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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, March 13, 2014 INCIDENTS Independence NHP Rangers Assist In Managing Demonstration On Monday, March 10th, rangers from Independence National Historical Park received a call for assistance from the Federal Protective Service and the US Attorney's Office in dealing with a group of demonstrators protesting the proposed construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which will stretch from Canada to Texas. The group, which numbered approximately 200 people, had blocked all public entrances to the William J. Green Federal Building in downtown Philadelphia. Rangers assisted two members of the park's maintenance division in setting up bicycle rack barricades opening one access door. When the group reentered the secured area, they were warned by FPS and Philadelphia Police Department officers to clear the area or face legal action. After the demonstrators refused the order and locked arms, they were arrested by rangers and FPS officers and taken into the building for processing. Most were charged with CFR violations for disorderly conduct or disobeying a lawful order and released. Approximately twenty demonstrators were arrested and released, with one protestor arrested and held in jail for throwing a bottle at a US marshal attempting to exit the building. Rangers and maintenance staff from Independence have gained a significant amount of knowledge in managing protests and public gatherings due to the large number of special events and First Amendment demonstrations regularly occurring in the park and also from the numerous Marijuana Smokedown protests which occurred in the park last year promoting the legalization of marijuana. For more information on this event, click the following link to view local media coverage. HYPERLINK "http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/politics/Pa-Environmentalists-Arrested-Over-XL-Oil-Pipeline-Protest-249318281.html" http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/politics/Pa-Environmentalists-Arrested-Over-XL-Oil-Pipeline-Protest-249318281.html [Trouper Snow, Chief of Law Enforcement Operations] 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): Interpretation and Education Division - This month, in select parks throughout the nation, visitors and employees will have the opportunity to view “Secret Soldier”, a 15-minute educational film created from the longer documentary, “Rebel: Loreta Vazquez, Secret Soldier of the American Civil War,” by Maria Agui Carter. Bandelier NM - Bandelier has joined a number of parks in completing 3D laser scan documentation for a significant cultural site - in this case, the western half of Long House Pueblo. Big Cypress NP - In December, six members of the park's staff completed the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association's DriverCoach training course, becoming the first certified UTV driving trainers in the NPS. Yosemite NP - Last week, Yosemite National Park hosted the California Parks Conference at the Yosemite Lodge. More than 200 representatives from over 30 different park agencies attended the historic conference. Office of Communications - More than 273.6 million total visits were recorded during 2013 at the 401 parks, historic sites and recreation areas that make up the National Park System. Pacific West Region - Gretchen Luxenberg, historian and co-coordinator for the National Heritage Area program in Pacific West Region, retired on January 31st after 30 years of service with the Service. 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). --- ### --- |