NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, September 8, 2014 - REVISED

INCIDENTS

Yosemite NP

Visitors Evacuated By Helicopter Due To Fire

A wildfire that started early yesterday afternoon east of Half Dome quickly grew to 700 acres and forced the helicopter evacuation of about 100 hikers from the top of Half Dome, Little Yosemite Valley and surrounding trails.  

There were no reported injuries or structures affected by the wildfire.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Throughout the afternoon, seven helicopters, an airplane, and ground crews worked to extinguish the fire. The area, which is at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, features rugged terrain.  Ground access requires a several mile hike to the area affected by the fire. 

Yosemite National Park firefighters are working with fire crews from Cal Fire, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks, Mariposa County Fire, California Highway Patrol, and U.S. Forest Service.  There are over 100 firefighters dedicated to the fire, with more resources en route. 

Yosemite National Park remains open and all facilities within Yosemite Valley.  Trails near the Half Dome area, the Little Yosemite Valley area (a backcountry camping area near Half Dome), Merced Lake and Sunrise High Sierra Camps, Clouds Rest, and Echo Valley remain closed due to fire activity.  All roads leading into Yosemite remain open as well. 

Visitors are urged to check the park's website to get updated information in the smoke impacts to Yosemite National Park.  Updated information can be found at  HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/yose" www.nps.gov/yose. 

[Kari Cobb, Public Affairs Officer]

Olympic NP

Search Underway For Missing Backpacker

A search was begun late Saturday for K.H., a 64-year old Bainbridge Island man who was two days overdue from an intended six-day, 39-mile hike in the northeast corner of of the park. 

K.H. began his hike on Saturday, August 30th, setting out from the Obstruction Point Trailhead near Hurricane Ridge.  Family members expected to meet him at the USFS Slab Camp Trailhead last Thursday afternoon.  He was reported overdue on Thursday evening.

K.H.'s planned itinerary was to hike through Grand Valley to Grand Pass, then continue over Cameron Pass, pass through Dose Meadows to Gray Wolf Pass, and follow the Gray Wolf Trail into the Buckhorn Wilderness in Olympic National Forest. 

K.H. is described as being 6'5” tall and weighing 220 pounds. He's carrying a blue backpack and wearing a blue Mountain Hardware stocking cap. He's believed to be carrying a blue-gray tent and to have orange flip flops and a fishing pole tied to his pack. Anyone who's seen him or knows something about his possible whereabouts is asked to call the park at at 360-565-3120.

As of late yesterday, there were 16 searchers in the field, including National Park Service employees and volunteers, plus volunteers from Olympic Mountain Rescue, Clallam County Search and Rescue, and German Shepherd Search Dogs. 

[Barb Maynes, Public Affairs Officer]

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Two Plead Guilty In Separate Ginseng Poaching Cases

Deep Creek Rangers Wes Mullins, James Latendresse and Jason Campos were conducting a backcountry patrol in an area of prime ginseng habitat on June 28th when they spotted a man with a history of ginseng poaching. The rangers were able to move in on him without being detected.

The man - B.J.H., 46, of Bryson City, North Carolina - was known to rangers as having a history of convictions for ginseng poaching and other offenses within the park. He was arrested for the illegal possession or harvesting of American ginseng from the park.  

B.J.H. admitted to possessing 83 ginseng roots he had illegally dug from areas in the park and later pleaded guilty to the poaching charge in court - his fourth such conviction.  On August 28th, he was sentenced to serve five months and fifteen days in prison.  

In a separate case on August 6th, Mullins and Latendresse arrested C.I.J., 31, of Cosby, Tennessee.  C.I.J. unsuccessfully attempted to flee from rangers upon being contacted, but was caught and placed into custody.  C.I.J. pleaded guilty to the illegal possession of 298 ginseng roots; he was sentenced to 80 days in prison and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.  

American ginseng was recently placed in North Carolina's Watch Category 5B, which includes generally widespread species that are in commercial demand and are often collected and sold in high volume. This category was created to bring attention to the issue, since such high volume collection is unsustainable.

For details on these two cases, click on this link: HYPERLINK "http://www.justice.gov/usao/ncw/pressreleases/2014/Charlotte-2014-08-28-hurley.html" http://www.justice.gov/usao/ncw/pressreleases/2014/Charlotte-2014-08-28-hurley.html

[Joe Pond, District Ranger]

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):

Olympic NP - Fisheries biologists last week confirmed that two radio-tagged bull trout have migrated through Glines Canyon and are now upstream of the former Lake Mills in Rica Canyon, marking another success in the restoration of the Elwha River.

Today's Almanac - An area of low pressure will bring moderate to heavy rain to an area from southeastern Virginia to southern Georgia. Rain from Tropical Storm Norbert will join monsoonal moisture to bring showers, storms and flash flooding to the Southwest.

Fort McHenry NM&HS - The park is in the midst of celebrating the 200th anniversary of the defense of Fort McHenry and the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner. Events will take place through next Tuesday.

Valley Forge NHP - The six part VOICES of Valley Forge workshop series culminated on August 2nd with a presentation on an African American soldier who served in the Continental Army at Valley Forge.

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 Service. This report covers activities in Congress for the period from August 9th to September 5th.

Grand Teton NP - Renelle Jacobson, IT specialist at Grand Teton National Park since 2009, passed away on August 30th after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Office of Communications - Ginny Reams has joined the Digital Content Division of the Office of Communications as web content manager. She also serves as the co-chair of the National Web Editorial Board.

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).

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