Park News September 8,2008

Southeast Region

Two areas spent the balance of last week dealing with the damage created by Gustav’s passage:

• Natchez Trace –  The parkway is now open to traffic from milepost 0 in Natchez to milepost 87 (I-20) near Clinton, both towns in Mississippi. Numerous trees fell on the parkway, causing the closure of much of this lower section of the road. Maintenance crews worked diligently to remove trees and debris, making it possible to reopen the road on Friday. The Jeff Busby and Rocky Springs campground have also been reopened.


• Gulf Islands NS – Recovery efforts continue in both districts. An assessment of the Mississippi District islands late last week revealed significant storm impacts, especially to facilities on West Ship Island, as the island was overwashed by storm surge. The park has ordered the Western Type II incident management team (Denny Ziemann, IC) to manage storm recovery operations in that district. The park's Type III IMT continues to manage recovery efforts in the Florida District, as well as parkwide damage assessments and funding documentation. The park IMT also ordered an FMSS assessment team from SERO to assist with damage assessments and documentation. All of the park's twelve units are now at least partially open. Seven of the units are completely open.

 

Southeast/National Capital Regions

Reports have been received from parks along the Eastern seaboard regarding this past weekend’s passage of Tropical Storm Hanna, which brought only modest winds but heavy rains:

• Cape Hatteras NS – The park reports no structural damage – mostly limbs and branches down, along with a few small trees. All roads are open. Full assessments are being conducted to determine when operations will be restored. 


• Moores Creek NB – The park was closed, but reopened Saturday at 2 p.m.


• Fort Sumter NM –  No damage is reported.  The park reopened on Saturday at noon. Only the Charles Pinckney site will remain closed through Monday.


• Cape Lookout NS – Hanna brought high winds (30 to 40 mph, with gusts over 50 mph) and intermittent heavy rain to the park, but caused little damage to buildings. It reopened to normal operations at 11 a.m. on Sunday.


• C&O Canal NHP – The park began storm preparations on Friday. Persons living in the park and groups with special use permits in park areas were contacted and advised of the storm and the park’s closure. The visitor centers at Great Falls and Georgetown were closed all weekend. The park also closed all access points and public use areas in Montgomery County and the District on Friday evening, employing park gates or barricades. Water levels in the canal were lowered, and the canal boats at Georgetown and Great Falls were dry docked. Park vehicles from all divisions were staged outside the park, fully fueled and loaded with SAR equipment. Rangers drove the towpath from Edward's Ferry downstream, advising campers of the approaching storm and the closure. A leak was discovered in the towpath upstream of Angler's Inn and barricades and fencing were installed to keep visitors out of the area. Protection rangers and USPP officers were asked to respond, as visitors were disregarding the barricades and closure signs. Some visitors continued to enter the closed area despite the presence of rangers and officers. The leak at Angler's Inn turned into a major breach of the towpath, at least 400 feet in length. Chain link fencing was then installed to try to keep visitors out of the area. A downed tree branch on power lines started a small brush fire at Great Falls on Saturday morning, but the fire was extinguished right away by park personnel. The event knocked out power to the Great Falls area until approximately 6 p.m. Protection rangers and visitor services staff manned nine vehicle access points to the park to keep people from entering closed areas. Water spilled out of the canal at several locations in the Great Falls area, causing minor flooding of the Great Falls Tavern basement. One downed tree across the towpath was reported. This tree was blocking access to the town-owned campground in Brunswick and maintenance personnel removed it. The park halted a fund-raising bike ride by the Alzheimer Association at 1 p.m. on Saturday for safety reasons. A total of 34 park personnel were involved in Tropical Storm Hanna operations in Montgomery County and the District. The park will continue to keep low water levels in the canal, and the nine vehicle access points between Fletcher's Cove and Tschiffley Mill Road will remain closed until damage assessments are completed.


• George Washington Memorial Parkway – Power was lost at Great Falls Park around 4 p.m. on Saturday. Only two downed trees were found. All roadways and facilities are open.


• Manassas NBP – All park facilities are open, but Featherbed Lane at Sudley Road was closed due to flooding on Saturday. The park reported internet and e-mail problems Saturday evening.


• Monocacy NB – The Monocacy River was forecast to crest at 12 feet yesterday, three feet below flood stage. Minor flooding of the elevator well at the park's visitor center has been reported.


• National Mall & Memorial Park – The section of 17th Street between the WW II Memorial and the Washington Monument and Ohio Drive in front of the golf course was closed due to flooding.


• Prince William Forest Park – The park closed to the public at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Some fire roads and park trails either flooded and/or washed out. The park is also monitoring Scenic Drive at Liming Lane for possible flooding. Protection rangers directed traffic on Joplin Road after power lines fell across it, closing one lane of traffic.


