Park News July 7,2008

Gateway National Recreation Area

Around 8:30 p.m. on June 21st, a large group began to form at Canarsie Pier, similar to a recent staging of gang members from the Bloods and Crips on that pier. Large numbers of people walked in from Rockaway Parkway and the local housing projects, quickly growing to a crowd of approximately 600 and drawing a Park Police response. Lieutenant Greg Norman was IC for the incident. A New York City Police Department (NYPD) task force commander arrived at the pier and advised Norman that they were allegedly gathering for a memorial service for a recently killed gang member. The NYPD special gang unit that monitors gang-related Internet sites and activities had not detected this event. An NYPD Level 1 mobilization was ordered and police units from several boroughs responded to the pier. Six NYPD horse-mounted officers used their horses to break up the unruly crowd. City task force units were deployed onto Rockaway Parkway to monitor the group that had been driven from Canarsie Pier. Approximately 40 NYPD patrol and horse-mounted officers with helmets and batons assisted Park Police in moving the crowd out of the park. All on-duty Park Police officers from the Jamaica Bay Unit and Staten Island Unit responded to safely move the crowd, clear vehicles, and secure the park area. Gang activity in New York City and in nearby national park areas has become more prevalent. Park Police officers in the New York Field Office have become more vigilant in detecting and responding to gang activity.

 

Yosemite National Park

Between July 17 and 20, 2006, Texas residents Colin Helm and Laura Harvell passed 16 personal checks from their joint account totaling over $3,500 at various facilities operated by the park’s concessioner, Delaware North Corporation Parks and Resorts at Yosemite (DNC). A few weeks later, DNC notified the park of the bad checks, which had all been returned because the account had been closed by the bank months earlier. Criminal complaints were eventually filed; when Helm and Harvell did not respond to summonses, arrest warrants were issued in July of 2007 by the U.S. magistrate in Yosemite. Helm and Harvell were arrested in Texas by U.S. marshals early that fall. The federal court in Texas ordered Harvell detained because of her extensive criminal history, and she was transported by the marshals to Fresno, California, for further court proceedings. Helm was released after his initial court appearance in Texas with an order to appear before the magistrate in Yosemite. His case was eventually combined with Harvell’s in Fresno. The investigation revealed that the couple had also passed other checks from the same account at Crater Lake, Umpqua National Forest, Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and  many other businesses in California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Texas. There were 48 fraudulent checks passed totaling over $8,000. In April of 2008, Helm and Harvell pled guilty in Fresno under the terms of plea agreements to one misdemeanor count each of theft (18 USC 661). On June 27th, Harvell was sentenced to 12 months in prison followed by 12 months supervised release. Helm was sentenced to 4 months home/electronic confinement followed by 12 months probation. They were also ordered to pay restitution to all the victims. Rangers and special agents in Yosemite, Yellowstone and Grand Teton contributed to the investigation.

 

Mammoth Cave National Park

Ranger Matt Roland was on patrol on the evening of June 28th when he came upon an accident on the Brownsville Road. David Cooper, 32, of Jamestown, Tennessee, was driving east when he fell asleep and his vehicle went off the road and hit a tree. He and his brother, Brian, 18, were taken by ambulance to a hospital in Bowling Green. A second passenger, Tyler Clark, 19, of Monterey, Tennessee, was trapped in the car and had to be extricated by the Edmonson County Jaws of Life rescue unit. He was flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, where he remains in critical condition. The third passenger, Razell Hummel, 41, of Byrdstown, Tennessee, was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident investigation is continuing.  Agencies providing assistance included Edmonson County EMS and its Jaws of Life rescue unit, the Chalybeate Volunteer Fire Department, the Edmonson County Sheriff’s Office and the Kentucky State Police.  Roland is the investigating ranger.

