NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
INCIDENTS
Delaware Water Gap NRA
Rescuers Respond To Injuries At Same Waterfall On Consecutive Days
Rangers and volunteer firefighters responded to incidents on consecutive days last week in which visitors were injured in cliff jumps from the Adams Creek waterfall.
Both victims were 20-year-old women from New Jersey and both received back injuries after jumping from a cliff about 40 feet above the pool at the base of the waterfall.
On June 10th, the park's interagency high angle rescue team conducted a belayed carryout of the first injured woman; the June 11th incident did not require a technical rescue, as the woman was able to walk part of the way out to the trailhead.
These incidents marked the second and third injury incidents requiring rescues at Adams Creek this year. The creek has exploded in popularity among teenagers and young adults from as far away as Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the greater New York-New Jersey urban areas due to numerous YouTube posting of cliff jumping, swimming and partying there. See the first few videos at the link below.
An alcohol closure was put in place this year for the area, but that has not diminished its popularity. Park management is now considering an area closure.
HYPERLINK "https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Adams+Creek" https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Adams+Creek
[Joe Hinkes, Law Enforcement Operations Supervisor]
Mount Rainier NP
Body Of Missing Climber Found And Recovered
The search for a missing Liberty Ridge climber came to an end on day two of the effort to find him with the discovery of his body just below the crater rim.
A joint air operation by personnel from the U.S. Army Reserve 214th Air Division and the park led to the location of what was suspected to be the body on day one. A photo of the target was analyzed that evening and determined to be worth further investigation. Plans were made for a ground team to investigate the location the following day. The target was indeed the body of a man fitting the description of the missing climber. It was carried by the ground team to the crater rim, then airlifted off the mountain.
The climber left his camp in extreme winds and low visibility to retrieve a stove left a short distance away. He and his two climbing partners had stopped at the confluence of the Winthrop and Emmons Glaciers at 14,200 feet during their descent from Liberty Cap. Extreme weather forced them to stop and seek shelter in a crevasse.
Thirty-nine park personnel were assigned over the course of the incident. Stefan Lofgren and Kraig Snure were the incident commanders. Incident photos are available at the link below.
HYPERLINK "https://www.flickr.com/photos/mountrainiernps/sets/72157654119624978" https://www.flickr.com/photos/mountrainiernps/sets/72157654119624978
[Patti Wold, Public Information Officer]
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):
Biological Resource Division - This week, June 15th through June 21st, is Pollinator Week, during which the nation's myriad but vital pollinators - bees, birds, butterflies, bats, beetles and others - are recognized. To support this event, the NPS is organizing and participating in several events around the nation.
Office of Communications - The NPS has awarded 20 grants totaling more than $2.8 million to help preserve and interpret the World War II confinement sites of Japanese Americans.
Oregon NHT - The Oregon and California National Historic Trails are among 37 national park sites selected to receive a 2015 Active Trails grant from the National Park Foundation.
Ocmulgee NM - Ranger Irv Brock will be retiring at the end of June with 30 years of federal government service, the last 27 years of it with the National Park Service.
Fire and Aviation Management - Dan Buckley has been named the Service's fire director. In this position, he will serve as the chief of the Branch of Wildland Fire within the Division of Fire and Aviation Management.
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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