NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Monday, July 13, 2015
NOTICE
There will be no email editions of the Morning Report from tomorrow, July 14th, through Tuesday, July 20th. Email editions will resume on July 21st. In the interim, Morning Reports can be read at one or the other of the two links below.
INCIDENTS
Grand Teton NP
Three Missing Sisters Found After Multi-Day Search
A large-scale, multi-day search for three missing sisters began on Tuesday, July 7th, after the girls' mother notified Grand Teton National Park that they were overdue from a backpacking trip in the Teton area. Concern for their welfare mounted after they failed to meet their mother for a planned rendezvous in Chicago before a flight to Switzerland.
Rangers initially combed parking lots, trailheads and developed areas in the park to locate the vehicle in which they were traveling, but failed to find their SUV. On Wednesday, July 8th, the search expanded beyond Grand Teton, and the Teton County sheriff took over as the SAR incident commander after the girls' SUV turned up at a trailhead on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, about 30 miles south of Jackson, Wyoming.
A total of 43 Grand Teton National Park personnel, along with a Teton Interagency contract helicopter, joined additional Teton County and Bridger-Teton National Forest searchers during the extensive search effort that lasted all day Wednesday and well into Thursday morning. Search personnel consisted of ground crews, dog teams, riders on horseback, and the interagency helicopter. Crews focused on nine search areas south-southeast of the Jackson area in the Gros Ventre Wilderness of Bridger-Teton National Forest.
The search for three missing sisters culminated when they were found at 10 a.m. on July 9th after a helpful tip from an area outfitter redirected the search effort. M.A.-S., 25, and her sisters E., 22, and K., 16, were spotted by searchers during a reconnaissance flight over a remote area in upper Horse Creek drainage, approximately seven miles west of where their vehicle was found on July 8th at the Swift Creek trailhead.
The hikers were cold, wet, and hungry but otherwise healthy, having spent several rainy and chilly nights in the backcountry. The girls left with appropriate clothing, a tent, sleeping bags, a water purifier, and other equipment for their multi-day trip, and these provisions allowed them to survive their unexpected situation. By staying together, using their tent, and rationing their food, they were able to wait for help to arrive. Shortly after they were spotted, the girls were flown to the Swift Creek trailhead and reunited with their father.
Searchers later learned that the three girls lost the trail on July 4th and decided to stick together and stay put in an effort to be more easily found and to not get into further trouble. This decision greatly increased their odds of being found. Their one significant mistake was not telling anyone what trailhead they were leaving from and their intended route. Finding the SUV at the trailhead proved to be helpful because it reduced the search area from the 3.7 million acres and every highway between Jackson, Wyoming and Chicago, Illinois, to a search area of roughly 100 square miles.
The A. family gave a final press conference on July 10th in Jackson, which was well attended as this incident attracted both local and national media attention. The girls' father wanted an opportunity to meet the agencies involved in the search and to thank them in front of the media. He specifically and favorably noted the support and substantial participation by NPS staff during the press conference.
This incident served as another great example of interagency cooperation among Grand Teton National Park, the Investigative Services Branch, the National Elk Refuge, Bridger Teton National Forest and the Teton County Sheriff's office.
[Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer]
Whiskeytown NRA
Pursuit Of Reckless Driver Ends With Accident
On Saturday, July 4th, rangers were patrolling Highway 299 when they saw a vehicle traveling westbound at a very high rate of speed pass another vehicle in a no passing zone. They attempted to stop the vehicle, but the operator increased his speed to nearly 130 mph and led the rangers in a pursuit that covered nearly five miles.
The driver passed about ten other vehicles during the pursuit, sometimes on the right side of the road and sometimes on the left, running drivers off the highway. Other agencies were called in to assist, and a California Highway Patrol helicopter joined in the chase.
For reasons of public safety, the pursuit was terminated near the Oak Bottom developed area, but the operator continued on until he lost control of his car on one of the curves just west of the Oak Bottom Beach turnoff. He crossed the center line, collided with a second vehicle, flipped upside down, and then hit another vehicle head-on. The driver of the pursued vehicle was seriously injured, but those in the other vehicles were not hurt.
Other motorists stopped at the scene and reported that the operator of the vehicle had exhibited reckless driving behavior for several miles before entering the park, prior to the pursuit. Alcohol is considered to have been a significant factor in this incident.
The operator was transported to Mercy Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries. The California Highway Patrol agreed to conduct the accident investigation. Rangers are filing 13 criminal charges against the man with the Shasta County District Attorney's Office.
[Chris Mengel, 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):
Department of the Interior - President Obama has designated the Waco Mammoth Site in Texas, which will be managed by the National Park Service in cooperation with the City of Waco and Baylor University, as one of three new national monuments. The other two will be overseen by BLM and/or the Forest Service.
Keweenaw NHP - The park and two partners - the Keweenaw County Historical Society and the Teachers Restoration Corps - have joined to restore and preserve historic structures within the park.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP - Park rangers and volunteers celebrated the Sixth Annual Black Canyon Astronomy Festival at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park from June 17th through June 20th.
Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings, newly introduced bills, and the status of legislation of interest to the Service. This report covers activities in Congress for the week ending July 10th.
Lake Mead NRA - Jon Burpee has been selected to serve as the first permanent superintendent of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in Las Vegas.
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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