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National park searches, rescues costing millions, figures sh

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 1:02 am
by rlown
"Search and rescue operations in America's national parks cost taxpayers more than $3 million last year, with the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Yosemite in California leading the way for most reported incidents, according to National Park Service statistics.

The Grand Canyon's 290 search and rescue operations (SARs) were a full 10 percent of those conducted nationwide, while Yosemite's 233 operations were 8 percent of the national total, the statistics showed.

Nationwide, such operations involved more than 71,000 work hours for park service employees, and an additional 12,300 work hours for non-employees, such as volunteers, military personnel or other external resources, the park service figures revealed.


Across the national park system 159 fatalities were reported last year, accounting for 5.5 percent of total SAR incidents. Earlier this month, two climbers fell from Yosemite's El Capitan, a 3,000-foot vertical rock face, Fox News reported, citing information from park officials.

The hikers fell from El Capitan, a 3,000 foot vertical rock face.
In Utah, the 324 SARs in the state's national parks last year represented a rise of nearly 70 percent since 2014, with men in their 20s being the most likely people to require assistance, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

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GENDER statistics nationwide of 2890 total reported search and rescue (SAR) operations in 2017. (National Park Service)

Zion and Bryce Canyon, “the granddaddies” of Utah’s national parks, were where most visitors run into trouble. Rangers retrieved 114 people in Zion last year, which marked a 42 percent leap from three years ago, the report said.

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The San Rafael Swell, a huge craggy geologic feature, is located in south-central Utah approximately 30 miles west of Green River. (National Park Service)

Smaller Bryce Canyon saw a sharp rise from 19 SARs in 2014 to 86 such operations last year, the newspaper reported.

For those 86 operations, staffers and volunteers reportedly spent nearly 860 hours searching for or rescuing distressed visitors, costing the park service about $32,000.

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COSTS statistics nationwide for 2890 total reported search and rescue (SAR) operations in 2017. (National Park Service)

The Beehive State's national park units had 12 fatalities in 2017, which was up from eight in 2014, the Tribune reported.

Nationally, a total of 2,890 SARs were reported last year, with 49 percent (1,174) involving men, and 19.3 percent (656) involving people in their 20s, the NPS reported.

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AGE statistics nationwide of 2890 total reported search and rescue (SAR) operations in 2017. (National Park Service)

Amy Lieu is a news editor and reporter for Fox News."

The graphs add depth to the story: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/06/ ... -show.html

Re: National park searches, rescues costing millions, figure

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 5:26 am
by rightstar76
In the parks and forests, there will always be people who get lost, hurt, etc. Some of the incidents will be because of unfortunate accidents and some due to sheer stupidity. Also, there will be a selfish few who activate PLBs when they really don't need to and request helicopter rides to their cars. :(

Nevertheless, I think money spent on SAR is money well worth spending and should continue. It's the price of living in a civilized society.

Re: National park searches, rescues costing millions, figure

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 7:41 am
by AlmostThere
Statistics would probably show that the rates of rescue are the same across the board, when you factor in the rate of visitation. Pretty minimal all things considered. A lot of rescues in Yosemite are actually medical problems that likely would happen in the frontcountry, if only the person had been on a sidewalk instead of the Mist Trail. (Lots of the incidents happen on the way to Half Dome.)

Re: National park searches, rescues costing millions, figure

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:20 pm
by fishmonger
rlown wrote:"
Nationwide, such operations involved more than 71,000 work hours for park service employees,
how many hours do all employees work who pitch in? 2040 hours a year is one person's work year. So that's barely 35 full time positions. This is a fraction of the NP staffing. I would say they need to just suck it up, because that is one reason why they have that job. We pay for it with massive increases at gate admission, taxes, markup on Meadow Burgers, etc.

Re: National park searches, rescues costing millions, figure

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:06 pm
by AlmostThere
Most of Yosemite's SAR team, for example, are volunteers who also work in the park - for the concessionaire or NPS, either/or. A smaller body of paid SAR members are constantly training to do the water and rock technical SAR efforts, and that is all they do. So no, they do not have to "suck it up" - volunteers can quit any time. For the SAR team who are paid it is literally their job - no sucking it up there either, it's what they are hired to do, and they do it very very well. SAR is a lifestyle. We only quit when we are physically unable.

The majority of the costs for SAR are in the equipment. Helicopters, for example, are tremendously expensive to maintain and operate. Climbing gear has a finite and short lifespan, and ropes are replaced annually or more depending on wear and tear. Food, transport, etc all cost money. But it would be horrendously more expensive if not for hundreds of volunteers.