NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
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INCIDENTS
Yellowstone NP
Park Begins Reopening Roads After Winter Storm
Park employees have reopened most park roads to travel after they were temporarily closed Monday following a major weekend winter storm. Heavy snow and gusty winds led to deteriorating conditions, which prompted the temporary closure of almost all park roads by early Monday afternoon. Only the road between park headquarters at Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyoming, and the park's North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana, remained open to travel. The road linking Mammoth Hot Springs and the park's Northeast Entrance at Cooke City, Montana, is normally open to wheeled vehicle traffic all year. Plows began clearing the road of drifts early Tuesday morning, and were able to reopen the road to travel by cars and delivery vehicles by 9 a.m. During the winter season, most interior roads are groomed for guided oversnow travel by snowmobiles and snowcoaches. Shortly after first light Tuesday, park crews began assessing road segments and began working to reopen interior roads for oversnow travel and were able to open the route between West Yellowstone and Old Faithful by 9:30 a.m. All other oversnow routes are now open except for the section between Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris, and Madison Junction, and the park's East Entrance road over Sylvan Pass. Visitors can call the park's 24-hour road condition report at 307-344-2117 for up-to-date road and travel information. The National Weather Service yesterday issued a snow advisory for the park that remains in effect through noon today. This storm is forecast to dump 3 to 6 inches of new snow on the northern half of the park and up to 10 inches of new snow in the southern portion of Yellowstone. Strong, gusty winds are expected to accompany this storm, which will cause blowing and drifting snow and reduced visibility. Meteorologists are keeping an eye on yet another storm system which could bring significant additional snowfall and gusty winds to the area by the weekend. [Public Affairs]
Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs
Skier Killed By Avalanche
M.C., 39, of Santa Barbara, California, was caught and buried by an avalanche in upper Tokopah Canyon in Sequoia NP on Monday, January 28th. M.C. and companion Jason Gardner were skiing through the area at the time. Gardner uncovered M.C., but he had already expired. Gardner was found shortly after the avalanche and was in good condition. Additional details are pending. [Kip Knapp, Acting Chief Ranger]
Castillo de San Marcos NM
Four Arrested For Breaking Into Fort
ADT security staff contacted ranger AJ Legault around 2 a.m. on Sunday, December 16th, and notified him of an alarm activation inside the fort. Legault contacted St. Augustine PD and requested a backup. City officers arrived on scene first and found that the main entrance gate had been pried open. Four people were found hiding on the gun deck - two couple who had not known each other prior to that weekend. Both couples had traveled to St. Augustine by boat and were anchored in the harbor. Although they claimed that the fort was open when they arrived, photographs on a digital camera revealed that they'd taken pictures of themselves prying the gate open. All four were under the influence of alcohol and were taken to St. Johns County Jail and locked up on state charges. The United States Attorneys Office filed motions to seek charges under 18 USC 1361, willful injury and depredation against property of the United States. The four are being considered for a pretrial diversion program. None of them are from Florida. [Kimberly Mayo, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories (among others) can be read on InsideNPS (internal) or NPS Digest (external):
Olympic NP - Eleven fishers were released last Sunday morning at remote sites within the Elwha Valley of Olympic National Park, marking the first step toward restoring these small, reclusive mammals to the state of Washington.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6174" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6174
In The Media - A weekly summary of news stories about or of consequence to the NPS, including links to the articles. Today's summary includes articles on the NPS being ranked as the second most popular federal agency, on the challenges of conservation in an era of rapid climate change, and on the looting of paleontological and archeological items from the national parks.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6179" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=6179
Northeast Region - John Karish, chief scientist for Northeast Region, received the Department of the Interior's superior service award at a ceremony on January 14th at the National Conservation Training Center. Photo.
HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1818" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=1818
Fire and Aviation Management - The Division of Fire and Aviation is pleased to announce the selection of Jeff Scott as its new planning and budget program leader. Photo.
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6172" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=6172
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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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