NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Monday, March 29, 2010
INCIDENTS
George Washington Memorial Parkway
Some Park Facilities Still Closed Following Flood
Park staff mobilized quickly to protect park resources and visitors during the mid-March flooding along the Potomac River. Great Falls Park in Virginia and Theodore Roosevelt Island in D.C. (and adjacent parking in Virginia) were closed to address visitor safety concerns for several days starting on Saturday, March 13th. Park staff used sandbags to mitigate potential flooding at Great Falls Visitor Center and monitored trail and site conditions while on foot patrols. Staff informed the public about how flooding might affect recreational visits/commutes, asked people to respect closed areas, and suggested visitors remain observant for standing water, mud and obstructions on trails in the park. Flooding was expected due to heavy rainfall combined with snowmelt in the upper watershed of the Potomac River. Rising water carried extremely hazardous debris, trees, and man-made objects. High winds associated with the moving storm and water-logged soils caused concerns about the uprooting of trees and falling branches. Here's the current status of park facilities:
Great Falls Park, Virginia - The park is open, but some trails are still closed due to fallen trees and flood debris. Fisherman's Eddy is closed until further notice due to flood debris.
Theodore Roosevelt Island, Washington, D.C. (and adjacent parking near Arlington, Virginia) - Open.
Mount Vernon Trail - Open, but some sections of the 18.5-mile trail may still be covered by flood debris.
Potomac Heritage Trail - This 10-mile trail is open, but sections may be muddy.
For more information, call 703-289-2500. [Dana Dierkes, Public Affairs Officer]
Golden Gate NRA
Major Search For Missing Teenager Ends With Body Recovery
On the afternoon of Saturday, March 20th, ranger Terry Swift was conducting a patrol in Tennessee Valley when he was approached by a young woman in the parking lot who said that a friend of hers who had camped the previous night in the park had not returned home. After obtaining as much information as possible from the woman, Swift contacted supervisory ranger Kurt Veeck, who in turn contacted the Marin County Sheriff's Office and asked for assistance from the county's search and rescue team. Rangers, U.S. Park Police officers, Marin County Sheriff's Office deputies and search and rescue team personnel, U.S. Coast Guard personnel, and park lifeguard supervisors began an extensive ground and water search near the cliffs and coastline along Tennessee Beach. While the search was underway, U.S. Park Police criminal investigators began an investigation regarding the missing teenager. They determined through interviews with other teens who were present in the camp that night that there was a possibility that the teenager had fallen off the cliff into ocean - a fall of about 200 feet. The search ended at dark and resumed at 7 a.m. the next morning with over 100 volunteers from various Bay Area SAR teams, Marin County's urban search and rescue team, and Point Reyes rangers in their Safeboat. At approximately 11:30 a.m., ranger Xave Agnew and lifeguard supervisor John Ralph spotted the body of the missing teenager in a cove north of Muir Beach. The body was recovered via a long line extraction by a helicopter out of Sonoma County. It was transported to the Muir Beach parking lot, where the Marin County coroner and U.S. Park Police criminal investigators were waiting. The death is being investigated cooperatively with the coroner's office. No foul play is suspected; alcohol may have been a contributing factor. Media coverage was high. [Kim Coast, Operations Supervisor]
Natchez Trace Parkway
Apparent Suicide From Highway 96 Bridge
The park and the Williamson County Sheriff's Department are investigating an apparent suicide that took place from the Highway 96 Bridge in Williamson County, Tennessee. The body of a 49-year-old man was discovered below the bridge on Tuesday, March 23rd. The bridge is 155 feet high. [Michael Foster]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Department of the Interior - The U.S. Mint has unveiled the first five of its new “America the Beautiful” quarters, featuring America's four oldest national parks - Hot Springs, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon - and Mount Hood National Forest.
Everglades NP - Director Jon Jarvis and Deputy Director Mickey Fearn visited Biscayne and Everglades National Parks and Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida for a two-day series of public forums on March 19th and 20th. Their trip was the second stop in Director Jarvis' "Road Shows," intended to connect national parks with new audiences in their communities. 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.
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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