NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
INCIDENTS
Rocky Mountain NP
Man Killed, Partner Injured In Avalanche
Rangers began a search yesterday morning for two overdue climbers who were caught in an avalanche on Sunday evening while descending from the north side of Blitzen Ridge on 13,514-foot Ypsilon Mountain. One of them, a 45-year-old woman, was found in mid-afternoon in the upper Fay Lakes basin about six miles from the Lawn Lake trailhead. She'd suffered numerous injuries and was treated and evacuated by rangers. Efforts are continuing to find the body of her 43-year-old male partner. Blitzen Ridge on Ypsilon Mountain is a challenging mountaineering route that includes sections of technical rock, often made more difficult by winter conditions. The avalanche danger in the area has been higher than normal since Saturday due to snow and high winds. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]
Glacier NP
Woman's Body Found Near Lake McDonald
The body of a 28-year-old Kalispell woman was located and recovered near the head of Lake McDonald last Friday. Park dispatch had received a missing person report on her on Thursday and rangers found her car in the Lake McDonald Lodge parking lot just before noon. A search was then begun. Park staff were assisted by personnel from the Flathead National Forest, Flathead County Sheriff's Office, Flathead Search and Rescue, North Valley Search and Rescue, and Flathead Emergency Aviation Resources (FEAR). The crew of a FEAR helicopter spotted the woman's body on Friday afternoon. An investigation into the cause of death is underway. [Denise Germann, 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/):
Wind Cave NP - Nearly 400 elk from Wind Cave National Park were recently moved into Custer State Park as part of a plan to reduce the herd size in the national park while increasing population numbers in the state park. Helicopters worked for two days to round up and push elk north across the parks' shared boundary.
Wilderness Stewardship - The Director's Wes Henry National Excellence in Wilderness Stewardship Awards recognizing outstanding contributions to wilderness preservation and stewardship across the NPS.
NPS Alumni - Long-time career seasonal ranger Robert “Bob” Downing passed away on February 26th. He worked at Olympic for 30 seasons and before that was at Yellowstone and other parks.
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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@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).
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