NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
INCIDENTS
National Capital Region
NPS Areas Co-Host Inauguration
The best of the National Park Service was on national display during the 57th Presidential Inauguration on Monday, January 21st. Hundreds of NPS staff and volunteers, under the direction of the National Capital Region's Inaugural Incident Management Team, operated like a well-oiled machine as they performed the innumerable tasks needed to keep thousands upon thousands of visitors safe and to protect the American public's parkland.
Managing the inauguration and its associated events was a monumental task by itself, but was made even more challenging because Inauguration Day coincided with the Martin Luther King holiday and because of the need to protect the $16 million turf project recently completed on the Mall.
Leading up to the inauguration, daily meetings were held to discuss operations and planning. National Park Service staff met and coordinated with the US Secret Service, the Capitol Police, the Presidential Inaugural Committee and many more agencies and groups. The tasks were myriad:
Special use permits were negotiated and issued for use of the National Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue. Permits were also issued for First Amendment demonstrations. Permit monitors ensured that the requirements of the permits were met.
Contracts were issued and supplies ordered.
Interpretive staff created junior ranger programs and produced interpretive materials.
Emergency medical services were arranged.
The week before the inauguration, NPS maintenance employees and contractors installed 3,800 feet of chain link fencing, 17,000 feet of bike racks, and portable toilets at eight emergency medical service locations throughout the Mall.
Public affairs staff were kept busy answering phones, conducting interviews, answering innumerable questions and updating the NPS inaugural website.
Incident action plans were written and shared, and the NPS Eastern Type 2 IMT was brought in to support the NCR team.
The inauguration and the inaugural parade were the finale to a jam-packed week on the Mall and in Presidents Park. The Martin Luther King holiday had a special significance for many of the visitors to the Mall not only because of it fell on the same day as the inauguration but because 2013 marks the 50thh anniversary of the March on Washington.
A number of events took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to honor the slain civil rights leader and another took place at the Lincoln Memorial. A wreath laying was held at the MLK Memorial on January 15th. On January 18th, 90 students from a Washington, DC, school recited the “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, each child reciting one line. On January 19th, the inauguration's Day of Service, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar joined volunteers to spruce up the memorial. And on January 20th, the NPS partnered on a ceremony that included Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Jamie Fox, Dick Gregory, and Chris Tucker. Director Jon Jarvis and Bob Vogel, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, spoke at the ceremony and laid an NPS wreath at the foot of the massive carving of Dr. King amid a teeming crowd of visitors.
On Inauguration Day itself, thousands of visitors leaving the Mall after the swearing-in ceremony took the opportunity to visit the Mall's newest memorial. Many visitors cited a HYPERLINK "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsNliKmyHc8&feature=youtu.be" welcoming video produced by the NCR that ran on the Jumbotrons on the Mall before the president's swearing-in for encouraging them to visit the memorial.
This year, the NPS completed a project to rebuild several of the grass panels on the National Mall, one of the most prominent historic landscapes in Washington, DC. The project included installing not just lush green turf, but handicap accessible granite curbs, engineered soil to resist soil compaction, and the installation of drains and large underground cisterns to collect storm water. The construction fences for the project came down just days before the inauguration. In order to protect the new turf, the National Mall required that it be protected from damage by laying down protective panels from Third to Eighth streets. Each panel was elevated above the grass, held up by a few round feet that distribute the weight evenly. The panels not only allow water to flow through it, but are translucent so the turf continues to get sun while the panels are down.
The inauguration was one of the largest events on the Mall, but was only one of the large scale events that are regularly handled by the staff of the National Capital Region, who daily prove that the National Park Service is up to the task of maintaining, protecting and interpreting the America's national treasures. Congratulations to incident commander John Stanwich and his team.
[Carol Bradley Johnson]
Lake Mead NRA
Park Search Dog Finds Missing Alzheimer's Patient
On the evening of January 1st, the Boulder City Police Department asked the park for assistance in the search for an 83-year-old Alzheimer's patient who had walked away from his residence and had been missing for approximately two hours. Family members and neighbors had tried to find him, but without success. The man was also reportedly suffering from the flu and was not properly dressed for the near freezing temperatures. Four rangers assisted in the search, including the park's canine team, a German shepherd named “Onyx” and his handler. “Onyx” tracked the man from his residence and through an urban area to a drainage ditch, where he was found unconscious. Although that area had previously been searched by family members, they were unable to see him due to the contour of the terrain. Rangers began an evaluation of his condition and the Boulder City Fire Department arrived soon thereafter. The man is expected to survive. “Onyx” is entering his fifth year of service as a member of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership Team (SNAP Team). “Onyx” continues to tirelessly support rangers at Lake Mead, and also assists the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Fish and Wildlife Service with investigations on public lands throughout southern Nevada. “Onyx” also continues to provide unique outreach education to local school students, Lake Mead visitors, and partners. For more information about “Onyx” or canine programs, contact the canine team supervisor, Prashant Lotwala, at HYPERLINK "mailto:Prashant_Lotwala@nps.gov" Prashant_Lotwala@nps.gov . [Prashant Lotwala, Park Ranger]
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 Risk Management - The Office of Risk Management is seeking nominations for the Director's Employee Safety and Health Achievement Award and for the Andrew Clark Hecht Memorial Public Safety Achievement Award.
Healthy Parks Healthy People Program - The Service's Healthy Parks Healthy People US Program has announced the establishment of the NPS Healthy Parks Healthy People US Award as part of the semi-annual consolidated call for NPS Service-level and DOI Honor Award nominations for 2013.
Park Facility Management Division - The National Park Service's Sustainable Operations and Climate Change Branch in collaboration with the NPS Commercial Services Program is now accepting nominations for the 2013 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards.
Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings, newly introduced bills, and the status of legislation of interest to the National Park Service. This report covers the week ending on Friday, January 18th.
Chattahoochee River NRA - James D. "Dave" Wilkins retired from Chattahoochee River NRA's maintenance division last November after 30 years of service.
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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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