Park News September 2,2008

Southeast/Intermountain Regions

A few reports have been received on the status of parks in the path of and/or affected by Hurricane Gustav and appear below. More will be posted in coming days. The Central Incident Management Team was ordered by Big Thicket NP and is being staged in Austin, Texas; it will provide support for Texas parks. The Western Incident Management Team was ordered by Southeast Region and is staging in Jacksonville, Florida; it will support Gulf Coast parks if and when requested.

• Jean Laftitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP – Both parks are closed. All employees have been released, and some have been evacuated.


• Gulf Islands NS – The entire Mississippi District closed at noon on Saturday. Except for a small emergency ranger response team, all district employees were released. Employees in park housing were relocated. Due to anticipated storm surge, the Fort Pickens campground in the Florida District closed at sunset on Saturday; park residents there were also relocated. Plans were to keep the rest of the Florida District open as long as conditions permitted.


• Natchez Trace – Because of the hurricane’s potential impacts, a segment of the parkway was closed to traffic as of 8 a.m. yesterday morning. The parkway was closed from milepost 8 (Highway 61) in Natchez, Mississippi, to milepost 87 (I-20) near Clinton, Mississippi. The closure is in effect until further notice. Rocky Springs and Jeff Busby campgrounds have also been closed.


• Cane River Creole – The park closed at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday in anticipation of Gustav’s landfall and to assure that all park employees had ample time to secure their residences. The park expects to be closed until later this week, possibly Thursday.

 

Grand Teton National Park

A full-scale search for a lost hiker last Wednesday and Thursday came to a happy conclusion when he was found in good condition. Charles “Chuck” Mastny, 54, of Lakeland, Minnesota, was hiking with his wife, Stephanie, on Wednesday afternoon when he left her in mid-afternoon to “do some exploring” while she read a book near a boulder field at Hidden Falls. When Mastny failed to return to the Hidden Falls area by 5:30 p.m., his wife became concerned and quickly hiked to the west shore boat dock to report that he was overdue. Teton Interagency Dispatch was notified around 6:00 p.m. A team of 13 rangers scoured the area on foot, but were unable to locate Mastny before sunset. With darkness falling, the hasty search was halted and plans were made to resume a full-scale search beginning at first light on Thursday morning. Rangers also summoned the assistance of an interagency helicopter to provide aerial search capabilities.  A park ranger who was searching the Cascade Canyon trail on Thursday morning met up with other hikers who recognized Mastny from a photograph he showed them. They told the ranger that they had met Mastny just a few minute before, and had given him a candy bar to eat. The ranger quickly caught up to Mastny and confirmed that he was the missing person. He’d been chilled by a frosty night in the Teton backcountry without shelter and wearing only a T-shirt, long pants and sandals, but was otherwise okay. He reported that he’d became so engrossed in scrambling up the boulder field to the south of Hidden Falls that time got away from him. When he decided to turn around and retrace his path, he realized that he was uncomfortably high and that it was not safe to return the way he had come. He therefore started to traverse along the top of the boulder field to find a safer way down. Darkness ultimately overtook him, and he eventually sat down to rest and sleep before dawn would provide better light. He also found a bank of snow and ate some for moisture. The next morning, he was able to pick his way across more boulders and through thick vegetation and eventually cross Cascade Creek at a point well into the mouth of Cascade Canyon. Nearly 65 searchers – Grand Teton National Park personnel, Teton interagency fire staff, Teton County Wyoming Search and Rescue volunteers, an interagency contract helicopter and crew, and three dog teams from Wyoming K-9 Search and Rescue – took part in the major search effort.

