On Monday, January
17th, Robert Ernst Mahn, Jr., 51, the park's East Area ranger, left the
east entrance on a snowmobile patrol west toward Sylvan Pass. About five
miles north and west of the entrance, Mahn went off the road and down a 40-
to 70-foot embankment. A fellow ranger looking for him about an hour later
found him under his snowmobile and summoned assistance.
|
|
Responding personnel,
including his wife, Grace Nutting, conducted CPR on him during the
evacuation and ambulance trip, but were unable to revive him. The
accident occurred during a period of low visibility due to high winds
and blowing snow, and park investigators believe he may have struck a
low-hanging tree branch. Mahn joined the Service in 1973 and worked
at National Capital Parks, Canyonlands and Golden Spike before going
to Yellowstone in 1976. He'd been the East Area ranger since 1982.
|