NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
INCIDENTS
Mount Rainier NP
Search For Missing Snowshoer Comes To Tragic Conclusion
The search for a 37-year-old local man who was overdue from a snowshoeing trip in the park came to a tragic conclusion on December 29th when ground crews located his body next to Edith Creek in the Paradise area, not far from the point last seen.
The man went missing on the evening of December 27th during a winter storm that dropped 20 inches of snow in 48 hours. He intended to overnight at Camp Muir, but only made it as far as Panorama Point due to formidable winter storm conditions.
A party of two waiting out the storm at Panorama Point took him into their shelter, but when the shelter was destroyed by the extreme conditions they attempted to complete their descent to Paradise together. During the descent, the man became separated from his companions in the vicinity of Edith Creek.
A hasty search was conducted on December 28th, with members of the Nordic Patrol scouring main routes in the area. Operations expanded on December 29th to include air and ground searches from Edith Creek to the upper Stevens Canyon drainage.
Members of Tacoma, Everett, Seattle, and Olympic Mountain Rescues participated in the ground search. A Chinook from the US Army Reserve's 214th Air Division, Joint Base Lewis McChord, with park climbing rangers aboard searched by air. Approximately 30 NPS and partner personnel were assigned to the incident. David Keltner was incident commander.
[Patti Wold, PIO]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):
Walnut Canyon NM - Last month marked the kickoff of a year-long celebration of Walnut Canyon National Monument's 100th anniversary. The park was created by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915 to protect the greatest concentration of the canyon's Northern Sinaguan cliff dwellings.
Today's Almanac - A fast moving clipper system will spread snow today from the Ohio Valley to portions of the Northeast.
National Park Foundation - The National Park Foundation is moving. Come Monday, January 12th, you'll find them in a new space located on Vermont Avenue in northwest Washington.
Historical Documentation Program - The internship will permit a student or recent graduate of architecture or history to work as a summer intern on a Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) maritime documentation project.
NPS Law Enforcement Training Center - On December 20th, rangers from the basic LE program at FLETC and from Cumberland Island volunteered their time and service to the 2014 Kids and Cops program.
Recreation Fee Program - Jane Anderson, the deputy fee program manager in the Washington Office, will be retiring on Friday, January 9th, after 33 years with the National Park Service.
Northeast Region - Russ Smith, who has served as the first superintendent of First State National Monument since March of 2013, is retiring after 42 years with the NPS.
Chickamauga and Chattanooga NMP - Carl Sherard Sr., a maintenance mechanic at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, retired on January 3rd after more than 30 years of service.
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHP - Rebecca Gary, administrative officer at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHP, retired on January 2nd after over 32 years of service, all at the park.
Geologic Resources Division - Kerry Moss of the Geologic Resources Division recently retired after working for 30 years with the NPS, all within the same division.
Chattahoochee River NRA - Long-time park dispatchers Hurban J. Sauve and William J. Schober have retired after 33 and 32 years, respectively, at Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.
To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:
NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/
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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