Costly Adventures

From Yahoo:
"For some stranded U.S. adventurers, rescues come at a cost"

After an all-terrain vehicle accident in the Utah desert last spring, 53-year-old Mikki Babineau expected a long recuperation for collapsed lungs and 18 broken ribs. What the Idaho woman didn't expect was a $750 bill from the local Utah sheriff's office for sending a volunteer search and rescue unit to her aid, a service for which the sheriff in that county regularly charges fees. Just a handful of states, including Oregon, Maine and Babineau's home state of Idaho, have laws authorizing local agencies to bill for rescues when factors such as recklessness, illegal activity or false information led to the predicament. Lawmakers from the Rockies to the Appalachians periodically question why adventurers who incur costs should not have to pay the price - literally. That debate has heated up this year as legislators in at least two states have sought, so far unsuccessfully, to enact laws to allow fees for rescues. That few states currently allow such billing is chiefly due to objections by national search and rescue groups, who say the prospect of payment could prompt people to delay seeking needed aid, possibly making a dangerous situation worse. But that has not stopped lawmakers from considering such laws. Legislators in New Hampshire, for example, are seeking to shore up search and rescue funds by establishing fees ranging from $350 to $1,000. That legislation, designed to address deficits in a state rescue fund paid through licensing of hunters, snowmobilers and other outdoor recreationists, is pending before a New Hampshire House committee. "There is a lot of hue and cry about recovering rescue costs, but we never question people's right to dial 911 for authorities, fire departments and paramedics and we don't begrudge those costs," said Howard Paul, spokesman for the Colorado Search and Rescue Board, which oversees 50 volunteer teams in that state. Colorado logged 1,428 missions in 2010, the most recent year data was available. While that was a high for search and rescue operations compared to the four preceding years, the record since 1995 was set in 2002 with 1,582 missions.

             

  ^ I see no problem with charging to help rescue stranded people. When people call 9-1-1 they get charged many times by different agencies (ambulance, the police, fire,etc) and no one cares that the cost would stop people from calling 9-1-1. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/stranded-u-adventurers-rescues-come-cost-141653582.html