NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
INCIDENTS
Blue Ridge Parkway
Rangers Remain Busy During Government Shutdown
Rangers dealt with a number of significant incidents during the extended shutdown of the federal government this month:
Rangers came upon a car parked along the road with several varieties of mushrooms on its front seat. When the owner returned, the rangers found that he had another six pounds of mushrooms in his possession. Investigation and a consent search of the vehicle led to the discovery of records for $22,766 in sales going back to April and a contact list for restaurants and other buyers. Records also showed that the man had sold over a thousand pounds of various mushrooms (chicken of the woods, hen of the woods, lobster, oyster, morel and chanterelle) and hundreds of pounds of ramps, which he admitted were collected on NPS, state and private lands. Charges against him are pending.
A ranger served papers on a man who hit a pedestrian and two dogs with his motorcycle while drunk (.19 BAC) and speeding.
An investigation was begun into a report from local police that people had been contacted by a police impersonator at two different locations on the parkway.
A 76-year-old woman took a five foot fall on the Green Stone Trail, suffering injuries that left her paralyzed from the chest down. She remains in a hospital on a ventilator.
Three people were injured and taken to local hospital following a head-on collision in heavy fog at Reid's Gap.
Rangers also dealt with several illegal camping incidents, auto and motorcycle crashes, drug and poaching arrests, and an illegal group bike ride.
[Steve Stinnett, Chief Ranger]
Big Bend NP
Human Remains Found In Park Identified
Rangers were contacted last March by visiting geology students who reported that they'd found human remains near Highway 385 in the northern end of the park.
Ranger John Craig met with the reporting party, who led him to the location. The initial investigation suggested that a Mexican national had expired while traveling through the park. The FBI was contacted and took the lead in the investigation, which included DNA samplings and analysis.
On September 15th, the FBI confirmed that the victim had been a Mexican national and advised that his family had been contacted.
[John Craig, Park Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's InsideNPS. To see the full text, 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 Morning Report web page ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/):
Fort Pulaski NM - On Saturday, September 14th, Fort Pulaski held its first ever exotic plant bioblitz - a 12 hour event with the objective of inventorying and mapping exotic plant species in the park while creating a new generation of citizen scientists and future stewards for parks.
Cultural Resources - Over a dozen NPS parks and programs celebrated archeology on October 17th or throughout the month. The event, which is coordinated by the Archaeological Institute of America, is a celebration of archeology with activities and events for all ages.
Carl Sandburg Home NHS - Youth volunteers earned first and second place with seventh generation descendents from Mrs. Sandburg's prize-winning Toggenburg at state fair dairy goat show in September.
Historic Preservation Training Center - Chris Robinson has been selected as the new superintendent for the Service's Historic Preservation Training Center, located in Frederick, Maryland.
NPS Alumni - Retired career NPS employee Lloyd G. “Oly” Olson, 66, passed away unexpectedly this past weekend. Oly retired in 2005 after a 36 year career with the NPS.
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The Morning Report is 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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