Park News October 9,2008

Yosemite National Park

A rockfall occurred near Curry Village in eastern Yosemite Valley around 7 a.m. yesterday morning. Park officials estimated the rockfall volume at approximately 1,800 cubic yards and determined that it released near the halfway point up the granite face above Curry Village. Three visitors received minor injuries during the incident. All three were treated and released. The rockfall destroyed an estimated seven visitor cabins, two hard sided, and three tent cabins. At least three other cabins received partial damage in the incident. Curry Village visitors were evacuated immediately. Media calls can be directed to 209-372-0248. Public information can be obtained by calling Yosemite National Park at 209-372-0356. Information for visitors with reservations at Curry Village can call DNC Parks and Resorts in Yosemite, Inc. at 801-559-5000.

 

Grand Canyon National Park

The park received a 911 call late on October 6th reporting that a man had fallen from the edge of the canyon at the first overlook on Desert View Drive. Responding rangers spotted the man 250 feet below the canyon rim, as did a spotter in the park helicopter, and rescue personnel quickly hiked down to his location and confirmed that he’d died in the fall. The body was lifted out of the canyon and transferred to the county medical examiner’s office in Flagstaff. An investigation is underway.

 

Big Thicket National Preserve

The Type 4 IMT (Dave McHugh, IC) that has been managing the hurricane recovery operation has completed its work and demobilized. All trails, roads, and day use areas within the park have now been cleared of high hazard trees.  Trails are open to the public, with the exception of the Kirby Nature Trail, which will require boardwalk repair. The IMT’s safety officer has asked that a physical barrier be installed to direct hikers onto a bypass section of the Kirby Nature Trail created to avoid hazard trees too dangerous to saw. The opening of the Pine Island Bayou is contingent upon EPA water quality testing of sheen. Some clearing remains to be done. All crews and equipment have been released to their home units and management of hurricane recovery has been returned to the park.

 

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

J.D. Swed, the chief ranger at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, will retire on January 2nd.  J.D. has 33 years of service with the National Park Service. 

J.D. began his NPS career in 1974 in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range under the branches of the largest trees in the world.  He began in Yosemite National Park, serving as the ski patrol director at Badger Pass ski area in the winter and working in road patrol and bear management in Toulumne Meadows and the valley in the summers. 

“During the late seventies I worked alongside and was mentored by the most talented group of rangers ever assembled at one spot,” he says. “Most of these rangers went on to be leaders in WASO and regional offices and many worked as superintendents. Those rangers set a high standard and formed the foundation of my career.” 

J.D. began his structural fire and search and rescue work in Yosemite and these continued throughout his career.

The next position was as a seasonal road patrol ranger at Grand Teton National Park.  After a long season there, he turned his skiing skills into a job in Park City Utah, at the ski area then called Park West (now The Canyons).  Along with avalanche control at the ski area, he was on standby as a helicopter ski guide for Wasatch Powder Guides. 

The opportunity for a career position came with the Corps of Engineers at Success Lake in southern California as a park aid. Ninety days later, an offer for an LE position at Petrified Forest spurred a move. While at that park, J.D. held several different positions, including a stint as an LE/ interpretation specialist in charge of the park’s large museum collection. J.D.’s extensive knowledge of wilderness lead him to be involved with a research project with NASA, interpreting ancient petroglyphs and finding a solar calendar. That discovery was subsequently written up in National Geographic Magazine.  J.D. continued his work with EMS, becoming the 404th emergency medical technician in the state of Arizona. He also taught SAR skills during multi-agency training.

The night shift assistant supervisor position at the Grand Canyon was his next stop, a tour that lasted for more than four years. J.D. ran the horse patrol operation and made several trips for the park as a river ranger, rowing park rafts on the Colorado.  J.D. was active in wildland and structural fire and SAR.  His daughter Anika was born during this stop in his career.

