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Wardens Sign on to New Rescue Tool

January 14, 2009 - When mild temperatures ease the harsh winter weather, some people who explore the mountain ranges in Maine and New Hampshire tend to let their guard down.

Meanwhile, game wardens in both states who conduct searches for lost people have gotten their guard up, so to speak.

New Hampshire recently clamped down hard on lost hikers by making it easier for the state to charge them for the cost of searches, a practice in the Granite State since 1999.

In Maine, game wardens this week are getting more training for search and rescues after finally getting equipped with mobile laptop technology via a congressional grant.

Without a doubt, expectations that careless and unfortunate hikers will get lost remain high.

"I would like to think" with a tougher law, fewer will, said Brian Johnston, snow ranger for the New Hampshire Forest Service. "But I'm not convinced of it yet."

Last year in Maine, the Maine Warden Service conducted 432 searches, of which 33 percent were for hikers and lost children, according to the service.

In New Hampshire, there are roughly 140 a year, according to authorities there.

This year marks the first time the Maine Warden Service is able to track and categorize the kinds of searches it conducts using computers that game wardens take on the road, said Lt. Pat Dorian, head of search and rescue.

The service is charged by statute with conducting searches for lost people in the woods and on the water – which, of course, compose most of Maine's landscape.

Computer technology has made searching such a vast area easier thanks to a $500,000 Congressional grant awarded in 2005. The computers allow game wardens to better understand the trends that occur in searches and the behavior of people who get lost, Dorian said.

Moreover, Dorian said, game wardens are being trained this week on understanding searches specific to Maine. This will be helpful, Dorian said, because of the unique, heavily forested terrain in the state.

And, given the amount and length of searches in Maine – some as long as four to six days across an area as big as all of the other New England states combined – new resources were paramount.

"I wasn't surprised to see we had 432 searched in 2008," Dorian said. "The federal funding was huge, huge. It brought us into the 21st century. Every other law enforcement agency in the state had computers in the vehicles."

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, the number of searches conducted by game wardens remains high despite a 10-year-old law that makes victims pay for the cost of the search, said Lt. Todd Bogardus, search and rescue team leader.

A law passed in 1999 allowed the state to recoup the cost of a search if the recipient was found to be reckless – and it did, Bogardus said. At that time, it was believed fewer people would call for help, but that never happened.

Under the new rules, game wardens in New Hampshire merely need to show a lost person was negligent – such as by remaining outside after sunset without a light – to recoup costs.

Still, Bogardus expects just as many searches as before. Despite all manner of warnings, just as many people go out in the wilderness unprepared as they did a decade ago, he said.

"In 1999, people thought hikers would not call anymore. But people are still calling," Bogardus said. "It's not a big deterrent."

In Maine, the Warden Service has the ability to collect the cost of a search from the victim, but rarely does, Dorian said.

"We've tried to collect funds in three different situations. We never got a nickel," he said.

KEEP IN MIND
THE FOREST SERVICE Snow Rangers of the White Mountain National Forest offer these tips for staying safe when exploring in the winter:
• Understand the terrain where you are going.
• Know the current conditions.
• Have the proper gear for those conditions.
• Be wary of a trail that is not packed.
• Be flexible in plans; do not be goal-oriented.
• Assess changing conditions and know the forecast.
• Leave an itinerary behind and a return time with someone.
• Pack some extra survival gear.
• Carry a water purifier, extra food and extra clothing.
• Wear all-synthetic clothing.
HERE ARE TWO resources for more on how to stay safe when winter hiking:
www.tuckerman.org
www.hikesafe.com


DEIRDRE FLEMING, Portland Press Herald, January 8, 2009


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