 

Mount Rainier National Park

A climber fell approximately 25 feet into a crevasse at around 11,300 feet on the Kautz Glacier while descending Mount Rainier on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 1st. The injured climber, Mitchell Bell, was rescued from the crevasse by his four teammates.  Bell had injured ribs and visible lacerations to his head and face but was conscious and in stable condition. A doctor who was a member of the team quickly determined that Bell could not continue the descent without assistance due to his known and potential injuries. Two members of the party climbed down in search of help, leaving the doctor, another teammate, and Bell at the scene. They found guides from Alpine Ascents International (AAI), a concessioner guide service, camped about a thousand feet below the location of the incident. Several AAI guides responded to the request for assistance and contacted the park. A plan was put in place for two AAI guides to travel to the accident scene that evening to assess the injured climber’s condition and bring with them materials for an overnight stay on the mountain. Based on their assessment, David Gottlieb, the IC for the operation, determined that an airlift would be the desired method for evacuation the following morning. Within an hour of takeoff early on Wednesday morning, the crew of a Chinook helicopter from Fort Lewis, Washington, had successfully extracted the injured climber from the glacier. Bell was transported to Madigan Hospital for further medical evaluation. He was released just a few hours later.  

 

Lava Beds National Monument

On the evening of the June 28th, four rangers responded to a request for emergency assistance from the nearby Tulelake Police Department. The town was hit by an extreme localized wind event that caused severe damage to buildings and town infrastructure. The strong winds caused trees to fall onto houses and power lines throughout the town. Due to the magnitude of the damage, emergency responders in the town were temporarily overwhelmed. In addition to rangers, law enforcement units responded from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, the California Highway Patrol, and the Merrill (Oregon) Police Department.  Fire and EMS personnel from the Tulelake Fire Department, Basin Ambulance, Mount Shasta Fire Department and Modoc National Forest also responded. Tulelake is a farming community with a population of about 1,000 located 15 miles north of the monument near the Oregon border. There were no injuries related to the incident.

 

Grand Canyon National Park

A mass memorial service in honor of those killed during last week’s aero-medical mid-air collision over Flagstaff, Arizona, will be held Tuesday, July 8th, in Flagstaff. 

On Sunday, June 29th, two Bell 407 helicopters – one operated by Classic Lifeguard, based in Page, Arizona, and the other by Guardian Air, based in Flagstaff – collided while both were on approach to Flagstaff Medical Center. Six people, including the two patients on board, were killed in the accident, and a seventh person, a flight nurse, remains in critical condition. One of the patients killed was a BIA firefighter who was being flown from the South Rim of Grand Canyon to Flagstaff Medical Center.

The mass memorial will be held at the Pine Mountain Amphitheater, which is located at the Fort Tuthill Fairgrounds south of Flagstaff.  This can be reached from the Interstate 17 Airport Exit (MP 337).  Funeral services will be held individually at various locations in and out of state.  The memorial service starts at 10 a.m. and those attending need to arrive well in advance. Agency apparatus will be arranged on display at the amphitheater entry, with parking for the involved equipment starting at 7 a.m.  This memorial service and gathering of public safety personnel is expected to be about 90 minutes long.

All NPS personnel attending the memorial should plan to be in Class A summer uniform.  Wildland fire personnel should be dressed in clean Nomex pants and yellow Nomex shirts.  All badges should display a mourning band.

The entire public safety community throughout Northern Arizona and Southern Utah has been deeply impacted by the loss of these individuals and fellow professionals, who they worked so closely with.

 

Office Of Professional Responsibility

Two selections have been announced for the Office of Professional Responsibility under the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services.

Russell Roy, the special agent who has been acting head of the office for the past two years, has been selected as its full-time special agent in charge, effective immediately. And Glen Anderson has been brought in as an agent in that office.

Glen joined the National Park Service as a GS-4 seasonal protection ranger. During his seasonal years, he worked at Lake Mead NRA and Horseshoe Bend NMP. Over the past 18 years, he’s been at Lake Mead and has progressed through a series of positions – protection ranger, supervisory protection ranger, law enforcement specialist, EMS program coordinator, court liaison, and, most recently, as assistant chief ranger, managing the park’s interagency communications center, water safety program, radio systems, physical security program and legal office.

“I have been fortunate to be a part of several specialized disciplines during my career, which has afforded me the opportunity to travel throughout the Service on special assignments,” says Glen. “Two of which have been my involvement in ethics and integrity instruction after receiving certification from The National Institute of Ethics and my role in the Service’s critical incident stress management (CISM) program.  It has been a humbling honor to assist fellow employees and their families during their time of need.  I look forward to this new chapter of my life and career and the opportunities it will bring for me and the Service.”

