NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, January 23, 2009

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INCIDENTS

Colorado NM

Driver Rescued From Van Teetering At Cliff Edge

A van went off the park road on Wednesday, January 21st, and tumbled 120 feet down a 300-foot cliff before getting caught on a ledge, its rear wheels teetering over a 180-foot precipice above Red Canyon. Rescuers established a rope system, descended to the van, extricated the injured driver, and raised him up to the road and a waiting ambulance. Plans are to remove the van today with a giant crane. For a series of eleven photos detailing this rescue, click on the link below. [Joan Anzelmo, Superintendent]

Natchez Trace Parkway

Special Anti-Poaching Patrol Nets Six Violators

Just after midnight on Sunday, January 11th, ranger Ryan Balentine and Mississippi game warden Steven Strader were working an anti-poaching operation on the Natchez Trace Parkway near milepost 28 in Jefferson County when they saw the operator of a Ford F-150 pickup stop his truck in the middle of the parkway and point it so as to shine its headlights on a deer decoy. The passenger then fired two shots at the decoy. The truck then headed south on the parkway, with the ranger and warden in pursuit. It was intercepted by ranger Jerome Timmons, who'd been waiting in concealment at milepost 25. A deer was found in the back of the truck that investigation revealed had been shot in Louisiana about three hours earlier. All three occupants of the truck were charged with several state and federal violations, including the Lacey Act. This was the second instance of attempted poaching on that weekend. Balentine and game warden Jock Smith were working a deer poaching detail on the Saturday before the above incident when they head a shot coming from the parkway just north of their location. They found a blue Lincoln Town Car parked on the shoulder. Timmons joined them there. They found that a passenger in the car had shot at a deer, but had evidently missed. Three people in the car were charged with state and federal violations. [Allen Etheridge, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

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

National Capital Region - This week's inaugural for President Obama was a major undertaking for the National Park Service because of its management of so much of downtown Washington and because of the extensive security and enforcement responsibilities of the United States Park Police. An overview of the Service's contributions.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7298" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7298

Yosemite NP - Mike Tollefson, superintendent, and Kevin Cann, deputy superintendent, have both officially retired from the National Park Service. Retirement celebrations were held for both senior managers recently and both veteran NPS employees have moved on to the next chapters of their lives.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2225" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2225

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 course on interviewing and interrogation in Georgia, a training session on accessibility management for parks and recreation in Indiana, and several FLETC driver and firearms instructor courses.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=1660" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=1660

Servicewide Events Calendar - Today's listing of upcoming NPS and NPS-related events across the nation. New on today's listing is a National Register program workshop in Washington in March.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=1661" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=1661

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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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