NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, August 14, 2009

NOTICE

Assateague Island NS

Fishing Vessel Grounds On Island

The park and neighboring Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge have been working cooperatively with the Coast Guard to remove a grounded vessel from “the hook” at the southern tip of Assateague Island. The 77-foot-long, 160-ton fishing vessel Frieda Marie ran aground on August 3rd. The crew reportedly beached the vessel for safety reasons due to taking on water. The vessel's owner has expended all available funds and has given up further claims to the boat. However, currently available documentation is not adequate to transfer title, and the federal government may be forced to pursue abandoned property proceedings. Any substantial threat of pollution has been eliminated through the response actions of the owner and the USCG. Residual contaminants remain a threat to piping plover populations and habitat. The vessel could eventually break up and litter the beach, affecting plover habitat. Components of the vessel are also reported to have asbestos and PCBs. The Coast Guard has worked diligently to remove the entire vessel under its emergency authorities, but agency mandates, strict authorities, and logistics have complicated the response action. The USCG generally does not address derelict vessels under the emergency authorities of the Oil Pollution Act, which is also the funding source for the response action. The refuge's manager has assumed the lead for the Department of the Interior, with the park's superintendent providing support to seek an effective solution to this grounded vessel. [D L Anderson, NPS Spill Response, and Trish Kicklighter, Superintendent]

Glacier Bay NP&P

Quick Action By NPS Employee Saves Sinking Boat's Passengers

On the afternoon of August 9th, visitor use assistant Wayne Clark was on a personal fishing trip on a 26-foot fiberglass vessel with his wife and another couple. Just after noon, they decided to return home for the day. They were approximately a mile from Bartlett Cove when the boat's operator noticed that the vessel was handling sluggishly, noted that the engine was riding low, and saw that they were taking on water over the stern. When he opened an inspection hatch on the deck, he saw that the bilge was rapidly filling with water. All hands attempted to bail out the vessel, but the bilge pump and their efforts could not keep up with the incoming water. Clark then directed the operator to attempt to beach the boat and insured that everyone on board was wearing a lifejacket. They made attempts to hail nearby vessels and call the Bartlett Cove Visitor Information Station, but none of these attempts was successful. About 75 yards from shore, the vessel's engine failed, the stern completely filled with water, and the vessel capsized. As the vessel was turning over, Clark was able to pull his wife and their female companion with him, thereby preventing them from being trapped under the boat. The male companion could not be located because he was still under the forward canopy and superstructure of the boat. Clark began attempts to find him and made one dive under the vessel to recover him. Upon returning to the surface, he found that the missing person had resurfaced next to them. They began to swim to shore, but were hampered by currents and the initial onset of hypothermia. Luckily, a nearby boat was able to rescue all four people and bring them to Bartlett Cove, where the ranger staff treated them for exposure. The vessel is a total loss and was towed to the Bartlett Cove launch ramp area, where it was recovered by the owner. Due to Wayne Clark's quick thinking and cool actions under great pressure, this event had a successful outcome. All passengers attribute their survival to him. Clark is a retired Coast Guard rescue swimmer and one of the original swimmers who started the program. He has worked as a deck hand and boat operator for the park and teaches navigation, local weather, and tide chart reading for the annual DOIMOCC course in Glacier Bay. [Gus Martinez, Bay District Ranger]

Lake Mead NRA

Another Tour Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing In Park

For the second time this week, a tour helicopter has been forced to make an emergency landing at Lake Mead. The helicopter, operated by Sundance Helicopters of Las Vegas, made an emergency landing yesterday evening at Callville Bay. According to the pilot, he had alarms and warnings indicating an electrical problem. He decided to land the aircraft as soon as possible as a precaution and for the safety of the six passengers on board. The helicopter was on its return flight from the Grand Canyon back to McCarran International Airport when it diverted. No injuries were reported. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs Officer]

Grand Teton NP

Rangers Rescue Three Boaters From Snake River

Rangers rescued three boaters from the Snake River on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 11th, after they flipped their canoe and fell into the river. Will Shafer, 23, of Ogden, Utah, and two of his relatives, a 16-year-old young man and a five-year-old boy, were canoeing on the river just a mile downstream of the historic Bar BC Ranch when the accident occurred. Only the five-year-old boy was wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident; Shafer and his other relative were not wearing their life preservers and lost them to the river's current when the canoe capsized. After his canoe upset in the river, Shafer was able to hold onto the vessel as it continued to float downstream. He was diverted into a debris-choked side channel where the canoe became pinned against a logjam. This channel lies river left of the main current and is not navigable. The teenager and young boy were swept downstream until, with some difficulty, they were eventually able to grab hold of an exposed tree root and pull themselves out of the river and onto the bank. The two parties lost sight of one another and were unsure about each other's welfare for several minutes. A float guide with Triangle X Dude Ranch came upon the stranded canoeists and called the Teton Interagency Dispatch Center at 3:10 p.m. to report the situation. The river guide then proceeded to help the three boaters until a park ranger could arrive by raft to rescue them from their separate locations along the riverbank. The ranger then floated all three canoeists to the Moose Landing, where other family members were waiting. Rangers give credit to the Triangle X Ranch river guide for his invaluable assistance in this rescue operation, and for his help in directing rescue personnel to the exact location of the stranded boaters. Commercial river guides are often the first responders to river accidents because they consistently float the Snake River; their initial response can be a critical part of a successful river rescue, as was the case in this particular incident. Rangers remind boaters that life preservers can save lives, and it's prudent to wear a lifejacket whenever floating the Snake River because of its swift current and cold water. According to park regulations, children under 13 years of age are required to be wearing a life jacket whenever a vessel is in motion, and any boat operating on park waters is required to have lifejackets for each person on board. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

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

Fort Union Trading Post NHS - Royalty, storytelling and the demise of the buffalo were the highlights of this year's 18th annual Indian Arts Showcase at Fort Union Trading Post NHS. Held on August 1st and 2nd, the showcase included nine artisans who displayed quillwork, drums, hide tanning, beadwork, ledger art, bow making, and other traditional native arts.

Gateway NRA - Volunteers have rebuilt a wildlife viewing platform in the Sandy Hook Unit. The effort was the result of a cooperative effort by the park, the Sandy Hook Foundation and a number of other partners.

Training Calendar - A listing of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. Added to this week's listing is a use of force instructor bridge training course at FLETC.

To see all stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):

NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

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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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