NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, September 6, 2013
INCIDENTS
Olympic NP
Rangers Continue Search For Missing Day Hiker
Rangers continue to investigate the disappearance of day hiker B.L.J. of Seattle, Washington, who was reported overdue on Wednesday, August 28th. An intensive search of the Lake Ozette area and adjacent Pacific Coast shoreline has failed to uncover any clues to B.L.J.'s whereabouts.
Rangers continue to search for indications of B.L.J.'s plans or location. A photo of B.L.J. has been sent to hikers who had backcountry permits for the north coast and Ozette area and may have had contact with him.
B.L.J., 71, left his home in Seattle and traveled to the Olympic Peninsula on Thursday, August 22nd. Family members reported B.L.J. overdue on August 28th. Rangers located B.L.J.'s truck in the Ozette Ranger Station parking lot immediately following receipt of that report.
Ground searchers and a helicopter were involved in the search effort on the first day, with additional ground searchers, boat searchers and two search dog teams added on Thursday. On August 30th, five teams of ground searchers and three dog teams from Pierce County Search and Rescue continued the intensive effort to find B.L.J.
Search efforts have been concentrated in the area of the popular nine-mile Ozette/Cape Alava/Sand Point/Ozette triangle hike, covering over 25 miles of the park's Pacific Coast from Shi Shi Beach south to the Norwegian Memorial, the Lake Ozette shoreline and nearby roads and trails.
[Rainey McKenna, Public Affairs Officer]
Zion NP
Severely Injured Hiker Rescued From Behunin Canyon
Park dispatch received a report of a severely injured hiker in Behunin Canyon at 5 p.m. on Monday, September 2nd.
The Behunin canyoneering route typically requires about nine hours to complete and involves hiking to the rim of Zion Canyon and then completing a series of nine rappels up to 165 feet in length. Reports indicated that the hiker had fallen the length of the canyon's fifth rappel (90 feet) and that he had suffered head, arm, leg, and back injuries.
Due to the location of the patient and the severity of his injuries, rangers requested assistance from Nellis Air Force Base's 66th Rescue Squadron. A team of four rangers hiked and rappelled through Behunin Canyon arriving at the patient's location at midnight. The Nellis HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_HH-60_Pave_Hawk" Pave Hawk helicopter arrived in the area 30 minutes later and conducted a hoist operation to remove the patient from the canyon.
A thunderstorm rolled through just after the operation was completed, causing the rangers to seek high ground due to the potential for flash flooding.
The injured hiker was flown to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where doctors reported that he likely would not have survived spending the night in the canyon. The 33-year-old Arizona man was not connected to a rope and was hiking in a steep slick rock area near the anchor when he tumbled and fell.
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[Ray O'Neil, Plateau District Ranger]
New River Gorge NR
Woman Jumps To Her Death From New River Gorge Bridge
On Wednesday, September 4th, a 53-year-old woman stopped her car on the New River Gorge Bridge, pulled a stepstool out of the car, and placed it next to the bridge rail.
Several drivers stopped to try and talk to the woman as she climbed the stepstool and perched on the edge of the bridge, but she did not respond and jumped, falling 876 feet to her death.
Rangers, Fayette County deputies, and Fayettville fire and EMS personnel responded to the area. It took about 40 minutes to locate the woman's body in the rugged terrain below the bridge. A short raising system was used for the recovery.
The incident is under joint investigation by the NPS and the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.
[Jeff West, Chief 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/):
Glacier NP - A new series of interactive wayside exhibits on “Wildlife Superpowers” has opened at Glacier's Logan Pass Visitor Center. The exhibits, done in a comic book style, highlight the adaptations (superpowers) of nine species of subalpine animals.
Today's Almanac - Heavy rain and possible severe weather are forecast for the Northwest and northern Rockies. Tropical Storm Gabrielle has dissipated, but continues to bring heavy rain to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Lake Mead NRA - The park and the University of Nevada Las Vegas' Public Lands Institute partnered this summer to study the challenges - particularly cultural and linguistic - in getting visitors to volunteer for beach cleanup events.
Roosevelt Vanderbilt NHS - Young people from three separate programs visited the park this summer to learn about and work in the historic gardens at its several sites.
Delaware Water Gap NRA - On September 4th, Superintendent John J. Donahue was presented with a citation from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Southeast Region - Southeast Region is actively recruiting for a superintendent for Cumberland Gap National Historical Park.
Servicewide Training Calendar - The following have been added to this week's calendar - search management training at Albright Training Center in November and a law enforcement control tactics refresher course in Massachusetts.
National Fire/Incident Situation Highlights - The daily national fire summary is posted around 8 a.m. EDT each day and can be found at either of the links above. For the most current information on the Rim Fire in Yosemite, click on this link: HYPERLINK "http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3660" http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3660
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The Morning Report is 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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