Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, November 28, 1993                   TAG: 9311280061
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LURAY                                LENGTH: Medium

NEED RESCUING? YOU MAY HAVE TO PAY

The cost can run into the tens of thousands of dollars - most, if not all, coming out of the Park Service budget.

"It's all part of what the public expects from us. If they get sick or injured or lost, they expect we will come for them," said Larry Hakel, Shenandoah's chief park ranger.

But the Park Service is considering modifying its approach when it comes to rescuing some of those in trouble.

"Washington is thinking about some ways to help defray some costs of rescuing those engaged in high-adventure sports, such as mountaineering, rock climbing or whitewater rafting," Hakel said.

"But none of that will affect the average visitor," he said. "We'll always be ready to lend assistance."

Jim Lee, the Park Service's emergency service coordinator in Washington, said slightly more than $3 million was spent on search and rescues last year in national parks.

Those operations ranged from finding a small child who wandered away from the family campground to a full-scale mountain rescue of climbers stranded on Mount McKinley in Alaska. All were rescued at taxpayers' expense.

"The thinking is evolving to a position that visitors who engage in high-risk sports, such as the McKinley experience, should assume more financial responsibility," said Chris Anderss, chief of resource management and visitor protection for the Park Service's mid-Atlantic region in Philadelphia.

Options being considered include requiring climbers and rafters to post a bond that would help pay for any searches and rescues. Park Service officials said they are considering trying an experimental system next year.

Under current policy, parks cover the costs of searches and rescues up to $500. Amounts above that are paid by Washington, Hakel said.

"We end up taking the money from somewhere to pay for these things, a bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul," said Anderss, whose region includes Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

"Most of the requests for search and rescue money in this region come from Shenandoah and New River in West Virginia," he said. Anderss did not have a breakdown of rescue costs for individual parks.

Hakel said most of the Shenandoah searches and rescues involve day visitors.

"Most of our rescues are in the northern end of the park. Most of the injured are males in their late teens and early 20s, and alcohol is usually involved.

"During the early spring and through the summer, our searches seem to mostly involve people who have wandered away from their party or tried to take a shortcut," he said.

Old Rag is a popular destination for many hikers. But its switchback trails often confuse those looking for the shortest route up and down the mountain. Some of those who get off the trail looking for a shortcut end up on the mountain for the night.

"This spring, it seemed as if we had a search every weekend on Old Rag," Hakel said.

Inclement weather leads to many of the park's searches. A March blizzard stranded a number of groups camping in the park.

The groups were all well-prepared, and most were able to walk out. But the Park Service spent $12,000 looking for the missing.

Anderss said that is always considered money well spent. It's the "no-brainers" who bother him.

"A few years ago, we had a husband and his pregnant wife hiking in the back country of Yosemite. They became separated, and the husband never showed up. We spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars looking. Two weeks later, the husband shows up in Maine.

"It seems the thought of fatherhood was too much for him," Anderss said.

Two weeks ago, searchers combed the Great Smoky Mountain National Park for a hiker who left a note with his pack saying he was injured and was walking out for help. Several days later, the hiker turned up in Colorado.

"You've got rangers and volunteers out there risking their lives. Some of these people you are looking for are real no-brainers," Anderss said.

Anderss said on occasion those who touch off a bogus search are charged in federal court. If the judge orders restitution, the Park Service can recover some of its costs.

Nevertheless, the Park Service's mandate is clear, said Lee of the Washington office. "We must go out and find those people who are lost, sick or injured. That hasn't changed."