NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, December 10, 2012

INCIDENTS

Eastern Areas

HPTC Trainees Assist In Hurricane Recovery Operations

Employees from all over the National Park Service are part of the response to Hurricane Sandy. Among them are four trainees from the Service's Historic Preservation Training Center, who are currently working on the bathhouse at Jacob Riis Park within Gateway NRA, restoring the facility.

The trainees - exhibit specialist trainee and project manager Trevor Thomas, exhibit specialist trainee Mike Owens, work leader Tom Valentine, and staff carpenter Brian Crampton - are currently boarding up missing windows and doors to improve the building's security. They have also framed-in the stairwell and installed a locking door to secure the second floor lifeguard office and have stabilized damaged walls. Their long-term goal is to evaluate damage at parks affected by Hurricane Sandy and help develop a long-term rehabilitation plan.

Along with a three-year training program for NPS exhibit and preservation specialists, the Historic Preservation Training Center rehabilitates NPS, federal, state, and locally-owned historic properties and holds extensive outreach training programs aimed at building the skills of personnel responsible for the maintenance and preservation of historic properties.

More information on the response can be found at these websites:

Hurricane response and recovery - A HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=1168&lv=3" webpage with current information on the NPS response to Hurricane Sandy.

Resource needs shopping list - A HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=1168&id=10935" ”shopping list” HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/documents/SHOPPING%20LIST%2011-5.pdf" of incident management team positions that still need to be filled, updated daily.

Hurricane Sandy relief fund - E&AA has set up a HYPERLINK "http://www.eparks.com/_" relief fund web page where you can make donations in support of employees who were affected by the storm.

Facebook - A HYPERLINK "https://www.facebook.com/HurricaneResponseNPS" Facebook page managed by the IMT with updates on the response.

Twitter - A HYPERLINK "http://mobile.twitter.com/NPS_Sandy?" Twitter page managed by the IMT with updates on the response.

Flickr - A HYPERLINK "http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandyresponsenps/sets/72157631954446291/" Flickr page managed by the IMT with images of the response.

[Warren Bielenberg, Incident Information Officer]

El Malpais NM

Homicide Victim Found In Park

On December 1st, rangers were notified of a homicide that had occurred within the park's boundaries. The victim had been shot on a park trail and dropped 150 feet into a collapsed lava tube. The initial investigation by the Grants Police Department led to the identification of two suspects in the local area. They were brought in for questioning and one admitted to the crime and gave information that led to the location of the victim. New Mexico State Police assisted with the investigation and crime scene processing. The New Mexico State Police tactical team and NPS rangers worked together to safely recover the victim via a Tyrolean traverse and ascending and descending systems. New Mexico State Police are the lead investigators for this incident. [Dana Sullivan, 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/):

Olympic NP - Rain continued to fall on the Olympic Peninsula all last week, swelling the now free-flowing Elwha River and moving even more sediment downstream and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The high flows and high turbidity are bringing dramatic changes to the Elwha.

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings, newly introduced bills, and the status of legislation of interest to the National Park Service. This report covers the week ending on Friday, December 7th.

Office of Communications - David Barna, chief spokesman for the National Park Service, will retire on February 1st following 38 years of federal service.

Lake Mead NRA - Gordon Olson, chief of the Division of Resource Management at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, will retire on December 15th after more than 35 years with the National Park Service.

Northeast Region - Doug Wallner, fire management officer for Northeast Region, will be retiring December 31st with close to 34 years of federal service, nearly all with the National Park Service.

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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).

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