NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, June 15, 2015

INCIDENTS

Rocky Mountain NP

Park SAR Team Rescues Injured Hiker

Park dispatch received a call early on the afternoon of June 8th reporting a hiker fall and injury in a steep off-trail area between Arch Rock and The Pool on the lower Fern Lake trail.  

Search and rescue team members searched for four hours in a number of off-trail areas in an effort to find R.G., 62, due to generalized description he provided of his location.  R.G. was eventually located at 5:45 p.m., when rangers heard his yells for help.  R.G. had been exploring an extremely steep mud and rock slide area when he fell on rocks and suffered a leg injury.  

SAR team members described the area as hazardous, with steep terrain, loose rock and burned and downed wood from the 2012 Fern Lake Fire. This landslide area had occurred in the spring of 2013. Park team members had difficulty finding stable locations to place anchors to perform a technical lowering down the steep gully.

R.G. was initially lowered more than 1,000 feet to a high marshy meadow.  The second technical lowering took place over a steep 800-foot scree area.  He was then carried down the trail in a wheeled litter to the Fern Lake trailhead, reaching that location at 2:30 a.m. 

R.G. was travelling along and was fortunate to have cell phone coverage in the area where he fell.  Over 40 park SAR team members were involved in this incident.

[Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]

New River Gorge NR

Bloodroot Poachers Caught Near Dun Glen

Ranger Mark Faherty conducted a traffic stop near Dun Glen on the evening of June 6th for an equipment violation. He discovered that the vehicle was also unregistered and uninsured. 

The driver and passenger told Faherty that they were digging HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_root" bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) to earn money to fix their vehicle and said that the roots were selling for about $7 a pound. They turned over 359 roots, which weighed about five pounds, and their digging tools. 

Faherty issued mandatory appearance citations to the violators. He also contacted members of the resource management division, who replanted the bloodroot in the general vicinity it had been harvested. 

[Jeff West, Chief 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):

Mormon Pioneer NHT - With the release of a new smartphone mobile application, visitors can now follow the California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express national historic trails at their convenience using their own custom pocket guide.

Pacific West Region - DO-46, released last month, marks the culmination of several years effort and highlights management responsibilities and policy guidance for wild and scenic rivers, partnership rivers, and seven other rivers that have wild and scenic river language.

Office of Communications - The NPS has awarded more than $3.1 million in grants to help preserve more than 270 acres of Civil War battlefields that are threatened with damage or destruction by development.

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 week ending June 12th.

Yosemite NP - Three rangers - Heidi Schlichting, Dave Hahn, and Nancy Phillipe - have received awards from the Mariposa County Health Department for their efforts and service to the park's EMS program.

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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