Rescue Bills Burn Counties
A 56-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., man got stuck between two rocks last month while hiking a narrow slot canyon near Moab, Utah.
Unable to move up or down, he screamed for help. Another hiker alerted authorities, and a Grand County search-and-rescue helicopter was dispatched to the scene, where rescuers were able to quickly free the stranded man.
The rented chopper spent 44 minutes in the air, costing county taxpayers nearly $600. When the man was presented with the bill, he refused to pay.
“We ask out-of-county residents to pay for their rescues,” said Frank Mendonca, commander of the Grand County search-and-rescue team. “But, if they don’t pay, there’s not much we can do.”
From the redrock mountains in the south to the alpine forests in the north, counties conduct hundreds of searches every year in the scenic Beehive State.
Utah has no law compelling people to pay for the rescues - even if, as in the case of the Brooklyn man, the response is based largely on the victim’s own foolish decisions.
That doesn’t stop some officials from trying, including San Juan County Sheriff Mike Lacy. He said a few lost hikers have reimbursed the county.
Yet most Utah officials don’t send an invoice to those they have saved, recognizing that search-and-rescue costs are a necessary by-product of outdoor recreation. The state, however, is beginning to help.
Counties can get partially reimbursed for searches and rescues through the state Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management. Funding was established under a law passed by the 1997 Utah Legislature, which initiated a small surcharge on the purchase of off-road vehicles and habitat authorizations.
The fund reimburses counties for expenses, training and equipment related to searches and rescues. About half of all Utah counties took advantage of the program in its first year.
The total available to counties since 1997 amounted to nearly $195,000. Utah counties applied for and received just more than $111,000.
There is no limit to what counties can receive unless the money in the fund dries up, officials said.
All Utah counties that applied for assistance received what they requested. Grand County got the most, receiving $14,492 between July 1997 and July 1998. Salt Lake County received $12,000, while Weber and San Juan counties received more than $2,000 each. Still, all these sums were far less than each county spent on searches.