NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, April 25, 2013

INCIDENTS

Capitol Reef NP

Stranded Scout Group Members Rescued From Slot Canyon

During the early morning hours of Sunday, April 21st, rangers and Wayne County Sheriff's Department officers responded to a call of stranded canyoneers in the Pandora's Box slot canyon. The group, consisting of nine Boy Scouts and leaders from Manti, Utah, dropped into the canyon at noon on Saturday. After completing about half of the canyon route, they concluded that one member was too exhausted to continue and that another member was too large to squeeze through the narrow slot sections ahead.  Five of nine members of the party were able to complete the route, but had taken the group's ropes and other equipment to do so. At daylight on Sunday, the Wayne County Search and Rescue Team was flown to the rim using a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter.  Once there, they raised each member of the stranded group 300 feet to the canyon rim. Unhurt, the rescued individuals were flown out of the backcountry. Pandora's Box is widely considered to be one of the more difficult canyoneering routes on the Colorado Plateau.  The incident was managed jointly with the country sheriff's department. [Scott Brown, 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/):

Department of the Interior - First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Department of the Interior in Washington on Tuesday morning and spoke to employees in the Sidney R. Yates auditorium. A transcript of her comments is provided.

Office of Communications - New animated fly-through videos produced by the Service's Heritage Documentation Programs make it possible for people to visit NPS sites that aren't open to the public or are otherwise inaccessible.

Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - National Crime Victim's Rights Week provides an opportunity to raise awareness and encourage action within the public safety community on behalf of crime victims.

Midwest Region - Frank W. Doughman has been selected as the new superintendent of George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes, Indiana. 

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Guidance on incident notification can be found under the “Hot Topics” heading on InsideNPS or at HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504.

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@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).

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