Morning Report Excerpts
December 1 - 15, 2000
00-724 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Rescue
Rangers received reports of calls for help in the Mirror Lake area of
Yosemite valley around 6 p.m. on November 25th. Mange Land, 27, was
found on a ledge about 500 feet above the Mirror Lake trail. Land had
been scrambling off-trail when he took a 50- to 100-foot tumbling fall
and landed on a small ledge. SAR team members worked through the night
to secure Land in a litter and lower him from the ledge to a more
stable area at the top of a large boulder field. Due to the hazardous
nature of the boulder field, a rescue helicopter from Lemoore NAS was
used in the morning to hoist Land from the top of the field. He was
taken to Yosemite Medical Clinic and released a few hours later with
only minor injuries. [Steve Yu, Operations Chief, YOSE, 11/27]
00-725 - Golden Gate NRA (CA) - Rescue
Park dispatch was notified on November 11th that a fisherman had been
reported missing in the Marin Headlands area of the park some time the
previous day. Ranger Matt Ehmann launched the park's rescue Waverunner
at 8 a.m. and began a near-shore search of the Headlands coastline.
Coast Guard vessels were unable to search close to shore due to large
waves and shallow waters. Ehmann found the missing fisherman standing
at the waters edge in a secluded cove about a quarter mile east of
Point Bonita at 8:30 a.m. He landed the Waverunner and made contact
with the fisherman, who told him that he'd spent the night in that
area. He'd become stranded by an incoming tide and had slipped and
fallen a couple of times while trying to climb up the adjacent cliffs.
He'd also set two fires with the hope of attracting attention. The
fisherman was wet from the waist down and suffering from thirst and
mild hypothermia. Ehmann transported him to the boat ramp at Fort
Baker. [Stephen Prokop, SPR, GOGA, 11/29]
00-726 - National Capital Parks (DC) - Rescue
Eagle Two, the Park Police helicopter, was summoned to assist at an
industrial accident late on the afternoon of November 11th. A
construction worker on a 200-foot cellular phone tower in Loudoun
County had fallen and needed to be extricated from a platform on the
155-foot level. The crew of the helicopter - sergeant pilot Keith
Bohn, sergeant rescue technician John Marsh, and canine officer James
Matarese - hoisted the victim clear of the tower and short-hauled him
to a nearby golf course driving range. He was found to be suffering
from hypothermia, a possible closed-head injury, and a shoulder
injury, and was transported to the Fairfax County Hospital trauma
center. [Sgt. R. MacLean, USPP, NCR, 11/29]
Supreme Court Decision - On November 28th, the Supreme Court held that
highway checkpoint programs whose primary purpose was the discovery
and interdiction of illegal narcotics violates the Fourth Amendment.
At each checkpoint location, officers stopped a predetermined number
of vehicles and questioned the driver while a narcotics dog was led
around the vehicle. The stop was to last no longer than five minutes,
unless consent or an appropriate level of suspicion was developed. The
checkpoints were generally operated during daylight hours and were
identified with lighted signs reading: "Narcotics Checkpoint, __ Miles
Ahead, Narcotics K-9 In Use, Be Prepared To Stop." The court noted
that other forms of roadblocks had passed constitutional muster in the
past, such as Border Patrol checkpoints, sobriety checkpoints aimed at
removing drunk drivers from the road, and similar types of roadblocks
with the purpose of verifying drivers' licenses and vehicle
registrations. The court also recognized that certain exigent
circumstances, such as the use of a checkpoint to prevent an imminent
terrorist attack or capture a dangerous criminal known to be fleeing
in a particular direction, would also be lawful. But the Court was
clear in stating it has never approved a checkpoint program where the
primary purpose was to detect evidence of ordinary criminal
wrongdoing. "We cannot sanction stops justified only by the
generalized and ever-present possibility that interrogation and
inspection may reveal that any given motorist has committed some
crime." The court also stated that the primary purpose of the
checkpoint will determine its validity, and secondary purposes, such
as sobriety determination or registration inspections, will not
justify an otherwise unlawful checkpoint. [Indianapolis v. Edmond,
99-1030). For more information on this decision or other legal issues,
contact Don Usher of the NPS-FLETC staff via cc:Mail or at
912-267-3190. [Don Usher, FLETC]
00-728 - Buffalo NR (AR) - Search
Douglas "Marty" Taylor, 41, of Lancaster, Texas, was reported lost in
the Point Peter area around 9 p.m. on Saturday, November 25th. Taylor
had been deer hunting with his 17-year-old son, who last saw him at 11
a.m. when his father took a different trail to a nearby road. Rangers,
Searcy County deputies, Arkansas Game and Fish employees and local
residents began a search for him that night. They were later assisted
by an Explorer SAR team and two dog teams. The dog teams and searchers
were following Taylor's trail early on the morning of the 26th when he
appeared at a house located three miles from the point where he'd last
been seen. He was cold and wet but uninjured. A total of 25 people
were involved in the search. [Carl Hinrichs, BUFF, 11/27]
00-731 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (NJ/PA) - Hunter Falling Fatality
James Bendig, 58, of Voorhees, New Jersey, was hunting deer from a
tree stand off the Peters Valley-Dingmans Road around 9 a.m. on the
morning of December 5th. Bendig shot a deer, then fell 20 to 30 feet
while descending from the tree stand to get it. He lay on the ground
for about three hours before he was found by other hunters in the
area. They notified park dispatch around 12:30 p.m. and seven rangers
responded immediately along with a local rescue squad and paramedics.
