NPS Visitor and Resource Protection
The Morning Report
Thursday, October 16, 2003


INCIDENTS

East Coast Areas
Archeological Sites and Artifacts Revealed by Hurricane

The following reports reflect the status of operations through Wednesday.


Central IMT (Sherrie Collins)


As work crews clear trees, remove debris, and inventory collections, Andrew Veech works alone prioritizing archeological sites. As Colonial National Historical Park's only archeologist, his job is a daunting one. "I've been to some areas in the park that should have taken a half hour to walk through and it now takes four hours," says Veech. "With all of the downed trees, a lot of archeological sites have been exposed — ones that we never knew about.

This park has a great wealth of sites from 17th century colonial America and roughly 25 percent of the park has been surveyed."

Veech adds that Hurricane Isabel has "significantly reorganized" his priorities. Prior to the storm, Veechs' work focused on two sites: Green Springs and Jamestowne Island. Both of these sites are important because of what they are revealing about the layout and design of an early Colonial plantation and a domestic site dating from the 1680's — 1690's. And while discovering new archeological sites is exciting, it also brings many issues to the surface. Looting is one of those issues.

The Yorktown National Cemetery is a place of concern. With numerous downed trees exposing gravesites, Veech's work is outlined before him. Archeological work is a slow process that involves meticulous work. "Having the cemetery leaching skeletal remains in a very public place is of serious concern," says Veech. The work at the cemetery will take weeks to accomplish and that's just one site of hundreds. "While I'm grateful to the team being here and doing the wonderful work they're doing, I'm fearful of what will be left behind. I'm concerned about all the sites that are left to rehab and where they fall on the priority list."

Work in the Historic Jamestowne area is nearing an end. Portions of the area and the interim Visitor Contact Station are expected to reopen to the public Wednesday afternoon.

Good progress was reported in the clean-up along the Colonial Parkway. The large crew is on track to complete the clean-up by Friday night.

In Richmond, clean-up at the Fort Harrison complex was completed Tuesday afternoon. The recovery effort at Cold Harbor will be completed Wednesday night. All work at Petersburg will also wrap up Wednesday night. Demobilization of some resources assigned to Richmond and Petersburg will begin Thursday.

There are 353 people currently assigned to the recovery effort. The cost to date is $6,668,194.


Pacific West IMT (Scott Wanek)


A consequence of Hurricane Isabel at Cape Lookout National Seashore is an increased incidence of cultural artifacts being uncovered or washed up on the beach. There are many shipwrecks off the Outer Banks. Some of these wrecks are many hundreds of years old. Since Isabel, rangers and visitors have routinely found wooden ship parts, pottery shards and other evidence of those wrecks. Park personnel, in addition to emergency cleanup and repair duties, are making plans to process and preserve these artifacts, if necessary.

Work continues in all four operational areas. Debris cleanup is the biggest job, along with repairing the back road on all the islands. Crew members are reporting to the incident and demobing daily as their 14-day assignments begin or end. The team's operations section is actively looking for work leaders and laborers to continue operations on a proactive basis both short-term and long-term. The team has prepared a long term operational plan for the park. The plan will be edited and implemented after park staff reviews it and the final plan is prepared.


East IMT (Bob Panko)


With two days of good weather over the holiday weekend, crews from the Cherokee National Forest and squads comprised of local area residents who are AD hires made significant progress in restoring opportunities for recreational activities at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, in protecting park resources and in providing for visitor safety.

The Nags Head Fishing Tournament, a major event in October, proceeded as planned because of the diligent work of park staff.

The breach in the inlet south of Frisco still has traffic cut off to the south end of Hatteras Island, except for limited ferry service. Pedestrian access to both ends of the new breach is allowed, and there has been much public interest, resulting in the need for traffic and crowd control by protection rangers.

