Hundreds have been recorded in the park system over the decades, including at least 20 in the first six months of this year. Suicide is not common in the national parks, but neither is it a rarity. Thus, while it was a Fayetteville County Deputy Sheriff who found the suicide victim’s abandoned car on the bridge’s southbound shoulder at 4:00 a.m., it was park rangers searching the riverbanks who found the body after daybreak.
Park personnel inevitably become involved in many incidents that originate on the bridge. However, it is situated within the boundaries of the New River Gorge National River. The New River Gorge Bridge is owned and operated by West Virginia’s highway department, and patrolled by the Fayetteville County Sheriff’s Department. The 1986 fatality was an illegal jump not associated with Bridge Day. There have been four known BASE-jumper fatalities at the bridge - one each in 1983, 1986, 1987, and 2006. That’s so high that the roughly 300 thrill seeking BASE jumpers who will leap from it during the Bridge Day festival this October 18 can reasonably expect their chutes to open safely. Soaring higher than in any other vehicular bridge in the western hemisphere (though not as high as the pedestrians-only Royal Gorge Bridge tourist attraction in Colorado) the New River Gorge Bridge is perched a remarkable 876 feet above the river and the CSX railroad. Route 19 near Fayetteville, West Virginia, the New River Gorge Bridge is an architectural icon and one of the most famous bridges in the country. I‘m not surprised that the young man knew about the bridge, nor would it surprise me to learn that he had personally seen it before. Among the items investigators found in his car were a suicide note, sealed letters for his parents and fiancé, and a Mapquest printout with directions from his home to the bridge. Why did this young man choose such a far-from-home place to end his life? Whatever his reasons, we know that he made the choice well in advance. The victim’s body was found after daybreak among the boulders below. In the predawn darkness of September 9, a 25-year old man from Ohio leaped to his death from the famously high New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia. Oil Trains Pose A Significant Threat To National Parks.The Care And Keeping Of History Within The National Park System.Wastewater And Sewer Facilities Failing In National Parks.
Private Philanthropy Fills The Gaps Of Deferred Maintenance.National Park Roads And Bridges Impacted By Lack Of Maintenance.NPS Is Running $670 Million Behind On Caring For Maintained Landscapes.Mixing Energy Development And National Parks.Maintenance Backlog Impacts Historic Structures In National Parks.Lack Of Dollars Crippling National Park Facilities For Staff And Visitors.Invasive Species A Plague On the National Park System.Groups Continually At Work To Acquire Private Lands Key To National Parks.Backlog Of Maintenance Needs Creates Risks In National Parks.Tackling The Maintenance Backlog In The Park System.Coping With 21st Century Wildfires In The Parks.Mixing Oil And Water At Big Cypress National Preserve.Not Enough Water And Too Many Invasives At Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.Colorado River Series-Canyonlands National Park.
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