Bendig was conscious and communicative, but complained of pains to his
back and chest. He was flown to Morristown Hospital via a Northstar
helicopter ambulance and was subsequently pronounced dead at the
hospital. The cause of death is not yet known; an autopsy is being
conducted. Rangers will be investigating. Preliminary indications are
that Bendig was not using the safety straps available with his hunting
stand when the accident occurred. [Mike Fernalld, PR, New Jersey
District, DEWA, 12/5]
00-733 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Climbing Fatality
On the afternoon of December 3rd, rangers responded to reports of
climbers on Washington's Column yelling for help. At the base of the
cliff they discovered the body of Andrew Morrison, 28, of Morebank,
Australia. He was attached to two joined ropes by a single ascender.
It appears that Morrison placed his weight on one side of a double
rope rappel system, which then pulled through the anchor and caused
Morrison and the rope to fall several hundred feet to the ground.
Morrison's two climbing partners spent the night on the wall 600 feet
above the Valley and rappelled off the following morning. When they
got down, they told investigators that Morrison had started to rappel
down as they continued climbing. He yelled up to them that his rappel
ropes had become stuck. It is likely that he was working to free the
rope when the accident happened. Morrison and his climbing partners
were part of a six-member Australian military alpine club that had
come to Yosemite in duty status to climb. [Jim Tucker, DR, Valley
District, YOSE, 12/5]
FOOTNOTE
Department of Misplaced Parks: From time to time, your editor
inadvertently relocates various units in the system, generally due to
either 1) a certain amount of unwarranted smugness about his knowledge
of the system, 2) a subliminal desire to move parks to the states
where they ought to be, 3) an inability to accurately read the system
map posted above his computer without stronger glasses, or 4)
pre-Starbucks morning fog. Apologies to Ninety Six NHS for putting
them in Georgia yesterday (the park remains in South Carolina) and for
moving Mount Rainier NP to Oregon last Thursday (it's still in Texas).
00-751 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Search; Fatality
On the afternoon of December 12th, Danny Lam, 36, of Elkton, Virginia,
was dropped off near the park boundary to go hunting. When he failed
to return home within a few hours, the county sheriff's office began a
search. The park joined in the next day upon notification that
investigators had determined that Lam might have intended to hunt
within the park. About 150 people were involved in the search by the
afternoon of December 13th. A volunteer searcher found his body about
300 yards within the park around 1:30 p.m. Preliminary investigation,
led by NPS SA Ken Johnson, revealed no evidence of foul play or
traumatic injury. Examination by a medical examiner is pending. [Clay
Jordan, DR, Central District, SHEN, 12/15]
00-744 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Illegal BASE Jumping
On the afternoon of December 9th, visitors in the Fayette Station area
of the park called 911 via cellular phone and reported that several
parachutists had just jumped off of the New River Gorge Bridge and
landed on park property below. The visitors took photos of two of the
parachutist in mid-air, then called 911 again with vehicle
descriptions when the jumpers drove off. Rangers and officers from
several other law enforcement agencies responded and stopped both
vehicles. Four men - Jack Kirk of Landsdowne, Pennsylvania, Richard
E. Whitney of Alexandria, Virginia, Donald G. Mathis of Louisville,
Kentucky, and Dwayne E. Bradshaw also of Louisville - were issued
mandatory appearance violation notices for aerial delivery. Mathis
and Bradshaw got out of the second vehicle just before it was stopped
and hid in a wooded field near the roadside. Rangers located the two
men after a short search. Each of the four men was found to have a
portable two-way radio in his possession. It appears that jumpers in
the first vehicle radioed those in the second vehicle with a warning
after the former was stopped. [Rick Brown, ACR, NERI, 12/11]
FOOTNOTE
Department of Misplaced Parks, Continued: There was a surprising
volume of email yesterday regarding the Wednesday "Footnote" entry on
the misplacement of Ninety Six NHS and Mount Rainier NP in prior
Morning Reports. The entry properly relocated the former in South
Carolina, then, flippantly, noted that the latter was "still in
Texas." A statistical analysis of these messages reveals that 43.6% of