 

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Dates: 07/01/2008 - 07/15/2008

Glen Canyon is seeking a full-time program coordinator to manage its zebra/quagga mussel prevention program. This will require the active coordination of  cooperator groups to address short term logistical coordination efforts between partners and to develop more effective long-term strategies for keeping mussels out of Lake Powell.

The person in this position will coordinate and augment donations to the park. Large amounts of financial and volunteer resources are currently untapped, and the person selected will coordinate volunteer activities with park and other partners. The coordinator will also insure the smooth operation of the park's mussel interdiction efforts with close collaboration between the entrance booth staff, dispatch, NPS law enforcement, the state of Utah and concessioner partners.  Inspect and decontamination of boats is critical to keeping the mussels out of Lake Powell.

The detail will start immediately and run through September 30th.  Any request to detail out of your current position should be cleared through your supervisor.  Detail to unclassified duties means any employee GS-9 and above may apply and be considered for this short term detail.  Long-term funding of this position is expected and a term position will be advertised.  This position reports directly to the Superintendent.

To apply, submit a one-page resume via email to Steven Mietz at steven_mietz@nps.gov by July 15th.  For more information, call 928-608-6265.

 

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway is seeking to fill an interpretive supervisory park ranger position in its Tupelo District. 

The parkway is one of the largest NPS units in the Southeast Region, spanning 444 miles across three states. It is one of the busiest NPS units in the nation with nearly 14 million vehicles traveling the Trace annually.

This position is located at the Natchez Trace Parkway’s headquarters in Tupelo, Mississippi. Tupelo has been listed as one of the ten most progressive small cities in the United States. Schools are modern and considered excellent. Two-year, four-year and graduate level colleges are available.  Tupelo is both a regional shopping and regional medical center, offering a full spectrum of services. Cultural pursuits include plays, a symphony, historic sites, museums, craft centers, art galleries, a coliseum hosting national talent and events, and a variety of annual festivals. Outdoor recreational opportunities abound, including fishing, biking, hiking, camping, horseback riding, and boating. Houses and apartments are available for purchase or rent at moderate prices. While the summer season can be hot and humid, spring and autumn are pleasant and winter is generally mild.

This position is currently open on USA Jobs. The announcement can be obtained by clicking on the link below.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Dave Carney, chief of interpretation, by email or at 662-680-4017.



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Joshua Tree National Park

The park is recruiting for a GL-0025-9 protection ranger with a level I commission interested in a lateral reassignment. The position is permanent, full-time, with enhanced annuity retirement.

Primary duties include a full range of frontcountry and backcountry law enforcement, all risk management operations (including EMS), moderate to complex search operations and technical high angle rescues. Candidates should have a strong knowledge and interest in park natural and cultural resources and of the specific laws and regulations pertaining to the protection and use of those resources. 

Joshua Tree National Park is located about 140 miles east of Los Angeles, 50 miles northeast from Palm Springs.  The surrounding communities offer shopping, medical facilities and schools.  This position is a required occupancy of Government quarters at Cottonwood. The park encompasses 794,000 acres within three of California’s ecosystems, which provides for a wide diversity of plants and animals.  The park also encompasses some of the most interesting geological features found in California’s desert areas.  Human occupation dates back 5,000 years to the Pinto Culture.  Later residents included Indians, cowboys, miners and homesteaders. The park offers world-class rock climbing with over 4,000 climbing routes, thirty-five miles of the California Riding and Hiking Trail, and, due to its location astride the pacific flyway of migratory birds, 240 observed species.

If you appreciate breath-taking sunrises and sunsets, moderate winter weather and starlit skies, you should submit an OF-612 federal application or equivalent resume, copy of most recent performance appraisal and a current SF-50, to Rebecca Patterson, Human Resources Officer, Joshua Tree National Park, 74485 National Park Drive, Twentynine Palms, CA  92277.  Applications must be received by COB August 1st.

For more information, contact district ranger Jeff Ohlfs (760-413-8218)

 

Ozark National Scenic Riverways

Ozark National Scenic Riverways, located in southeastern Missouri, is seeking applicants for a WS-5716-10 engineering equipment operator position. The duty station is in Eminence, Missouri. For more information on this vacancy, which closes on July 16th, please click the link below for the full announcement. The park contact for this vacancy is Leslie Richardson, Human Resources Assistant, 404 Watercress Drive, PO Box 490, Van Buren, Missouri  63965 (573-323-4236 ext. 234).



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