NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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INCIDENTS
National Capital Region
Central IMT Assisting NCR With Inauguration Planning
On Tuesday, December 9th, Peggy O'Dell, National Capitol Region regional director, briefed superintendents and staff on developing plans for the Presidential inauguration scheduled for Tuesday, January 20th. The noon swearing-in ceremony will be held on the steps of the Capitol with public viewing available from the National Mall. Later, the inaugural parade will traverse Pennsylvania Avenue, intersecting NPS lands at various points. On Sunday, January 18th, an opening ceremony will be held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Final planning for all the events is dependent upon the requests of the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC, HYPERLINK "http://www.pic2009.com/_" www.pic2009.com) and a subsequent special use permit that will be issued for use of NPS lands. NCR interpretive staff, under the direction of Kirsten Talken-Spaulding, have been tasked to develop an interpretive plan featuring inaugural-related activities and visitor services. John Stanwich, NCR inaugural coordinator, with assistance from Rick Merryman and Leonard Lee, are NPS liaisons with the PIC. O'Dell also introduced the NPS Central Incident Management Team (CIMT), headed by Eddie Lopez, which will assist the region and parks with event planning. The regional director and acting assistant chief of the US Park Police have signed a delegation of authority to Stanwich, Merryman, Lee, Lopez and Park Police major Jonathan Pierce, directing them to plan and manage the NPS portion of the 2009 inauguration. Members of the CIMT arrived Wednesday, December 3rd, and some members will be on-site through the holidays, then will gear up with a full team in early January. Additional inauguration information will be shared through this site as plans develop. [Larry Frederick and James Doyle, CIMT PIOs]
Natchez Trace Parkway
Winter Storm Closes Section Part Of Parkway, Causes Fatal Accident
On Wednesday, December 10th, a large drainage culvert collapsed as a result of flooding from an intense winter storm, closing the parkway at milepost 279.5, in Lee County, Mississippi. Over the course of a 24-hour period on Tuesday and Wednesday, the area received six inches of rain, which quickly exceeded the capacity of area culverts and canals. A sinkhole approximately 14 feet deep and 16 feet wide was created on the eastern road shoulder when the culvert collapsed. Crews worked into the night to set up a nine-mile-long detour on rural county roads. The parkway will be closed in this area until further notice pending repairs. On Thursday, all three states that the parkway traverses received varying amounts of snow and ice, a rare event for the region. Rangers responded to several accidents, including one that was fatal. O.O., 40, of Waynesboro, Tennessee, was heading north on the parkway when his Honda went off the road and hit a tree. High winds also caused dozens of large trees to fall across the parkway from milepost 0 to milepost 240. Maintenance and fire management saw crews worked continuously through the day to clear the trees and keep the highway open. Several areas, including park headquarters, experienced power outages caused by falling trees. The entrance gates on the northern end of the parkway near Nashville were closed due to three to five inches of snow. [Allen Etheridge, Chief Ranger]
Natchez Trace Parkway
Body Of Homicide Victim Found Following Wildland Fire
Park dispatch was notified of a wildland fire near the Big Tree scenic overlook at milepost 440 in Tennessee at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, December 8th. Local fire departments responded. The fire burned about 40 acres before being contained. The next morning, parkway firefighters were inspecting the fire line when they came upon a man's body. The area was secured and rangers were notified. The FBI lead the investigation, assisted by rangers, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents and Williamson County officers. Preliminary evidence indicates that he was purposefully burned and that this action led to the wildland fire. [Allen Etheridge, Chief Ranger]
Colonial NHP
Shots Fired In Hunting Dispute
On the afternoon of December 2nd, York County Sheriff's Office deputies and the county SWAT team responded to a call of someone shooting at people along Crawford Road, sections of which run through the Yorktown battlefield. The shooter was reportedly on private land that was abutted by NPS property on three sides. The park's protection staff had just completed a meeting, so a number of rangers were nearby and responded - chief ranger Tom Nash and rangers Eric Tillson, Joel Cadoff, Sean Blake, Steve Williams, and Shuni Routh. Williams and Routh closed the park's West Tour Road, immediately adjacent to the shooter's location. Nash was contacted by W.S. and his teenage son. W.S. said that they were unarmed and tracking a deer that had been previously shot and were on private property when they were confronted by a hunter, later identified as L.H. L.H. was in a tree stand and immediately fired two rounds of buckshot over W.S. and his son. Both W.S. and his son yelled at L.H., who fired two more rounds in their direction. The S.s then fled from the area and called 911. Once all the rangers and SWAT officers were on scene, they developed a plan to control the perimeter and call L.H. out. While they did this, Nash, Tillson and Cadoff moved to secure L.H.'s vehicle, located just off Crawford Road on a dirt road. As they approached it, two armed men were seen, one of them L.H. and the other a hunter who was not involved in the shooting incident. Rangers and SWAT team members made a high risk approach and took both into custody. Both the S. family and L.H. had been previously contacted by rangers for various hunting violations in or near the park. L.H. admitted to shooting at the S.s and is facing state charges for reckless endangerment and use of a firearm. The H.s and S.s have had an ongoing dispute about hunting rights on private land adjacent to the park. [Tom Nash, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. The internal, NPS-only version of InsideNPS can be found at: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index . The public version, called NPS Digest, can be found at: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
Hampton NHS - The park recently completed a comprehensive finding aid, enabling researchers to locate over 10,000 documents spanning 350 years of the Hampton estate, and made it available on-line.
Everglades NP - DOI has dedicated $1 million dollars with which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can move forward on the next steps needed to modify the Tamiami Trail. The modifications, known as “Phase 2,” will restore water flows to the park.
Sleeping Bear Dunes NL - Ranger Bill Herd will retire on January 2nd after 35 years of service with the National Park Service, all of it at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
WASO Public Affairs - Gilbert Grosvenor, past editor and president and current chairman of the National Geographic Society, has been presented with an honorary NPS ranger award.
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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363
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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