readers thought that this was a moderately amusing way of saying that
such errors would no doubt persist, 37.2% thought that a refresher
course on geography and the parks would be in order, and 19.2% thought
it was a shameless attempt to suck up to the new administration by
relocating the park to the president elect's home state. A
clarification is therefore in order (Not a correction, mind you - as a
colleague in WASO used to say, tongue in cheek: Never issue
corrections, because that implies that we make errors; instead issue
clarifications). Mount Rainier NP is definitely in Washington, a fact
attested to by the presence of a little green square in the middle of
the state of Washington (just left of the "W") on your map of the
system, and by reports from readers who purportedly work there. Thanks
to all of you who wrote in - particularly the wag (Bob Mackreth at
APIS) who suggested that Ninety Six be moved to Massachusetts and
joined with Minute Man as a new Revolutionary War park called Ninety
Six Minute Man NHP, which would commemorate lethargic patriots who
were tardy in answering the call. . .
00-741 - Lassen Volcanic NP (CA) - Environmental Crime
North District rangers, assisted by criminal investigator Alan Foster,
are investigating a malicious act of resource damage that occurred
near the Cinder Cone in the northeast corner of the park. Five
motorcross cyclists were seen crisscrossing through the
resource-sensitive Painted Dunes in mid-October. They left miles of
tire scars through the dunes, adjacent cinder fields, and along eight
miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. The majority of the area traversed
was designated wilderness. This destructive act was witnessed by three
off-duty park employees who were able to photograph four of the five
participants. Solid leads have been established. The investigation is
on-going. [Mark McCutcheon, DR, North District, LAVO, 12/12]
00-738 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Avalanche Fatality
James Thompson, 44, of Fairbanks, Alaska, was killed by an avalanche
while snowmobiling in the park early on the afternoon of December 9th.
Thompson and four companions were snowmobiling in a part of the park
that was recently closed to all snowmobile use by special regulation.
Thompson had just assisted a member of his group who had become stuck
while attempting to descend a steep chute. After digging that
snowmobile out, Thompson began descending the chute and was struck
from behind by the avalanche, which buried him face down under four
feet of snow. His companions used probes to locate him. CPR was
performed for about 40 minutes. Others in the group went for help and
tried to call Alaska state troopers by cell phone. Although cell phone
coverage is minimal in the area, the state troopers' office in
Fairbanks received a sketchy report and alerted a local trooper. The
trooper called for EMS support and a military helicopter. By the time
they arrived in the area, Thompson's companions had brought him out to
the highway. Rangers are investigating the accident. [Tom Habecker,
Acting CR, DENA, 12/10]
FOOTNOTE
Now and then an event occurs that doesn't fit into any Morning Report
categories but none the less warrants the attention of the NPS
community. Such an incident occurred last month in Galapagos National
Park and illustrates the dangers faced by park staff in many areas of
the world. The following summary has been extracted from a letter sent
by the Charles Darwin Research Station to the president of Ecuador: In
the early hours of Friday, November 17th, the head of the park on the
island of Isabela and the staff of the research station had to be
rescued by military officers after they had taken refuge in mangroves,
having been pursued and threatened with death by fisherman angry over
constraints imposed on the lobster fishery in the Galapagos Islands.
Park offices were set on fire; research station offices were sacked
and all the contents destroyed; the house of the head of the park was
also sacked and its contents - even down to his daughters' toys - were
thrown into the street and destroyed by the fishermen. The Charles
Darwin Foundation, the Galapagos Ranger Association, the International
Ranger Federation, and other organizations called on the government of
Ecuador to take strong and immediate steps to deal with this assault
on park employees and researchers. The government has committed itself
to employing "the full force of the law" to deal with "those who have
infringed the existing rules and laws with unjustifiable acts and
measure of violence." The government has also pledged to improve
working conditions and the quality of life for island residents.
