Park News September 15,2008

Intermountain/Southeast Regions

Initial reports from parks following Hurricane Ike’s passage indicate that it had only moderate impacts on most areas, except for Big Thicket, which is east of Houston and was within the storm’s wind field. The Central incident management team is on scene and assisting in recovery operations. The National Park Service is also supporting FEMA with a number of boat crews – a small boat task force with 13 boats, crews and overhead is operating out of Lafayette, Louisiana, and another task force with 21 boats, crews and overhead is operating out of Houston. Teams are conducting search and rescue missions. Here are some reports received over the weekend:

Big Thicket NP – All employees are accounted for and are safe. Following Ike’s passage, a team re-entered the park to conduct an initial damage assessment (click on the link below for a PDF file with a map of the park):

• The North Woodville fire office suffered shingle and water damage


• The North District ranger office suffered water damage


• Fallen trees holed the roof of the field research station


• Minor damage was reported to metal sheeting in the maintenance facility


• Several employee homes are damaged

Other park facilities were unreachable due to road closures from fallen trees and downed power lines. Operations are being relocated from Lufkin to the park’s visitor center, which will have working phones but no internet or network capability. The visitor center will be operating under generator power, as electrical service won’t be restored for several days. The Central incident management team (Eddie Lopez, IC) is on scene and has been delegated authority to manage the incident. Fuel for vehicles and generators is a major concern, as it’s scarce throughout the area and prioritized for use by emergency services. The park has made an agreement with the county to share fuel once the county’s gravity feed system is operating.

Padre Island NS – All employees are accounted for and okay. Storm surge left debris and sand on roadways, but few other problems have been found. All employees will return to work today. The park hopes to reopen on Wednesday after cleanup operations conclude.

Jean Lafitte NHP&P – Tidal surge was a major problem in southeast Louisiana. Several towns were underwater on Friday. The Jefferson Parish emergency operations center asked for three NPS protection rangers and an airboat to support emergency rescue operations. All park sites were closed and were to remain closed through at least Sunday.

Gulf Islands NS – The following conditions were reported on Friday afternoon:

Florida District

• Surge and surf were still high in the morning, but not quite as high as on Thursday. Water continued to overwash some areas in the Santa Rosa, Ft. Pickens and, presumably, the Perdido Key units.


• The Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Ft. Pickens, and much of the Perdido Key (east of Johnson Beach) Units remained closed.


• The Okaloosa Unit was scheduled to reopen on Saturday morning and other closed units were to reopen to foot traffic, though all currently closed roads were expected to remain closed through at least the weekend.


• New damage was inflicted to boardwalk crossings and sand fencies at Perdido Key. Other damage within the Florida District was expected to be minor, if any, with the exception of roads within the Santa Rosa and Ft. Pickens units. It’ll be some time this week before the degree of damage can be determined.

Mississippi District

• A good bit of storm surge-related flooding occurred within the Davis Bayou Unit Thursday night, forcing temporary road closures on Friday, but no damage had occurred.


• The unit was to reopen on Saturday morning.


• District employees returned to work on Friday afternoon.


• No information was available concerning the islands. Based on the marine forecast, it will probably be sometime today before staff can gain access to the islands to conduct a damage assessment.

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Redwood National and State Parks

On September 10th, Redwood National and State Parks conducted a marijuana eradication raid, utilizing an interagency anti-drug task force. The focus of the effort was a marijuana plantation in Redwood Creek that contained 9,564 plants and covered approximately five acres on steep terrain. This marijuana site is within six miles of the world’s tallest tree in a park that is also a World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve. Rangers detained five Mexican nationals for questioning about a mile from the marijuana growing operation. Three of them had prior deportations and were transferred to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One who is on felony probation for marijuana was held on that violation and will be deported later. The fifth was charged with providing false information to an officer. A GIS specialist went in with the raid teams for the first time in NPS history to perform an immediate on the ground evaluation of the impacts to the natural resource during the raid. This documentation will be very beneficial for the restoration process. Significant resource damage has resulted from this illegal activity and an initial cleanup operation using California National Guard soldiers and helicopter is planned for October. This raid included almost 60 law enforcement and support staff. The National Park Service wishes to acknowledge and thank the support provided by Humboldt County Sheriff Office, Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), North State Marijuana Investigation Team, California Department of Justice, California Fish and Game, California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, Green Diamond Resources Company, United States Coast Guard, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Marshall Service, California State Park Rangers, National Park Service SETT II team and ISB Pacific West special agents.

