Ranger honored for saving man from car overturned in river

Mount Rainier National Park ranger Peter Maggio has been honored for saving the driver of a car that wound up in the Nisqually River in 2010.

Maggio was presented the U.S. Coast Guard’s Certificate of Valor in a ceremony Nov. 9 in Enumclaw. The certificate is awarded to uniformed personnel and civilians who have exhibited courage above and beyond the call of duty in saving a life or attempting to save a life, and/or whose action put them at extreme personal risk.

On June 5, 2010, a driver fell asleep at the wheel and drove off the Nisqually Road in the park. The vehicle landed upside down in the Nisqually River, swollen with glacier runoff and the driver was trapped in his inverted vehicle in the middle of the river. At this point the bank drops approximately 40 feet from the roadway to the river.

One of the first rangers on scene, Maggio donned swift-water gear and headed into the river. The front of the car was submerged and the back window was broken with water rushing into the vehicle making it dangerously unstable, said a park news release. He broke out the rest of the rear window, entered the car and worked to cut away the seat belt while struggling to keep the driver’s head above water. After several tries, Maggio was finally able to cut the seat belt and free the driver from the car. The driver was treated for hypothermia and taken to a hospital by helicopter.

Maggio began his career with the National Park Service as a seasonal ranger at Dinosaur National Park in Colorado and Utah in 2003 then worked seasonally at several other parks, including Mount Rainier. Since 2008, he has been a permanent ranger at Mount Rainier in the summer and Big Bend National Park in the winter.

PARK PROJECT ADVANCES

A University of Washington project involving San Juan Island National Historical Park has made it to the second round of “Parks for the People: A Studio Competition to Re-imagine America’s National Parks.”

Teams from nine colleges and universities advanced from a field of 41 entries to design studio exercises and face a second jury review next summer.

The San Juan Island National Historical Park entry is from the University of Washington College of Built Environments.

“The teams have presented their vision to the judges,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in a prepared statement. “Now they must collaborate with the parks to find ways to promote sustainability, inspire stewardship, empower youth, and foster dynamic connections among parks, communities and natural systems.”

“We’ve challenged the most ambitious design studios in America to show us the park of the 21st century,” said Olympia Kazi, executive director of the Van Alen Institute, the primary collaborator with the National Park Service.

You can learn more, including the other stage one winners, at designingtheparks.org.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE STATE PARK?

The Washington State Parks Foundation is asking people to choose their favorite state park in an online poll.

According to the foundation’s recent newsletter, 103 out of 116 state parks have been mentioned at least once. In addition, the most popular – Deception Pass, Fort Flagler, Grayland Beach and Cape Disappointment – are mentioned by no more than 2-4 percent of those taking the survey.

A respondent from Gig Harbor wrote Dosewallips State Park is his favorite. “It’s open all year, it takes reservations year around, it is within my traveling range and once in a while it provides an extra treat with an elk herd coming through the park. Another extra is the odd year when the (pink salmon) run up the river in great numbers.”

You can find the survey at washingtonstateparksfoundation.org/state-parks-survey.