NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, March 30, 2009

INCIDENTS

Knife River Indian Villages NHS

Knife River Comes Out Of Banks And Floods Park

The heavy precipitation and snowmelt that struck the Dakotas last week caused the Knife River to come out of its banks and flood the park. The bridge about three miles west of the park went out last Wednesday, but a bridge closer in fortunately has remained intact. River banks are seriously eroding, threatening some archeological sites and a county road. The main flooding occurred before another blizzard dropped twelve to sixteen inches of heavy snow on the area, with more snow predicted for this past weekend. The river, however, began to recede on Friday. The heavy snow cover will prevent any visual assessment of the damage in the near future. [John Moeykens, Law Enforcement/Resource Management]

Natchez Trace Parkway

Alabama Man Killed In Single-Vehicle Accident

Park dispatch received a call regarding a single-vehicle accident on the parkway in Lauderdale County on the morning of March 26th. Rangers and Alabama state troopers responded. They found that a 2003 GMC Sonoma pickup operated by D.M., 62, had been heading north on the parkway when it went off the road and hit a tree. D.M. was fatally injured. The exact cause of the accident is under investigation. [Allen Etheridge, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

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

Fire and Aviation Management - On behalf of the family of Richard T "Rick" Gale, retired career NPS ranger and wildland fire manager, it is with great sadness that we pass along the news of his unexpected death in Boise, Idaho, on Friday, March 27th.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2282" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2282

Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the NPS. On March 25th, the House passed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, as amended by the Senate. The bill now goes to the President for signature. This legislation has many provisions affecting parks.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7495" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7495

Museum Management Program - The NPS Museum Management Program has launched two new virtual museum exhibits - one on Frederick Douglass and the other on Carl Sandburg.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7496" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7496

Colonial NHP - Former Colonial NHP chief ranger Ralph Maxwell passed away on March 25th. He had a 32-year career with the Service.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2280" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2280

Badlands NP - On March 11th, four NPS superintendents addressed the first graduating class of the Plus50 Program, an educational program offered at Western Dakota Technical Institute designed to teach park ranger skills to students fifty years of age and older.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7484" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7484

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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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