NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
INCIDENTS
Yosemite NP
Missing Hiker Found After Extended Interagency Search
Park dispatch received a report of an overdue hiker in the Foresta area around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 23rd.
The hiker, a 60-year-old long-time resident of Foresta, a small community along the western portion of the park that can only be accessed via Highway 120 through the park, left her residence early that morning to hike a portion of the Old Coulterville Road, planning to return later that morning. When she failed to show up, her family reported her missing.
Immediately upon receiving the call, a small hasty team was sent to the location to conduct an initial search of the area. Search teams discovered the woman's jacket on the side of the trail, but found no other sign of her.
Nighttime temperatures over the weekend hovered near freezing, with daytime temperatures remaining in the mid 50's, so a full-scale search was launched the following morning when the hiker still had not returned. Search personnel including Yosemite National Park rangers, several dog teams, a California Highway Patrol helicopter out of Fresno, and search and rescue personnel from the Madera, Fresno, Tuolumne, Kern, Merced, and Mariposa County Sheriff's Offices.
Search efforts continued into the morning hours of Monday, November 25th, with approximately 70 people looking for the missing hiker. At approximately 11 a.m. dispatch received a telephone call from a family member who was searching within the search area, reporting that they'd found the woman about a mile and a half from the trailhead.
Less than a half an hour later, rangers and park medics Ed Visnovske, David Pope and Aaron Smith and SAR crew member Cheyne Lempe arrived on scene and determined that she should be hoisted from the rocky slope on which she was found and transported to a local hospital.
Although the exact cause of the accident remains unclear, her injuries indicate she fell down a cliff, causing her to become immobile. Suspected injuries included a collapsed lung, broken ribs, a contusion to her head, and possible hypothermia.
Matt Stark, Mather subdistrict ranger, served as the incident commander.
[Matt Stark, Mather Subdistrict 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/):
Missouri NRR - Missouri National Recreational River has been designated as one of the newest additions to the National Water Trail system. Paddlers and boaters will now have the chance to explore stretches of the river that Lewis and Clark recorded in their journals more than 200 years ago.
Office of Communications - The National Park Service has awarded the 2012 Appleman-Judd-Lewis Awards to eight individuals for excellence in cultural resource stewardship and management.
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network - A graduation ceremony was held for the first class of Chesapeake Youth Corps interns on November 5th. Team members logged a total of 6,670 hours of service during the corps' first year.
Gettysburg NMP - Bob Kirby, superintendent at Gettysburg NMP, will retire from the NPS in January after 40 years of federal service. He was recently presented with DOI's Superior Service Award for his accomplishments during the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Southeast Region - Southeast Region has filled two regional positions - Darrell Echols has been selected as regional chief of natural resources and David Horne has been named regional chief ranger.
Hopewell Culture NHP - Bonnie Murray, administrative officer for Hopewell Culture, will be retiring on November 30th with more than 41 years of service 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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