Park Continues To Recover From Severe Ice Storm

The Type III incident management team (IMT) responsible for mitigating the hazards and repairing infrastructure damage from the January ice storm demobilized on Sunday. Most of the severely damaged trees and “hanger” limbs in the high visitor use frontcountry areas have been removed and 90% of the park’s trails have been assessed and cleared of downed vegetation. Nearly all park facilities impacted by the storm are again open to public use and most of the fire lines in the prescribed fire burn units have been cleared. Some people will remain on scene to continue clearing and cleanup while the park’s staff transitions to normal operations. Several trainees received incident command system experience under the Type III IMT. Personnel, equipment and support services were provided by Ozark, Natchez Trace, Hot Springs, Pea Ridge, Yosemite, Zion, Voyageurs, Wind Cave, Saguaro, Shenandoah’s EICC, the Midwest Regional Office and the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.