NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, December 16, 2010

INCIDENTS

Mount Rainier NP

Rangers Intervene In Attempted Suicide

On the morning of December 14th, park dispatch received a report from a distraught woman in Kenmore, Washington, reporting that she'd found a five-page, handwritten suicide note from her 39-year-old husband saying that he was going to Mount Rainier to commit suicide and that he was going to make it look like an accident by driving off a bridge on one of the park roads. Dispatch broadcast a ‘be on the lookout' message to rangers, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, the Washington State Patrol, and the U.S. Forest Service. The man's vehicle was spotted at the Nisqually entrance around 3 p.m. The ranger at the entrance notified dispatch and reported that the man had asked about road access and conditions on the Glacier Bridge. Rangers closed the road above Longmire and contacted the man behind the National Park Inn in Longmire. He was taken into protective custody without incident and transported to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was placed in the care of mental health professionals. [Uwe Nehring]

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/):

Office of Communications - The President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site in Hope, Arkansas, has been officially announced as the 394th park in the National Park System.

Workforce Management - Progress continues to be made in the Servicewide effort to bring into existence Servicing Human Resource Offices. The target for full implementation is next September 30th. An update is provided.

Office of International Affairs - The National Park Service is seeking public comment on possible future U.S. nominations to the World Heritage List, as well as on potential additions to the U.S. World Heritage Tentative List. Photo.

Intermountain Region - Hundreds of family, friends and coworkers from all across the country gathered on Thursday, December 9th, for a memorial service and “Celebration of Life” to honor Len Dems, fire management officer for Intermountain Region. Len passed away on December 5th after a courageous battle against cancer. Photo.

Intermountain Region - Tammy Whittington, an administrator of key environmental and resource protection and restoration programs for the National Park Service, has been named associate regional director for resources and science advisor for Intermountain Region. Photo.

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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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