The overall status of facilities is as follows:

  • All ranger stations and visitor centers are open and operational.
  • All maintenance facilities except Bodie Island are open and operational.
  • The Ocracoke Airport is now open and operational.
  • 22,000 feet of coral fencing for the historic Banker ponies was destroyed by the storm and one pony died. Park staff is working to built three miles of new fencing on higher ground to protect the herd in the event of another storm of this magnitude within the next year until the full facility can be built in the long term.
  • Ramps 2 and 4 with access from Coquina Beach to Oregon Inlet are open.
  • Ramp 23 north to the tri-village area of Salvo, Waves, and Rodanthe is open.
  • Ramps 27, 30, 34, and 38 are open with access to beach.
  • Ramp 38 south to Ramp 43 is open to pedestrians to the beach.
  • Ramp 43 is closed due to flooding.
  • Ramp 44 and 45 are open with access to the beech.
  • There is access to the beach via the interdunal road from Cape Point to Ramp 49.
  • Ramp 49 is underwater and closed.
  • Ramp 55 south to Hatteras Inlet is open on an intermittent basis depending on dredging operations. The beach north of Ramp 55 to the new breach is closed due to dredging operations.
  • Ramp 57 is closed.
  • Ramp 59 needs work and is closed due to closure of NC 12.
  • Ramp 67 is repaired but is inaccessible due to closure of NC 12.
  • Ramp 68 is open.
  • Ramp 70 is graded, usable, and open, but needs resurfacing
  • Ramp 72 is closed and repair is a long-term issue.

Dump trucks are in short supply and a critical need on Ocracoke Island. Resource threats include habitat for threatened and endangered species and park structures, some historic. The incident management team is working with park cultural resource personnel for protection of cultural resource sites. The team is also working towards a smooth transition to park management later this week.

There are currently 73 personnel committed to the incident.


Additional Information

Reports compiled from submission by Al Nash, IO, Central IMT; Shauna Dyas, IO, Pacific West IMT; Peter Givens, IO, East IMT/Outer Banks Group.



Saguaro National Park (AZ)
Africanized Honeybees Attack Visitors

On September 1st, a Tucson man and his 13-year-old son were attacked by Africanized honeybees while climbing on a cliff face in the park's Tucson Mountain District. During the climb, the boy reached for a handhold above him. The rock he grabbed apparently dislodged a portion of the beehive, which neither climber had observed previously. The bees immediately began stinging the younger climber, who was on belay 50 feet up the cliff face. His father quickly lowered him and assisted with removal of his climbing harness. Both father and son were repeatedly stung as they ran back to the trailhead and their parked car, approximately 200 yards away. Other park visitors transported both individuals from the trailhead to a nearby fire station; from there, they were taken by ambulance to a local hospital. The father had been stung over 200 times and was hospitalized overnight. His son was stung about 50 times and was treated and released. The park has contracted with a local bee exterminator to treat and remove the bees. Africanized honeybees (AHBs) are a hybrid between non-native domesticated strains of European honeybees and an African strain and were accidentally released in Brazil in 1957. AHBs were first detected in Arizona in 1993, and at Saguaro in 1994. Although there have been several minor bee incidents since 1994, this is the most significant attack ever recorded at Saguaro. Aggressive behavior in AHBs is generally related to defense of an established colony. AHBs attack swiftly and intensely, and are more likely to sustain a prolonged attack, sometimes following victims up to a mile. Attacking AHBs can deliver 400 to 500 stings in a short time; the accumulated toxin from 500 stings can easily kill the average adult.
[Submitted by Bob Love, Chief Ranger]



Antietam National Battlefield (MD)
Suicide on Dunker Church Road

While completing a closing patrol of the park on the evening of October 2nd, rangers Jeremy Sears and Linc Beers came upon a man lying on the pavement in back of a pickup truck. The rangers determined that he had a gunshot wound to his head and found a pistol on the ground beside him. They began first aid and notified Sharpsburg Area EMS, which treated him and flew him by helicopter to Washington County Hospital. The 59-year-old man, who was from nearby Boonsboro, died at the hospital that evening. Maryland State Police officers were asked to conduct the investigation. The rangers completed the initial investigation, provided crime scene security, collected evidence, took photos and handled media inquiries. State troopers concluded that the death was a suicide.
[Submitted by Ed Wenschhof, Chief Ranger]




PARKS AND PEOPLE

Buffalo National River (AR)
GS-11 Supervisory Park Ranger

The park is recruiting for a GS-11 supervisory park ranger. This is a permanent full-time commissioned position, approved for secondary 6c law enforcement retirement. The person in this position will supervise the daily operation of the Middle District visitor protection program, including law enforcement, emergency operations, investigations, and resource protection. The park has an active search and rescue program and rangers train monthly. This is a great opportunity to supervise a diverse visitor protection program with both land and water-based activity. The position is listed on USA Jobs (BUFF 03-26) and closes on October 29th. For more information, contact chief ranger Robert Maguire at 870-741-5446 ext. 231.
[Submitted by Robert Maguire, Chief Ranger]




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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.