• Wolf Trap Farm Park – Wolf Trap Creek overran its banks around noon on Saturday. The Meadow Picnic Area and Pavilion were flooded. One pedestrian bridge and one vehicle bridge were reported to be underwater. The Children's Theatre In-The-Woods is inaccessible due to flooding. Park staff believe that considerable trail damage has been done, but will have to wait for waters to recede before they can make a full assessment.

 

Southeast Region

Parks in South Florida are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Ike, waiting to see what course it takes. Two have closed down temporarily:

• Everglades NP/Dry Tortugas NP – The two parks continue to monitor the progress of Hurricane Ike. Both have now completed preparations for the storm. As of Sunday, the National Hurricane Center was continuing to forecast probable impacts to the Dry Tortugas, so the park is closed and will remain closed until conditions permit reopening. Everglades remained open for visitation yesterday, as the hurricane’s track probable track took it south of the park, but managers are keeping a close eye on Ike.


• Biscayne NP – The park has instituted a shutdown in accordance with its hurricane plan. As of 1 p.m. on Sunday, all park facilities were closed – including those on Boca Chita, Elliott and Adams Keys and the mainland area at Convoy Point (nine miles east of Homestead). Boat tours and visitor services were also suspended, but park waters remain open for vessel transit. The closure will remain in effect until further notice.

 

Intermountain Region

Scott Bentley, an 18-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been named superintendent of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. He will assume his new position in early November. 

“Scott is an extremely talented professional with an expertise in developing partnerships," said regional director Mike Snyder. "His knowledge and abilities will only help further the goals of the National Park Service. I’m very pleased that he has agreed to accept this vital position.”

Bentley has had a broad and varied career, both professionally and geographically. He joined the NPS in 1990 as a park ranger at Yellowstone National Park and is currently superintendent of Assateague Island National Seashore. 

During his tenure at Assateague Island, Bentley was instrumental in establishing a non-profit friends group to support the seashore, oversaw the design and completion of a multimillion-dollar island redevelopment project, and reduced operating costs while improving visitor services through new partnerships. He also led the design and award of a construction contract to build a new park visitor center, a project that had been stalled for over 25 years. 

“I am honored that Mike Snyder has selected me for San Antonio Missions,” Bentley said. “I look forward to joining the park staff and its partners – Los Compadres, the Archdiocese of San Antonio, City of San Antonio, San Antonio River Authority, Bexar and Wilson Counties and many others – who jointly work to preserve and promote the finest and most complete collection of Spanish historical and cultural resources in the United States.” 

Prior to his assignment at Assateague Island, Bentley was superintendent of George Washington Carver National Monument. While there, he completed final land acquisition to reunite the entire original Carver birthplace farm and led the design and construction of an 18,000-square-foot interactive learning center. From 2000 to 2002, Bentley also served as chief of operations for Oklahoma City National Memorial, where he helped shape the memorial’s partnership and implemented the memorial’s startup operations. Bentley also was supervisor of ranger operations at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was a resource management and visitor protection ranger at San Antonio Missions.

A native of Hillsdale, Michigan, Bentley graduated magna cum laude from Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice.  Scott met his wife Maryne while they were both working for NPS in Yellowstone. Today, Maryne works in an assortment of community volunteer roles and as an employee of Salisbury University. The Bentleys have two children: Joshua, 16, and Andrew, 12. When not managing parks, Bentley spends his free time in a variety of outdoor recreation pursuits with his family.

 

Glacier National Park/Intermountain Region

After 11 years at Glacier National Park as chief of facility management, John Kilpatrick is heading back to his home state of Florida, where he has accepted a position with the Army Corps of Engineers in Jacksonville.  Beginning September 15th, Kilpatrick will be the supervisory natural resources manager/supervisory civil engineer at Lake Okeechobee. He will manage and oversee the Army Corp of Engineer's Okeechobee Waterway operations and maintenance for central and southern Florida.

While at Glacier, Kilpatrick managed the parkwide facilities program in addition to serving as the park's senior project manager for the Going-to-the-Sun Road (Sun Road) rehabilitation and mitigation planning and implementation while coordinating with the Federal Highway Administration's Western Federal Lands Highway Division managers. In 2007 he received a superior service award for his oversight and management of the Sun Road project. 

Prior to his appointment at Glacier, Kilpatrick worked at Rocky Mountain National Park and Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Before his 20-year tenure with the NPS, Kilpatrick served as the officer in charge of construction for the Department of Navy in California for six years.

Kilpatrick and his wife Suzanne will make their new home in Jacksonville.  Their son, Ryan, is currently a trail crew member at Everglades.

Letters and notes can be sent to Nicole Ferguson at nicole_ferguson@nps.gov.