 

Grand Canyon National Park

Shortly before sunset on August 28th, park dispatch received a satellite phone call from a commercial river trip reporting that a 62-year-old man who was part of the group had taken a 70-foot fall while hiking in Stone Creek Canyon, a side canyon of the Colorado River that is a popular day hiking destination for river travelers. He was reported to have sustained skull and leg fractures. ICS was put into effect and a rescue operation begun. The park’s helicopter was in the area, returning from an interagency search mission in Havasu Creek, and was diverted to the scene. Due to limited daylight, the helicopter crew was only able to insert a Coconino County Search and Rescue team member who also works as a flight medic for a local air ambulance. Meanwhile, Arizona Department of Public Safety's Air Rescue helicopter from Kingman was launched to make a night landing to provide additional medical and evacuation personnel.  The DPS crew, which flies with night vision goggles, landed at Stone Creek but was unable to reach the victim due to darkness and hazardous terrain.  They were notified that the flight medic on scene had reached the man and determined that the fall had been fatal. On the morning of August 29th, recovery operations were begun. A human radio relay was positioned on a canyon rim near the incident location and park staff were inserted by helicopter for recovery, investigation, and helicopter operations.  A critical incident stress counselor from the Whale Foundation, which provides access to mental and physical healthcare and support services to the professional river guide community, was also inserted to remain with the river trip.  The victim was extracted from the canyon in a helicopter long line operation and flown to the South Rim helibase for transfer to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office.

 

New River Gorge National River

On Friday, August 29th, park staff received a report of a possible drowning at the Teays landing river takeout. Two NPS river patrol boats were on the river at the time and immediately headed to the landing, where they found a group of visitors frantically searching along the river for one of their friends. Witnesses at the scene said that Alfredo Garcia, 21, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, was attempting to swim to a large rock about 30 feet from shore when he was pulled downstream by the current. His friends attempted to save him, but Garcia slipped beneath the surface and was not seen again. The Fayette County swiftwater rescue team and several local volunteer fire departments responded along with the NPS rangers. A multi-agency river search was conducted until nightfall. The search for the missing swimmer continued throughout the holiday weekend over a five-mile stretch of the river. On Saturday and Sunday, members of the West Virginia K-9 search and rescue team worked with park rangers to establish areas of high probability that were searched by divers from the Beaver Volunteer Fire Department dive team. Early on Monday morning, a fisherman passing through the area saw what appeared to be a body in the water and reported it to park rangers who were conducting boat patrol sweeps of the high probability area. Garcia’s body was found in the water approximately two miles downstream from the point last seen. The body was taken to the Hawks Nest Lake river takeout/boat ramp and turned over to the Fayette County medical examiner. The follow-up investigation is being conducted by park rangers. District ranger Frank Sellers served as IC for the incident.

 

United States Park Police

Officer Charles “Chuck” Nail retired from the United States Park Police on August 30th after 23 years of distinguished service. 

Chuck began his career in August, 1985.  After graduating from the Federal Law Enforcement Center in Glynco, Georgia, he was assigned to patrol duties covering National Capital Parks – East, the George Washington Memorial Parkway, and Staten Island, New York. 

While Chuck was assigned to the George Washington Memorial Parkway, he worked on a multi-agency boat enforcement detail in the Great Falls area of the Potomac River.  During this detail, he participated in numerous rescues, one of which was reenacted on the “Rescue 911” television series.  He received commendations and a life saving award for his efforts on this detail.  Also, Chuck served as a liaison officer with the National Park Service, the parkway and the Road Runners Club of America.

In May 1991 Chuck became a horse mounted officer. He was briefly assigned to the Fort Hunt stables, then finished his career patrolling the National Mall and surrounding parks.  Chuck had the opportunity to be involved in many historical events as they unfolded in our Nation’s Capital during his time as a horse mounted officer on the National Mall.  He helped provide law enforcement assistance to the Million Man march, the Promise Keepers rally, anti-war demonstrations, NFL on the Mall, terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the inaugurals of Presidents G.H. Bush, Clinton, and G.W. Bush.

Chuck also travelled, assisting with the national conventions in Boston and Philadelphia, a river regatta in Charlestown, West Virginia, and a rainbow family detail in Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri.

As a rider, Chuck competed in police horse competitions.  He took first place in competitions in Virginia and Maryland events.  On a national level, Chuck placed several times in the top ten for obstacle courses, placing 2nd in a Virginia Beach competition in 1999 and 3rd in a Canadian competition in 2004.

Chuck is a first sergeant in the New York Air National Guard stationed in Virginia.  He was deployed to Iraq as part of his unit after 9/11.  Chuck is retiring from police work; however, he continues his service to the military.