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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Monday, February 10, 2014 INCIDENTS White Sands NM Unmanned Military Drone Crashes In Park An unmanned QF-4 drone from Holloman Air Force Base crashed in the park on the morning of Friday, February 7th. No one was injured. QF-4 drones are converted F-4 Phantom fighter jets. Dunes Drive was closed while staff from the base and from White Sands Missile Range conducted an investigation at the crash site. Access to the sand dunes, picnic areas and hiking trails was restricted until the investigation and cleanup could be concluded. The park routinely supports missile tests conducted by White Sands Missile Range. It is common practice to close Dunes Drive as a precautionary measure to ensure public safety during missile tests when flight paths include airspace over the monument. The closure of Dunes Drive before last Friday's missile test ensured that no injuries resulted from this accident. For a related newspaper article, click on HYPERLINK "http://www.alamogordonews.com/alamogordo-news/ci_25090073/unmanned-qf-4-drone-crashed-friday" this link. [Becky Wiles Burghart, Chief of Interpretation] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Vicksburg NMP - Over the first weekend of February, Vicksburg National Military Park staff and volunteers commemorated the 150th anniversary of General William Tecumseh Sherman's Meridian Campaign. 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 activities in Congress for the week ending February 10th. Office of the Comptroller - Jessica Bowron has been selected as the chief of budget formulation and strategic planning for the National Park Service. She assumed her new duties in January. NPS Alumni - Robert "Bruce" Brownrigg, 75, a retired NPS employee who worked for both Denver Service Center and Intermountain Region, passed away on February 2nd. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ 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). --- ### --- |