging the 84 ginseng roots in their possession and were cited and released. Ranger Gene Wesloh noticed a suspicious vehicle at a trailhead on Wednesday and by the end of the day had contacted three ginseng poachers with 328 roots totaling almost 3.4 pounds. All three readily confessed and were charged with digging ginseng; one was also charged with possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine). [Dirk Wiley, 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/): Biscayne NP - On October 2nd, Biscayne National Park accepted ownership of the historic Fowey Rocks Lighthouse. The 134-year old cast and wrought iron lighthouse was transferred from the Coast Guard to the National Park Service. Cowpens NB - Cowpens National Battlefield partnered with two other NPS units and Walnut Grove Plantation to present "An Upstate Revolutionary War Weekend" on the first weekend in October. Grand Teton NP - About 50 park employees, family members, and kids participated in an open house and ribbon cutting on October 9th to dedicate the new playground and employee housing complex in Grand Teton National Park. San Juan Islands NHP - Park staff recently participated in two area safety events for children - one an annual safety fair, the other an event in which kids could see and get into emergency vehicles. Midwest Region - Gary Vequist, associate regional director for natural resources stewardship and science for Midwest Region, will be retiring on November 3rd. * * * * The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |