NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Thursday, August 5, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Parks
Interpreters Respond To Spill With New Programs
Interpretive rangers at Gulf Islands NS have changed their programs to deal with the realities of the oil spill and to discuss related issues. Here are the particulars:
Gulf Islands NS - With oil and tar balls in gulf waters, Gulf Islands National Seashore interpreters have had to adapt to a changing water and beach environment and redesign the programming they offer to park visitors. Rather than conducting activities in the water, interpreters now lead a guided walk on the beach called “Island Treasures,” where visitors can check the edge of the tide marks to see what washed up on shore. Another new field program, “Living on the Edge,” is a guided examination of coastal ecology held at Naval Live Oaks Visitor Center, located on U.S. 98 east of Gulf Breeze. Water safety coordinator John Hunter also leads a Cadet Lifeguard program where youth learn about the park and its water programs―without entering the water. Interpreters have also noted that the makeup of visitor groups coming to the park is different than before the oil spill. Many of their audiences now include workers involved in cleaning up the beach or doing other spill-related jobs. As a result, interpreters are offering programs specifically geared to people working on the cleanup effort to inform them about beach ecology and the importance of their work.
South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, Desoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - No new developments.
Jean Lafitte NHP&P - No new developments.
Padre Island NS - No new developments.
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 sites:
HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/" Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm" DOI Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm" NPS Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/" National Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.restorethegulf.gov/" Restore The Gulf
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957" Oil Spill Safety Training
HYPERLINK "http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/" GeoPlatform
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=1006&id=9336" NPS ICS 209 Incident Status Summaries
HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/documents/NPS%20-%20Public%20Health%20Notice%20SIGNAGE%206-26-10.pdf" Gulf Islands Public Health Precautions Notice
HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/archive/features/oilspillresponse/OilSpillSafety/index.htm" Public Health Service Oil Spill Safety Video
HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/archive/features/oilspillresponse/" Oil Spill Media Page
[Ken Hires and Mary McBurney, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]
Amistad NRA
Glen Canyon Dive Team Helps Park With Flood Recovery
Lake Amistad remains at just above flood stage four weeks after a major influx of water raised the lake level 15 feet during the July 4th weekend. The International Boundary and Water Commission, which manages the Amistad Dam, is slowly releasing flood waters from the lake at a rate of a two- to three-inch drop per day. The slow release has hampered the park's efforts to conduct a damage assessment, as it's been necessary to wait for damaged facilities to emerge from the flood waters. All of the main campgrounds have been reopened, however, though two of the three group campgrounds remain closed. A major boost to efforts to repair damaged park facilities came through the assistance of the Glen Canyon dive team. Dive leader Pat Horning and four members of his team spent last week at Amistad lending their expertise in the repair of several major boat and fishing docks, enabling the park to reopen these facilities. [Regina Klein Dissler, Chief Ranger]
El Malpais NM
Unexploded Bomb Found In Park
While working on the Barbell Fire in the Cerritos de Jaspe region of the park, resource advisor Steve Baumann found the shrapnel and casing of an exploded bomb and what appeared to be an unexploded bomb from the World War II era. The fire crews were evacuated and an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team from Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque was requested. The McCartys Crater area in El Malpais was used as a bombing range from 1942 to 1944, when 100 pound “iron bombs” loaded with TNT were dropped on targets to train bomber crews. Over the past 23 years at El Malpais, there have been five “unexploded ordnance” (UXO) incidents that required an EOD team to evaluate and dispose of bombs. On July 23rd, the Kirtland EOD team cleared the area, inspected the vintage weapon, and detonated the bomb. With the UXO neutralized, fire crews returned to managing the Barbell Fire. [Dana Sullivan]
Rocky Mountain NP
Hiker Struck By Lightning Rescued By Park Staff
Rangers received a phone call late yesterday morning reporting an injured man on Longs Peak. He'd been found by hikers in the area of The Narrows at roughly 13,800 feet. According to the initial reports, the 31-year-old Minnesota man had hiked to the peak the day before and spent an unplanned night in the backcountry. He was conscious and able to walk slowly with assistance, but was unable to recall what had caused his injuries. As a trail crew headed to his location, dispatch received additional calls from visitors who reported that they were helping the man down the trail and were also providing him with dry clothing, food and water. The crew reached him in early afternoon at The Ledges. Based on an assessment of his injuries, including numerous burns, it was determined that he'd been struck by lightning sometime late on Tuesday. The trail crew provided immediate care and got the man to the Agnes Vaille shelter, where they waited out an intense storm with lightning, hail, heavy rains and low temperatures. They then resumed their slow hike down the trail and connected with rangers at The Boulderfield around 4 p.m. The rangers provided him with emergency medical care. He was then littered to a location where a medevac helicopter was able to pick him up and take him to St. Anthony Central. About 35 people were involved with this rescue, including a paramedic from Estes Park Medical Center. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):
National Park of American Samoa - A park team with expertise in eradication of invasive plants is helping the Republic of Palau in its efforts to defeat the highly invasive tamaligi tree, which threatens the Palauan ecosystem.
Workforce Management - Human resources community leaders met in Omaha for three days in July to continue work on standing up the 23 Servicing Human Resource Offices (SHROs) across the National Park Service. Photo.
Park Facility Management Division - The Sustainable Operations and Climate Change branch of the Park Facility Management Division hosted a cross-section of regional, DSC, and Commercial Services Division representatives at a Servicewide sustainability workshop in Denver over two days in mid-July.
Joshua Tree NP - Don Roberts, the special park use and fee program manager for Joshua Tree National Park, retired on July 31st after 29 years of federal service.
NPS incident submission standards can be found online at the HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" serious incident notification web page.
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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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