NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, January 16, 2009

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INCIDENTS

Glacier NP

Searchers Find Two Missing Men

Two local men were the subjects of a search in the park's North Fork area during the night of January 6th after they pursued their mountain lion hounds across the Flathead River into the park. A dozen North Valley Search and Rescue (SAR) Team members and three park rangers were involved in a successful effort to locate the men and their dogs. Rangers were contacted by members of the North Valley SAR Team at 7:30 p.m. and asked to begin a search for the two overdue men. The men told a family member that they were going after the dogs at 11 a.m. that morning - the last communication anyone had with them. Rangers on snowmobiles found the men shortly after midnight about three-and-a-half miles south of the Polebridge Ranger Station on the Inside North Fork Road. B.S., 39, of Columbia Falls, and L.B., 34, of Martin City, had gone snowmobiling off the North Fork Road toward the direction of the park late on the morning of January 6th in search of two hunting dogs. According to their GPS units, the GPS-collared dogs had crossed the North Fork of the Flathead River into the park in pursuit of a mountain lion and had not returned. Weather conditions consisted of heavy, wet snow, falling on four feet of unconsolidated snow, and the hunters had no skis or snowshoes. The men were last seen that morning at their vehicle outside the park just south of Hay Creek, approximately four miles south of Polebridge Ranger Station. The last known location of the dogs was inside the park near Winona Lake approximately one-and-a-half miles due east of where the truck was parked and approximately five miles south of the Polebridge Ranger Station. The hunter's snowmobiles were found only 200 yards from their vehicle, bogged down due to snow conditions and terrain. After the hunters were reported overdue, two North Fork SAR Team members set off on skis from the point last seen at approximately 8:30 p.m. and followed the hunter's tracks in an effort to verify their direction and likely location. The hunters' tracks veered south along the North Fork of the Flathead River and crossed into the park. The searchers speculated that the hunters might be headed toward the Logging Creek Ranger Station, eight miles south of Polebridge. At that point, given the late hour and heavy, wet, snow conditions, rangers began an initial search by snowmobile. They were unsuccessful during their first sweep south from Polebridge, but a second sweep was made shortly after midnight and rangers soon encountered the two dogs and eventually both hunters - still tracking the dogs. The hunters told rangers they could tell by GPS that the dogs had followed the fresh snowmobile tracks north toward the ranger station and were walking in that direction when found. Both hunters and dogs were transported out of the backcountry and back to the Polebridge Ranger Station. L.B. and B.S. told rangers that they were not in distress, but pursued the dogs into the park for fear that they might be killed by wolves if left overnight and were simply continuing their search. “Individuals hunting with dogs are responsible for insuring that they stay out of Glacier National Park,” said superintendent Chas Cartwright in a media release. “In an effort to minimize unnecessary search efforts, hunters are also urged to make responsible decisions concerning communicating their plans and itineraries to an accountable party.” L.B., the owner of the dogs was cited under 36 CFR 2.15(a)(1) for having dogs in a closed area. [Amy Vanderbilt, Public Affairs Officer]

Buffalo NR

Seriously Injured Hiker Rescued In Strenuous Carryout

Midwest Region's Ozark Communications Center received a report of a young man with a broken ankle at the base of a bluff about a mile from the Schermerhorn trailhead in the Upper District on the afternoon of Sunday, January 11th. The hiker, a 16-year-old foreign exchange student from Slovakia, had lost his footing and tumbled about six feet, breaking the tibia and fibula in his right leg. He was located by Compton Volunteer Fire Department responders, who directed rangers and ambulance crewmembers to the accident scene. Although the boy was located at the base of a 30-foot bluff and a high-angle raising system was accordingly considered, a faster but strenuous alternative route was used that required no technical equipment. The boy was treated by the ambulance crew, packaged, then carried out via a wheeled stokes litter through very rugged terrain. A shortcut was used by accessing adjacent private land after gaining permission by the owner, dramatically reducing the carry-out time. The boy arrived at the ambulance just before nightfall, as temperatures began to drop significantly, and was transported to the regional hospital in Harrison, Arkansas. [Lee Buschkowsky, Upper District Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Antietam NB - A visitor found the remains of a soldier in a previously unknown battlefield grave last October. Excavations conducted last month by NPS archeologists suggest that he was a young man from a New York regiment.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7279" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7279

Alaska Region - New 10-year concession contracts have been awarded to four cruise ship companies operating in Glacier Bay.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7278" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7278

Servicewide Training Calendar - A listing of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. Added today are the following - a wilderness stewardship training in Albuquerque, a taser instructor training course at Delaware Water Gap NRA, a law enforcement for managers course at FLETC in Georgia, and five backcountry tactics and tracking courses at FLETC in New Mexico.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=775" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=775

Servicewide Events Calendar - Today's listing of upcoming NPS and NPS-related events across the nation. New on today's listing are two celebrations - the annual Kingsley Heritage Celebration at Timucuan and the first annual American Indian Music Fest at Casa Grande.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=776" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=776

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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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