The subdistrict ranger position at Halls Crossing on Glen Canyon National Recreation Area was his next job, a position he held for more than four years. Another daughter, Kara, was brought up on the gentle waters of Lake Powell.  J.D. became a very active park medic, saving numerous lives and delivering two baby girls while stationed there.  J.D. is proud that one of the girls (Jadie) was named after him by the appreciative parents.

The last frontier was the next stop for the Swed family, arriving in Talkeetna, Alaska, to begin work as Denali National Park and Preserve’s south district ranger. The girls went through grammar school and Anika graduated high school with 40 other students.  Life in a small Alaskan town at the end of the road was just perfect and lasted for 10 years.  

J.D. managed search and rescue in the Alaska Range and on Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America.  He instituted the high altitude Llama helicopter and short haul program, which saved over 100 lives in those 10 years.  J.D. was the designer of the “Three Ring Circus,” a pilot-controlled remote release that is used throughout the service today on short haul operations. He is proud of the role he played in designing and overseeing the construction of the Talkeetna ranger station. During his time at Denali, J.D. held acting positions as management assistant and chief ranger for extended periods of time. He also traveled to Canada, South Korea and Italy to represent the NPS and to promote search and rescue safety. 

J.D. was incident commander of the Alaska Type II all risk team for five years and was named the IC of the Services’ National Type I team in 1998 – a position he’s held ever since. This team managed the most complex incidents ever faced by the NPS, including: Hurricanes Isabel, Katrina, Rita and Wilma and the responses to 9/11, avian flu, the quagga mussel infestation and numerous other incidents.

Swed next took a position as the chief ranger at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  The three years in that position J.D. describes as some of the best of his career, learning to deal with seven different communities that surround the urban park and making long-lasting friends in the heartland of America.

The chief ranger in Sequoia and Kings Canyon holds a large umbrella, under which sits wildland and structural fire, fee collection and campgrounds, law enforcement, emergency medical services, search and rescue, and management of the wilderness of the park. 

“There is no better chief ranger job in the service and Sequoia-Kings Canyon is a phenomenal resource,” he says.  “The employees here are passionate and committed to professionalism, I am proud to work with this staff.”

During his time in the park, J.D. traveled to its sister park in Cambodia to visit and train the rangers there.

J.D. will finish his career after five years at Sequoia-Kings and will move on to new adventures. He will start out in January on the first leg of a motorcycle trip to the tip of South America.  He and four friends will ride some 4,000 miles to Panama, store their bikes there, then return the following January to finish the leg to Tierra del Fuego. He will spend some time in his beach house in Punta Bufeo, Baja, Mexico, on the Sea of Cortez side, and travel between Three Rivers and Bozeman, Montana, visiting his girls.  He expects to keep active in wildland fire, in incident management, and in training the Cambodian rangers. 

J.D. will keep his phone number of 219-688-7487 and address of #48, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271.  The phone number in Baja is 011-52-1-686-2577. Come visit!

A retirement party is scheduled in Three Rivers for December 6th. Friends are asked to RSVP to Susie Mills at Susan_L_Mills@nps.gov or 559-565-3111.  Please call or email if you would like more information. A golf scramble is scheduled for Friday, December 5th, at 11 a.m.

 

Alaska Region

Dates: 10/07/2008 - 10/10/2008

As the primary specialist in web content for Alaska Region, the person selected for this position will serve as the point of contact with the Washington Office on web-related concerns. She/he will also coordinate with web authors and managers in Alaska parks and on regional teams to provide technical guidance, policy advice, and oversight in the application of web technology throughout the Alaska Region.  

The announcement number is AKRO213998ES and it closes on October 10th. For a copy of the announcement with full details on duties, click on the link below.



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National Capital Region

Dates: 10/06/2008 - 10/27/2008

National Capital Region has issued a vacancy announcement for a supervisory park ranger position at Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC. It is open to current and former competitive service Federal employees and people eligible under special hiring authorities. The position is permanent and full-time (Tuesday through Saturday). The announcement number is NPS-NCR-08-48. Click on "More Information" below for a link to the announcement and application instructions.



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