 

Yosemite National Park

On Wednesday, September 10th, Valley District rangers responded to a report that the body of a motorcyclist had been found over the embankment on the south side of the Wawona tunnel on Highway 41. The operator, a 48-year-old man from Long Beach, was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigation revealed that he’d died on the night of September 8th when his motorcycle left the roadway at a high rate of speed and collided with several trees.

 

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks has two GL-0025-9 protection ranger vacancies. It closes on September 18th.

Both to these positions are duty stationed at Ash Mountain - Park Headquarters. The rangers in these positions are primarily front country patrol rangers, who will focus strongly on locating, investigating and eradicating large-scale marijuana cultivation operations within the foothills of Sequoia National Park. Rangers assigned to Ash Mountain patrol area routinely hike in 95 degree heat, in difficult terrain, and are exposed to poison oak. Prior special operations training and experience is required. Prior experience with helicopter operations, short-haul/S.T.A.B.O. is preferred. The rangers selected may be assigned to coordinate traditional ranger duties such as EMS, SAR and/or structural fire suppression. The subject-to-furlough position is a required occupancy position and the person selected must occupy government housing. Three Rivers is adjacent to the park and has housing, schools, shopping and a doctor's office. Spanish language skills are desirable. We are seeking highly motivated rangers.

For those interested and qualified, SEKI has the following active special programs: helicopter short-haul evacuations, marijuana special operations, K-9 program, ski patrol, horse patrol, and Park Medic. Qualified rangers may be selected as field training rangers.

For more information, contact either David Fireman (559-565-3711) or Jason Bauwens (559-565-3718).



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Mesa Verde National Park

Betty Janes, assistant superintendent at Mesa Verde National Park, has retired after over 33 years of commitment to the National Park Service, its mission and the people of the United States.

Betty began her career in 1975 working as an outdoor recreation planner and sociologist in Denver, Colorado. She worked on environmental impact statements and conducted visitor surveys for Redwood National Park, Yosemite National Park and Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

In 1982, Betty moved on to serve as the chief of the Planning Branch, supervising over 20 employees and completing general management plans for Channel Islands and Lake Mead.   In 1986, Betty returned to a job as an outdoor recreation planner and completed 13 environmental impact statements for wilderness areas in Alaska and evaluated the impact of mining in three Alaskan parks.  She continued to work on numerous general management plans, including those for Death Valley, Great Basin, and North Cascades National Parks.

In 1991, Betty became the chief of the Eastern Planning Branch for the Denver Service Center and supervised over 35 employees.  She completed over 10 general management plans for different parks and an innovative housing study for Shenandoah National park.  She was responsible for the planning, design and construction programs for the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, National Capital and Southeast Regions, with a staff of over 250 people.

In 1995, Betty became a project manager for the Denver Service Center, with a duty station in Washington, DC, and was again tasked with accomplishing general management plans as well as construction projects, including over 10 Federal Highway Administration projects, ranging from resurfacing to major interchange work in the Washington metro area.  She worked with the Bureau of Land Management and initiated the planning for seven new national monuments designated during the Clinton administration.  She was responsible for all planning documents prepared by the Northeast, National Capital, Alaska and Pacific West Regions. 

In 2002, Betty joined the staff at Mesa Verde National Park as a program manager, assistant superintendent and administrative officer.  The staff was energized by her commitment to the mission of the National Park Service and Mesa Verde National Park in particular.  Through her efforts, the 2006 centennial celebration for Mesa Verde’s 100th birthday was not only a success, but has become the template for other parks celebrating their centennial to follow.  No task was too small nor too large for Betty to tackle.  Not only was she a ‘hands-on’ administrative officer, closely tracking the budget and handling personnel issues, but you could also find her picking up trash, pulling weeds, painting benches and working on trails. 

Although Betty’s accomplishments are far too many to list, during her long and varied career, Betty received many awards including the prestigious DOI superior service award.

She was and continues to be an inspiration to the staff at Mesa Verde National Park.  Betty and her husband, Eric, plan to stay in the area and she has already made plans to volunteer in her ‘free’ time.

We wish her all the best in her well-deserved retirement; she will be sorely missed by those of us who have worked closely with her for the last six years.  She has left behind a legacy of hard work, commitment and friendship that will be difficult, if not impossible to fill.

In the words of Wallace Stegner, "National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."

Betty Janes exemplifies the best.