NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

INCIDENTS

National Mall/President's Park

Two Major Demonstrations Held Over Weekend

Spring has arrived in Washington, bringing both beautiful weather and several large First Amendment demonstrations. On Saturday, March 20th, a large group of demonstrators came to Lafayette Park and the White House to seek redress regarding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This group held a rally with speakers followed by a march around downtown Washington. After this march, they regrouped on the White House sidewalk to continue the event. When large numbers violated applicable sections of the Code of Federal Regulations specific to White House demonstrations, United States Park Police officers closed the center portion of the sidewalk. Subsequent to this closure, eight people were arrested for demonstration violations - four for failing to obey a lawful order and four for crossing a police line. Among those arrested for crossing a police line was Cindy Sheehan, a well known anti-war activist. The next day brought an even larger crowd to the National Mall, where the issue was immigration reform. This event lasted several hours, with many speakers and a culminating march off NPS areas to the bus staging site at RFK Stadium. One person was arrested for simple assault. The United States Park Police and its partners in the National Park Service managed both of these events well, permitting large numbers of people to exercise their Constitutional rights. [Sgt. David Schlosser, Public Affairs Officer]

Grand Canyon NP

Rangers Find Two Missing Hikers

Rangers found two overdue hikers yesterday afternoon following a search that began on Monday. The hikers, I.R. and M.W., both from Kansas, were found along the Colorado River near Royal Arch, an area of the Grand Canyon west of the South Rim developed area and Hermits Rest. The two men had obtained a backcountry permit from the park to hike in the Royal Arch and South Bass areas, departing on March 16th and returning on March 20th. On Monday, a member of one of the men's families notified the park that the two men had failed to return to Kansas as planned. Following the phone call from the family member, the park began an aerial and ground search and an investigation. The men were spotted from the park's helicopter around 3 p.m. Both were okay and were flown out to the South Rim. Several factors helped search and rescue personnel in finding the missing hikers, including the fact that they'd obtained the required backcountry permits and that they had informed family members of where they were planning to hike and when they were planning to return. [Robin Martin]

Gateway NRA

Body Found In Sandy Hook Unit

The body of an unidentified man was found along the shoreline of the park's Sandy Hook Unit on March 17th. It was spotted in a remote area by a dog walker in the late afternoon on the bayside south of Battery Mills. An investigation is underway to determine the man's identity and the circumstances of his death. Rangers are working with the New Jersey State Police Marine Bureau, investigators from the Monmouth County prosecutor's office, and the county medical examiner. [Bruce Lane]

OTHER NEWS

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

Big Bend NP - Secretary Salazar and Congressman Ciro Rodriguez highlighted more than $10.4 million in projects that are creating jobs at the park under President Obama's economic recovery plan during a visit there on March 12th. Joining them at the park were Assistant Secretary Tom Strickland and Director Jon Jarvis. Photo.

DeSoto NM - Rangers lead their first kayak tours of the park and its adjacent waters earlier this month, providing visitors with unique insights into area history and ecology. Photo.

Accounting Operations Center - Gary DeBusk has announced his retirement after more than 35 years with the National Park Service. He will leave on April 3rd. 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/

NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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