Among its many duties, the Maine Warden Service is responsible for finding and rescuing people reportedly lost in the Maine woods. Every case is different. The person lost may be a wandering toddler, a confused elderly person out for a stroll, an overly ambitious hiker or a hunter who got “turned around.” Search and rescue is a tough job, often conducted under difficult weather conditions, and enormous emotional pressure to make the right search decisions when lives are at stake.

A coordinated search can be costly, too. Many searches must be conducted with the use of large teams of searchers, scent dogs and search aircraft. Maine’s Chief Warden Col. Tim Peabody estimates that the true annual cost of Maine search and rescue operations approximates close to a half million dollars a year. Although some of this funding is provided by the State General Fund, a significant portion comes from the Fish and Wildlife Department’s annual budget, which comes from hunting and fishing license fees.

In 1997, during Commissioner Ray “Bucky” Owen’s watch, the question was asked: “Why should hunters and anglers be paying for Maine citizens whose missing status has nothing to do with hunting or fishing?” Other states around the country had already established a mechanism to charge rescued individuals whose irresponsible behavior got them lost in the first place.

Thus the question was answered with new legislation that granted the Fish and Wildlife Commissioner the authority to bill rescued individuals for services rendered. The spirit of the legislation was straight forward. Rescued individuals would only be charged if there was ample evidence that a lost person acted irresponsibly. Between 1997 and 2002 there were a number of missing person rescues that in some states might have warranted a bill to that person from the state, but not one charge was ever levied. Ironically, according to one veteran warden sergeant who has seen his fair share of rescues, the invention of the cell phone triggered a whole new class of missing person (People taking chances in the outdoors that they might otherwise not take simply because they possessed a cell phone.)

To his credit, Maine’s new Fish and Wildlife Commissioner, with some urging from his Deputy Chief Warden Major Tom Santaguida, has invoked the restitution option for the first time. That’s right. Finally, a few irresponsible folks are being asked to pay for their warden search. In February and March of last year, nightime warden searches were conducted for two different snowmobilers who were reported missing and long overdue by loved ones. In each case, according to warden spokesman Mark Latti, the “missing” snowsledders, were partying while game wardens searched through the night. One person has been billed for $2,318.79 and the other for $4,497.75.

Have they paid up? Latti says that the “missing” snowsledders are working out an installment payment plan with DIF&W. And well they should!

A few weeks ago during a major December snowstorm, three different groups of winter campers were stranded and rescued by the Maine Warden Service. Colonel Tim Peabody Chief of the Maine Warden Service had this to say about those rescues: “Winter camping, if done carelessly, is life threatening. The fact that these groups chose to head out camping after downplaying or ignoring forecasts, and also head out inadequately prepared without vital equipment such as snowshoes were contributing factors causing extensive and costly searches that should have been avoided.”

Obviously, these winter camping groups should have heeded the winter storm warnings, which were unequivocal. In short, smart campers would have stayed home.

Will these groups be billed by the state for their rescues?

According to Latti, the office of the commissioner and top warden service personnel will be reviewing the details of each case to determine whether recovering costs associated with the searches is appropriate.

What do you think?

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WCME-FM 96.7) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected].