NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, October 26, 2009

INCIDENTS

Sequoia NP

Injured Climber Rescued From Mount Whitney

On Saturday, October 3rd, two men were climbing the East Buttress route (difficulty 5.7) on Mt. Whitney. They were on a ledge at 13,500 feet when a large rock fell from above and hit one of the climbers on the helmet and upper back. The impact pushed him down to the ledge and caused him to experience neck and back pain with numbness and tingling on his entire left side. The uninjured climber assisted his partner in rappelling down two rope lengths, but his companion's pain was so intense that he could not continue. A cell phone call was made to the park that came in around 10 p.m. On Sunday morning, the park's helicopter flew ranger/medics Deb Brenchley and Rich Browne in to locate the climbers and evaluate the possibility of a short-haul extraction. The climbers were found at their camp at Iceberg Lake. Due to the cold, they'd continued to descend in the dark and finally arrived at their camp at 5 a.m. The temperature when the rescue team arrived was -16° C (about 3° F). The injured climber was transported to Southern Inyo Hospital, where he was diagnosed as having suffered a fractured scapula, broken ribs, and a compression fracture of his c-spine. [Michael Cole, Lodgepole Subdistrict Ranger]

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Man Sentenced In Abusive Sexual Contact Incident

On August 30, 2008, a 16-year-old girl was visiting the Townsend Wye area within the park. As she was leaving the area and returning to her vehicle, a man came up from behind and sexually assaulted and threatened her. She screamed, and he fled in his car. The victim was able to get the license plate number and provide rangers with a detailed description of her assailant. An investigation conducted by supervisory park ranger Steve Spanyer and special agent Jeff Carlisle led to the identification of the suspect as one J.T. J.T. was subsequently charged with abusive sexual contact (18 USC 2244 (b)). On July 8, 2009, J.T. entered a guilty plea and was remanded into custody pending sentencing. J.T. had earlier been placed on home confinement with electronic monitoring and was under monitoring from January until his change of plea hearing. On October 7th, J.T. was sentenced to time served (three months), followed by an additional 90 days of home confinement. He was given 40 hours of community service and must participate in the sexual offender treatment program. He was also placed on three years of supervised release, and must register as a sexual offender for at least a ten-year period. [Jeff Carlisle, Special Agent]

OTHER NEWS

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

Mammoth Cave NP - Mammoth Cave, in partnership with the Dart Corporation, has significantly expanded its already substantial recycling program by adding polystyrene foam to its list of recyclables. Dart, a manufacturer of foam products, has established the first foam recycling drop-off in the state and its eighth nationwide.

Social Sciences - The Social Science Program has released the 2008 update of "National Park Visitor Spending and Payroll Impacts." A summary is provided along with a link to the full report. Photo.

Golden Gate NRA - An innovative public-private partnership that transformed a former military base into the park's newest addition has been recognized with California's highest and most prestigious environmental honor. Photo.

Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service.

Midwest Region - Jim Loach has been awarded the Meritorious Service Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions and leadership to the NPS and DOI in the field of incident management. Photo.

To see these and other 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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