Into the Wild: Can Regulation of Wilderness Recreational Activities Improve Safety and Reduce Search and Rescue Incidents?

Volume 21 | Issue 2 Article 3 8-1-2014 Into the Wild: Can Regulation of Wilderness Recreational Activities Improve Safety and Reduce Search and Rescue Incidents? Anne Villella T.K. Keen Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/mslj Part of the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons Recommended Citation Anne Villella & T.K. Keen, Into the Wild: Can Regulation of Wilderness Recreational Activities Improve Safety and Reduce Search and Rescue Incidents?, 21 Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports L.J. 323 (2014). Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/mslj/vol21/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal by an authorized editor of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. For more information, please contact . 35091-vls_21-2 Sheet No. 41 Side A 09/19/2014 14:26:10 \\jciprod01\productn\V\VLS\21-2\VLS203.txt unknown Seq: 1 26-JUN-14 12:40 Villella and Keen: Into the Wild: Can Regulation of Wilderness Recreational Activiti INTO THE WILD: CAN REGULATION OF WILDERNESS RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES IMPROVE SAFETY AND REDUCE SEARCH AND RESCUE INCIDENTS? ANNE VILLELLA* & T.K. KEEN** ABSTRACT 35091-vls_21-2 Sheet No. 41 Side A National media coverage of high risk wilderness search and rescue missions have sparked rigorous debate about whether those rescued should pay the cost of search and rescue efforts and whether public bodies should require climbers and hikers – or others participating in wilderness recreational activities – to participate in mandatory wilderness education, or carry equipment, such as locator beacons. The majority of wilderness search and rescue incidents result from poor judgment, lack of physical and mental preparation, or technical knowledge and skills. These failings on the part of recreationalists place both the recreationalist and search and rescue workers at risk. In light of those considerations, this Article looks at existing wilderness regulations intended to improve safety and their effectiveness. The authors conclude that regulation of wilderness recreation must focus primarily on educating recreationalists rather than mandating the use of particular equipment or imposing liability on recreationalists for search and rescue costs. In addition, the authors conclude that public bodies must provide reliable and adequate funding for search and rescue operations, equipment, and training. As more people spend time in our nation’s wilderness areas, the cost and number of search and rescue incidents continue to climb. Accordingly, the authors recommend that public bodies implement voluntary search and rescue card programs that provide funding specifically for search and rescue operations. (323) Published by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository, 2014 1 09/19/2014 14:26:10 * Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School; J.D., Lewis & Clark Law School, cum laude. ** Senior Policy Analyst, Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, J.D., Lewis & Clark Law School. 35091-vls_21-2 Sheet No. 41 Side B 09/19/2014 14:26:10 \\jciprod01\productn\V\VLS\21-2\VLS203.txt 324 unknown Seq: 2 26-JUN-14 12:40 JEFFREY OORAD SPORTS LAW JOURNAL [Vol. JeffreyS.S. M Moorad Sports Law Journal, Vol. 21, Iss. 2 [2014], Art. 3 21: p. 323 TABLE OF CONTENTS R 329 330 332 334 337 337 338 339 R 340 341 R 342 343 R 343 R 347 350 352 353 R 354 R 355 R 358 361 362 R 364 R 366 367 R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R 2 09/19/2014 14:26:10 http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/mslj/vol21/iss2/3 325 35091-vls_21-2 Sheet No. 41 Side B I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: WILDERNESS RECREATION AND SEARCH AND RESCUE (SAR) IN THE U.S. . . . . . . . . . . A. History of SAR Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. Factors Leading to SAR Incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. SAR Costs and Funding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III. REGULATIONS IMPOSED ON RECREATIONALISTS . . . . . . . . . A. Charge-for-Rescue: SAR Cost Recovery Laws . . . . . 1. SAR Cost Recovery by Federal Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . a. Providing False Report or Information . . . b. Interfering with Agency Functions and Disorderly Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. SAR Cost Recovery Under State and Local Law . . . a. Persons from Whom Public Bodies May Recover SAR Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . b. Dollar Limits on SAR Cost Recovery . . . . . c. Conduct That Triggers Liability for SAR Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. Safety Orientation and Preventive Search and Rescue (PSAR) Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Equipment Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. Insurance Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IV. ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. Regulation Must Focus on Reducing SAR Incidents and Improving SAR Response . . . . . . . . . 1. Registration, Safety Orientation, and PSAR Programs to Reduce SAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Equipment Regulation Ineffective and Difficult to Enforce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B. Public Bodies Must Provide Adequate Funding . . 1. Creating SAR Funds to Improve SAR Operations . 2. Charge-for-Rescue Have Limited Effect and Fail to Provide Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Insurance Regulation Is Unlikely to Improve Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . V. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35091-vls_21-2 Sheet No. 42 Side A 09/19/2014 14:26:10 \\jciprod01\productn\V\VLS\21-2\VLS203.txt unknown Seq: 3 26-JUN-14 12:40 2014]Villella REGULATION RECREATIONAL WWilderness ILDERNESS ACTIVITY and Keen: Into OF the Wild: Can Regulation of Recreational Activiti 325 I. INTRODUCTION 35091-vls_21-2 Sheet No. 42 Side A At 2:00 A.M. on December 11, 2009, from Timberline Lodge on the south side of Oregon’s Mount Hood, three young but experienced climbers began their ascent of Mount Hood. Before departing, the three obtained a climbing permit at the self-service station at Timberline Lodge and filled out a form that indicated they would return by late afternoon. The form listed their equipment – including ropes, harnesses, crampons, and a cellular phone. They had let loved ones know the route they intended to take and the time they expected to return. But they neither returned as expected, nor contacted their loved ones. The next day, the loca (...truncated)