|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Monday, August 18, 2014 INCIDENTS Mount Rainier NP Panhandle Gap Search Comes To Successful Conclusion Search teams successfully located two missing day hikers in the Summerland area of the park on August 14th. On Tuesday, August 12th, the two experienced hikers left the Summerland trailhead on the park's east side with the intention of hiking through Summerland and Panhandle Gap, where they planned to traverse through Cowlitz Chimneys to Owyhigh. A severe storm caught them in the Chimneys, where they sheltered in place. The next morning, following an overdue party report, a hasty search was conducted by park staff pulled from the Shadow Lake Fire. The hikers made contact with the park midday by cell phone through a family member, providing brief information before the call was lost. They moved on after reporting their location, missing park crews by four hours. The pair backtracked to Panhandle Gap the next morning. Mountain rescue crews located them below the Gap. They were uninjured and completed the hike out to the trailhead. Thirty people were assigned to the incident from Seattle, Tacoma, Olympic, and Everett mountain rescue teams, Central Pierce County, and park staff. Quincy Maret was incident commander. [Patti Wold, PIO] Golden Gate NRA Two Arrested On Fraud, Drug Trafficking And Other Charges On August 10th, rangers received a call from a hotel concessioner within the park notifying them of suspicious activity regarding a U-Haul van and two people who were staying at the hotel. Rangers and Park Police officers arrived on scene and during a vehicle search discovered approximately $3,600 in suspected crystal methamphetamine. Rangers called out the park's Problem Solving Unit (PSU) to assist with the investigation. PSU responded to assist and the ensuing investigation and interviews culminated in the discovery of several fraudulent credit cards, a credit card embossing machine, a realistic looking BB gun, and a no-bail warrant. Two people were arrested on charges pertaining to drug trafficking, credit card fraud, identity theft, and false information. PSU continues to assist the case ranger with the follow-up investigation, which includes multiple search warrants and additional interviews. INCLUDEPICTURE "https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET [Chad Marin, Acting Deputy Chief, Law Enforcement & Emergency Services] 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): Kalaupapa NHP - The first Saturday of this month was Barge Day for the residents of Kalaupapa and employees of Kalaupapa National Historical Park. On one summer day each year, a barge from Honolulu delivers all of the isolated settlement's supplies for the upcoming year. Wilderness Stewardship Division - Guidance developed by the Service's National Wilderness Leadership Council is now available for parks to use in determining the "extent necessary" for commercial services in wilderness. Apostle Islands NL - On the morning of Wednesday, August 13th, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore's search and rescue team responded to a mock kayaking accident near Hermit Island in the frigid waters of Lake Superior. Intermountain Region - John Bundy, a 36-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been named superintendent of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Montana and Wyoming. 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). --- ### --- |