CADES COVE ROAD WILL CLOSE FOR MORNING OPERATION
Two areas will be closed temporarily this week to install new precast concrete public restrooms (vault toilets) at popular trailheads in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Cades Cove Loop Road will close on Thursday, June 16, until 12 p.m. to accommodate the transport and installation of a vault toilet at the Abrams Falls Trailhead.
The road closure is necessary so that the tractor trailer carrying the vault toilets can enter Cades Cove via the exit side of the one-way loop road in order to avoid driving over the Abrams Creek bridge. The load capacity of the tractor trailer exceeds the design of the Abrams Creek bridge.
In addition, the north portion of the Alum Cave Trail parking area along Newfound Gap Road also will be closed starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 16 – 8 p.m., Friday, June 17, to install a vault toilet at that popular location. Overnight backpackers who wish to hike the Alum Cave Trail to Mt. LeConte on Thursday for an overnight stay must park their vehicles in the adjacent parking area. The north parking lot will be the staging area for the large equipment that will be used to install the vault toilet near the trailhead.
“The placement of these ADA-compliant vault toilet systems will satisfy visitor needs as well as to help to reduce the sanitary issues associated with the heavy use that these areas receive,” said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson.
-NPS-

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Three Men Sentenced For Park Violations

On April 20th, three North Carolina men were convicted and sentenced in federal court in two separate cases, one involving ginseng poaching and the other theft. Billy Joe Hurley, 42, and Jeffrey Hurley, 34, of Bryson City, were both found guilty and sentenced to a jail term for illegal possession of American ginseng. On the same day in court, Gregory Cline, 35, also of Bryson City, pled guilty to one count of tampering in the theft of funds from a self-pay collection box located at a trailhead. He also received jail time. In the ginseng case, each defendant pled guilty to the poaching charges. Billy Joe Hurley was sentenced to 75 days in jail and fined $5,540 in restitution to the park for possessing 554 wild ginseng roots, and Jeffrey N. Hurley was sentenced to 14 days in jail and fined $2,510 in restitution to the park for possessing 251 roots. He has appealed his conviction. In late October 2010, as part of an ongoing investigation, a ranger apprehended the Hurley brothers in the North Carolina area of the park with over 11 pounds of freshly dug roots that had been poached in one day’s time. The roots were later aged by park biologists. They determined that most of the roots were at least 10 years old, but that some of the larger ones were 30 to 40 years old. Each man was charged with possession of plants/parts (harvesting ginseng). The offense carries a maximum misdemeanor penalty of up to six months in jail and/or fine of up to $5,000. “Due to the high market value of ginseng, the illegal harvest of this plant continues to be a serious problem in Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” said Clay Jordan, the park’s chief ranger. “In the international and domestic legal trade market, wild ginseng can bring between $500 and $800 per pound of dried roots. The larger and older the root, the more profitable and valuable it is.” On the same day in court, Gregory Cline was convicted of one count of tampering. After rangers determined that money was being stolen from a self-pay trail map collection box, an extended surveillance operation was conducted which netted Cline as a suspect. A federal magistrate judge for the Western District of North Carolina sentenced Cline to 57 days in jail and ordered him to pay $57 restitution to the park, the amount he had stolen. Cline has appealed the case. Over the last several years, rangers throughout the park have observed an increase in thefts from these self-pay pamphlet collection boxes. Investigations into the thefts have resulted in convictions against numerous individuals. [Submitted by Nancy Gray, Public Affairs Officer]

(See attached file: BRIEFING – Motor Home accident 8-23-10.docx)
BRIEFING – MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
AUGUST 23, 2010 – 4:30 P.M.

Around 12 p.m. a one vehicle accident, involving a large motor home

with seven occupants, occurred in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in

the North Carolina side of the Park, about 3 miles south of Newfound Gap.

The motor home, driven by Robert McCanna Reilly, III, from Miami, Fla., was

traveling south on Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441). The accident occurred

when Reilly attempted to pull the vehicle off the road onto a gravel

section of the shoulder but was unable to stop before the shoulder became

too narrow to support the vehicle. The RV fell onto its side and slid

about 100 feet down an extremely steep embankment.

Six of the seven occupants were injured. The driver did not suffer

any injuries. Two of the patients with severe injuries were transported by

Mountain Area Medical Airlift (MAMA) to Memorial Mission Hospital in

Asheville, N.C. Four other individuals were transported by Cherokee Tribal

Ambulance to Cherokee Hospital with less serious injuries.

The two individuals transported by MAMA were a 13-year old boy who

was in the front passenger seat; and Eduard Koefler, 57, was in the back of

the vehicle. The 13-year-old was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected

from the vehicle. Eduard was removed from inside the vehicle by the

occupants.

The other four patients were: Christoper Koefler (18); Ino Reilly,

30; Bridgette Koefler, 56, and Julia Koefler, 10. The Koeflers are all

from Austria and were visiting their relatives, the Reilly’s who live in

Miami.

The Newfound Gap Road was closed about 12:30 p.m. as emergency

personnel from Great Smoky Mountains National Park and several North

Carolina agencies converged on the scene to provide medical assistance to

the patients and conduct technical rescue operations. When emergency

personnel arrived on the scene all, but two of the passengers were

alongside the road. The patients transported by MAMA had to be hoisted up

the embankment by medical personnel. The other individuals scrambled up

the embankment to the roadside.

The North Carolina emergency services that were instrumental in the

rescue included Cherokee Tribal Emergency Management Services, Bryson City

Fire Department, Swain County Rescue, Cherokee Fire Department, and

Cherokee Natural Resources.

For more information: contact Nancy Gray 865/436-1208

The road remained closed as of 4:30 p.m. to allow a crane service to

remove the RV from the site.

The one thing I will stress is the importance of knowing the local wildlife. I’m sure everyone knows all about Black Bears in the Smoky Mountains, but did you also know there are 2 (of the 23 total) snake species that are poisonous? (Source) There are, the Timber Rattlesnake (my trail friend) and the Copperhead. Knowing what you’re going to run into on the trail is vital to knowing what to do when you’re put in a situation that everyone acknowledges can happen, but so few are actually prepared for.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle! (okay I’m a child of the 80s, but me.)