Although we certainly have a host of issues to deal with in the
management of our own parks, it's worthwhile to keep in mind the
difficulties faced by our colleagues in parks around the world and
offer them our support when and wherever possible.
00-734 - Badlands NP (SD) - Assist; EMS Response, Multiple Lives Saved
On December 1st, the owners of a service station in the town of
Interior contacted the park and asked for emergency assistance with a
number of people who were suffering from severe carbon monoxide
poisoning. One, a year-old girl, was reportedly not breathing. Park
facility manager Nick Koenigs and facility maintenance assistant Julie
Ann Hanes responded along with ambulances from the nearby towns of
Wall and Kodoka. They found the eight members of a family - three
adults and five children - suffering to varying degrees from the
effects of monoxide poisoning. The infant had resumed breathing, but a
four-year-old was blue in the face and going into convulsions. The
driver said that he was suffering from an extreme headache, felt
faint, and was having difficulty seeing. Two other children were
lethargic and unresponsive. Additional help soon arrived on scene,
including Pinnacles District DR Scott Hall, South Dakota Highway
Patrol officers, and other park staff. The family had been traveling
from Rapid City to Wanblee to visit relatives. Unknown to the driver,
the vehicle had been involved in a minor accident the previous day in
which its exhaust pipe was damaged, enabling fumes to enter the
passenger compartment. The driver said that he became nauseated and
confused about 15 miles west of Interior, and that several children
had already become unconscious and were unresponsive to efforts to
awaken them. Two ambulances transported seven of the family members to
Rapid City Regional Hospital. It took ambulance crews from 25 to 35
minutes to reach the scene; the quick response and intervention by
park emergency personnel was pivotal in saving the lives of several of
the family members. [Scott Lopez, CR, BADL, 12/7]
Resource Protection Act Court Ruling - In the early pre-dawn hours of
November 6, 1996, the German owned 464-foot-long chemical tanker Igloo
Moon ran hard aground on a coral reef within Biscayne National Park.
Although the grounding ruptured four of its oil and diesel-fuel tanks,
none of the over 100,000 gallons of oil and fuel was released into the
environment due to the protection of the ships' double-bottom design
and the quick response by the U.S. Coast Guard and the ship's owner.
Although the fuel and oil was successfully removed from the vessel
without spilling into Biscayne Bay, the bigger problem was with the
product it was carrying - 6,600 metric tons of butadiene, one of the
most dangerous industrial chemicals used today. For the next fifteen
days, the park staff and all those involved in the operation held
their collective breaths until the ship was finally floated off the
reef and towed safely out to sea on November 21, 1996. The incident
set off a major marine salvage operation that today is taught to all
emergency marine response teams around the world. The incident also
provided one of the first large tests of the Park System Resources
Protection Act (16 USC 19jj), a new federal law that allows the
National Park Service to collect damages and agency response costs
caused by such incidents. The Environmental Response, Planning and
Assessment Unit of the Environmental Quality Division in WASO worked
closely with the park on both the emergency response actions and the
assessment of damages. Not long after removal of the vessel, the
Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of the National Park
Service under the act. The complaint stipulated that the ship owner is
liable for response costs and damages for the destruction, loss of, or
injuries to park system resources caused by the grounding. On October
18th, a settlement of this suit was reached with the ship owners and
accepted by the federal district court in Miami. Under the settlement,
the ship owners agreed to pay the Service $1,000,000. The money will
be used to restore the damaged coral reef, compensate for the loss of
the resource while the reef is recovering, and reimburse the Service
for its expenditures related to the incident. The money will be
deposited in a park specific account in the DOI Restoration Fund where
it will be held until the park requests it. While in the DOI Fund,
the money will be invested and the earned interest will stay with the
account. Restoration actions currently being considered and planned
by the park, include primary restoration at the grounding site where
reef structure and vertical relief will be replaced to allow for the
natural recruitment of hard and soft corals back onto the site. The
park will use the compensatory money to restore other coral reef
damage scattered throughout the park where they don't have a
responsible party identified or where damages occurred prior to the
passage of the park system act. It is estimated that the park may be
able to address as many as 20 to 30 of these sites a year over a
period of seven to ten years. Monitoring of the restoration will also
take place over several years to determine whether the restoration
actions are succeeding and whether additional effort has to be taken
to restore these kinds of resources. [Jake Hoogland, EQD/WASO]
