NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

South Florida Parks Create Early Warning System For Oil

The men and women of the National Park Service continue to be an integral part of the national federal response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. All NPS units in the Gulf remain open and are conducting regular park operations.

Gulf Islands NS - Skimming boats are working on several oil areas near park shores. Horn and Petit Bois islands continue to receive light scattered oil, and clean up continues daily. There was a light scattering of oil yesterday at Perdido Key that clean-up crews addressed. Heavier oiling was experienced several miles to the west outside of park boundaries. The Ft. Pickens and Santa Rosa areas continue to receive light oiling and cleanup continued today. Clean-up operations are functioning more smoothly as the crews become more familiar with the park and cleanup requirements and protocols. Ten volunteers met visitors at beach access areas in the Florida District and provided information about the park and reminding them to avoid contact with the oil. For more information on oil impacts and conditions (including swimming and fishing information), visit the HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/" Deepwater Horizon Response website

South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, DeSoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration moved the “no fishing” boundary further to the west of the Dry Tortugas on Friday. The area boundary has not changed and remains about 100 miles to the west of the Dry Tortugas and 180 miles West of Key West. A team of resource advisors has been working on the oil spill clean-up response plan and the final draft is being reviewed. This document will provide baseline information on how to proceed with clean-up effort while protecting resources and visitor safety. An early warning system to monitor for oil has been implemented by the Coast Guard's Florida Peninsula Unified Command Post, in coordination with BP and the Department of Interior, to alert Dry Tortugas NP and the Florida Keys at the earliest indication of a threat. NPS personnel continue to conduct daily surveys of the islands of Dry Tortugas NP. Monitoring continues at all South Florida park coastal areas. There has been no oil from Deepwater Horizon in these parks. Visitors are continuing to enjoy the islands and beaches and all the related recreational opportunities they offer. A communications center continues to be staffed by a team of information officers and can be contacted at 305-224-4215, or via email at HYPERLINK "mailto:SouthFloridaNPS@gmail.com_" SouthFloridaNPS@gmail.com.

Jean Lafitte NHP&P - Park staff are working with the unified command in Mobile and with state and parish officials to plan for any necessary defensive actions. It was reported by unified command that there was an oil incursion into Barataria Bay; the oil, however, remains 20 miles from park waters.

Padre Island NS - During the weekend, all of the data point markers on the beach were removed or broken off by person or persons unknown The park will begin replacing the markers with steel t-posts on Tuesday or Wednesday. In the meantime, baseline photos were retaken using GPS information obtained during the last data gathering. Park staff are keeping watch for when the Kemp's ridley sea turtles that were tagged with transmitters while they were nesting in the park, begin to arrive in the area currently affected by the oil spill.

The national parks in the Gulf of Mexico and south Florida preserve wildlife habitats and historical areas that are unique to our country. Coral reefs, mudflats, mangroves, marshes, and sea grass beds provide nurseries, refuge, and feeding areas for wildlife, while lighthouses, seacoast fortifications, and shipwrecks preserve evidence of trade, war, and maritime technology dating back to the 16th Century. Millions of people come to these seashore and island national parks for relaxation, inspiration and fun. In national park lands and waters the oil spill could contaminate and destroy the food sources and nesting areas for marine wildlife, including endangered least terns and Kemp's ridley turtles. Spilled oil can permanently damage historic brick coastal fortifications on the water's edge, like Fort Massachusetts at Gulf Islands National Seashore, or underwater shipwrecks like the Windjammer at Dry Tortugas National Park. Of additional concern, oil clean-up crews and equipment could disturb or damage sensitive wildlife habitats and archeological sites. Beaches, bayous, and waters will be closed if they become contaminated.

For more information on the NPS, DOI and national oil spill responses and for a link to the BP online oil spill safety training needed by all incident staff, please see the following:

NPS Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm" http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm

DOI Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm" http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm

National Oil Spill Response - HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com" http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

Oil Spill Safety Training - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957

[Mindi Rambo, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]

Mount Rainier NP

Ten Climbers Rescued, One Missing Following Avalanche

Eleven climbers were caught in an avalanche on the upper Ingraham Glacier at 4:45 a.m. on June 5th during a summit attempt. Climbers in the area and several involved in the avalanche extricated ten of the eleven people. Two victims were airlifted in a US Army Reserve Chinook helicopter to a local hospital. The missing climber was solo climbing and did not register to climb. After an overdue party report was filed with the park, officials have a possibly identity for the missing climber. The slab avalanche began at 12,500 feet and continued down to 11,200 feet. It was one two meters deep and from 100 to 200 yards wide. After the initial rescue efforts were completed, the ground search was suspended due to high avalanche danger. The park then conducted an air search without locating the missing climber. Weather and avalanche conditions over the next 48 hours are expected to stall search operations. Resources and staff are staged at Camp Muir to continue the search when conditions improve. Invaluable assistance during the incident was provided by the 214th Unit of the US Army Reserve from Fort Lewis, International Mountain Guides, and Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated. A Hughes 530 from Northwest Helicopters assisted in the air search. [Patti Wold, PIO and Stefan Lofgren Mountaineering District Ranger]

