NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, February 20, 2015

INCIDENTS

Rio Grande W&SR

Overdue Canoeist Rescued From Lower Canyons

On February 15th, rangers Greg Drum and Beau Bracken began a search for a 68-year-old man from Albuquerque who had departed on January 30th to canoe the remote Lower Canyons portion the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River.

When his permit revealed to rangers that he was overdue, a request for assistance was put in to the U.S. Customs Air and Marine Branch out of Alpine, Texas. Drum joined the pilot to assist him with the aerial search.

The man was spotted on the Mexican side of the river near Upper Madison Falls, a Class III/IV rapid. He'd attempted to portage the rapid, but became stranded due to his physical condition and diminished supplies. He said that he'd flipped his canoe several times earlier in the trip and had lost a bag filled with essential medication. Without his medication, he had begun to succumb to extreme lethargy and was unable to continue his trip. He said he hadn't seen another human during his entire time on the river and therefore believed his chance of rescue was miniscule.

Drum was dropped off nearby and hiked to the man's location. Using his canoe, Drum helped him back across the Rio Grande. The pilot waited on the Texas shore, then flew him to park headquarters in Panther Junction. He was transported to Big Bend Regional Medical Center, treated there, and released with no lasting injuries.

The remote Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic are among the most rugged and desolate locations in the Lower 48. Rangers are the only people who patrol the river along this stretch of international border. For more information and photographs of this area, click on the link below.

HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/rigr/planyourvisit/lower_cyns.htm" http://www.nps.gov/rigr/planyourvisit/lower_cyns.htm

[Allen S. Etheridge, Chief Ranger]

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):

Office of Communications - President Obama yesterday launched an “Every Kid in a Park” initiative that will provide all fourth grade students and their families with free admission to national parks and other federal lands and waters for a full year. He also announced the creation of three new national monuments, two of them to be administered by the NPS.

Biological Resource Management Division - A workshop on biodiversity was held last October to cultivate new partnerships, tap into perspectives from diverse attendees, and generate a framework for continuing to advance biodiversity conservation and awareness.

Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front NHP - The park brought a pet-friendly twist to the list of Healthy Parks, Healthy People Bay Area programs last month when it hosted “Wagging Tails and War Tales,” a two-mile dog walk along the San Francisco Bay Trail.

Fire and Aviation Management - Richard Gibson, a helicopter mechanic at Grand Canyon National Park, has received a DOI Aviation Safety Award for actions taken last August that may have prevented an accident.

NPS Alumni - Gerald “Jerry” Buckbinder, 77, a 43-year employee of the National Park Service in its Washington Office, died on Friday, February 13th, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Servicewide Training Calendar - The following have been added to this week's calendar - critical incident stress management training at Big South Fork, a webinar in March on background investigations for NPS fee collection personnel, and a taser instruction certification/recertification course at Acadia.

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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