Jean Lafitte NHP&P

Principal Park Facilities Closed Temporarily Due To Bomb Threat

The Thibodaux Police Department contacted the park just before 10 a.m. on May 26th and reported that they'd received a 911 call with a bomb threat against the park. The woman who called was not specific about the location; she'd notified the Census Bureau in Houma that the park would be cleaning up a big mess from the bomb explosion. Within minutes, protection staff and other park personnel had evacuated the Chalmette Battlefield, the park's headquarters and visitor center in New Orleans, the visitor center and education center in Barataria Preserve, the visitor center and library in Thibodeaux, the visitor center in Lafayette Parish, and the cultural center in St. Landry Parish. As a precaution, the visitor center at New Orleans Jazz in the French Quarter was evacuated as well. Inspections of these park sites were conducted by protection rangers who were joined by city police, sheriff's deputies, state troopers and bomb-sniffing canines. Businesses near park headquarters in the French Quarter were also shut down and evacuated as a precaution. After all areas were cleared and determined to be safe, employees and visitors were allowed to return. Ranger immediately began a criminal investigation, which revealed that the caller had originally left a voice message at the Census Bureau and that a phone number had shown up on caller ID. The phone number was for a cell phone within an area code in Arizona. Phone records were immediately obtained and the phone company was able to assist the park in determining that the caller was actually making the calls from the New Orleans area. A tracer was placed on the cellular phone and the NPS was provided with the caller's exact address. Rangers were also made aware that the caller was continuing to make harassing calls to various government offices in the area, including the local US Attorney and federal political figures. The local office of the FBI was notified and asked to assist in the follow-up investigation. Rangers and FBI agents conducted surveillance on the house and arrested a woman the next morning. She admitted to making hundreds of phone calls to government officials in recent days and showed obvious signs of advanced mental illness. The US Attorney's Office, FBI, and NPS continue to work on the case. [John K. Hughes, Chief Ranger]

Buffalo NR

Two Children Drown In Buffalo River

On the evening of June 5th, a family consisting of two adults and five children visited the park at the Ponca Access near the Ponca Low Water Bridge. Two brothers - an eight-year-old and a twelve-year-old - were seen by a third brother trying to retrieve the younger boy's swimming trunks by “bobbing up and down” in the river just after 8 p.m. While watching, the boys went under and did not resurface. A visitor and the boys' stepfather pulled them to shore, where other visitors assisted and began CPR. North Arkansas medics arrived in an ambulance around 9 p.m. and took over care. About 20 minutes later, air evac medics joined the crew and drove the boys to the North Arkansas Medical Center. The 12-year-old was pronounced dead later in the evening; the eight-year-old still had a pulse and blood pressure, though, so he was flown to St. John's Regional Medical Center. He died there around 3 a.m. The Boone County coroner is assisting with the investigation. [Melissa Lamm, Park Ranger]

Lake Mead NRA

Drowning Victim Recovered From Lake Mohave

Rangers, assisted by Las Vegas Metro Police divers, have recovered the body of a 23-year-old man who evidently drowned in Lake Mohave. The body was recovered on Saturday evening at Morning Star Cove on the Nevada side of Lake Mohave. The victim was found approximately 40 feet from shore at a depth of 39 feet. According to witnesses, the man was swimming across the cove when he when he began to struggle and went underwater. A witness on shore notified the National Park Service minutes after the incident occurred. Bystanders attempted to help, but were unable get to him in time. Rangers and Nevada Department of Wildlife game wardens responded to the cove and immediately began to search the area. The man was an El Salvadorian national living in Las Vegas. Rangers do not suspect alcohol was involved. He wasn't wearing a lifejacket. The body has been turned over to the Clark County coroner. The name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

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

Appomattox Court House NHP - Seasonal maintenance worker Teddy Garrett, killed in the line of duty on Wednesday, June 2nd, was laid to rest in services this past Saturday before an overflow crowd at the New Hope Baptist Church in Appomattox. Photo.

Office of Public Affairs - Director Jarvis has named Stephanie Smith Toothman, Ph.D., as the Service's new Associate Director for Cultural Resources. She will begin her job in mid July. Photo.

Gulf Coast Parks - A contractor-owned underwater robot nicknamed Waldo, employed to patrol waters for oil and dispersants from the Gulf Coast spill, went astray in strong currents over Memorial Day weekend. The NPS joined in the search and found Waldo floating south of Garden Key.

US Park Police - Pacific West Region's SET Team III, comprised of Park Police officers, was recently assigned to Sequoia-Kings Canyon to assist with a Hell's Angel rally. The team was commended for its efforts. Photo.

Fire and Aviation Management - Fire and Aviation Management recently launched a new external blog site, and a fire archeologist from Yosemite was the first blogger from the NPS Fire Detailer Program to sign on. 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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