or the cost of cleanup and related matters? I honestly don’t know. That seems like something the gov’t might just have to pay for. Drivers willfully place themselves in dangerous situations, especially in southern california, should we have to pay for their mistakes? It doesn’t even have to be a case of stupidity or lack of respect for the situation (climbers sometimes get caught in bad storms even if they are prepared, a good driver can be the ‘victim’ of a poor driver, etc).

And what about people who willfully have sex without the means of raising that child or paying for a delivery? Should I have to pay for state run programs to help those people?

Does anytime someone engages in an act that could cost taxpayers money fall under this sort of consideration?

My friend and I hiked eight miles into the Kalmiopsis a few years ago. We set up camp, built a fire, and pulled out the bottle of whiskey. By the time the sun was down, we were staggering drunk. Somehow we got the wild notion to go night fishing in the river. Before we made it to the river, my friend walked off the trail and tumbled about thirty feet from the edge to the rocks. He broke an arm, two ribs, and his leg had a compound fracture – yes, the bone was protruding.

It was a sobering experience. There is no cellphone reception out there. And it was just me and him. I splinted and bandaged his leg and arm as best I could. Then I made a travois out of my sleeping bag and two wooden poles. I dragged him the eight miles back to the truck. It took me all night and part of the morning to do it. One of the most miserable and frightening times of my life.

I know my comment has nothing to do with Search and Rescue, but it has everything to do with consequences of stupidity. As a result of a little bottle-tipping and reckless foolhardiness, my friend suffered, and believe me, I suffered as well. We also lost most of our camping and fishing gear.

I support the need for Search and Rescue, as there will always be idiots in need of rescue somewhere. That night I would have given anything and everything I owned for a helicopter rescue. If my friend had been alone with those injuries, he might not have lived. If you’re going to climb up a 12,000+ foot mountain, you shouldn’t do it alone.

Go down to some gov’t office and say that you don’t want to be saved at taxpayers expense. So, if you are reported missing on a mountain the gov’t has a legal document that says they don’t have to rescue you. Same thing for fires too

I suppose they’d be even more screwed than the Republicans if your rules were in place, since they are total purists when it comes to eliminating govt services. I pity the poor Libertarian who gets lost in the woods under your rules! Gonna have to be one rugged dude with some serious boy scout skills.

I love the commenter over on O-live who’s like, what a wuss, why didn’t he drag himself down the mountain faster with no food and a broken ankle. Geez, people.

do you really want everything doled out on an “as you go” basis? Roads, medical care, schools? Most of us would have to sit around doing nothing most of the time, but we’d have to eat really well and exercise a lot while doing nothing.

I do like the idea of bumping up user fees a bit and pooling them to cover the cost of the occasional rescue.

Oh I know, there are wars to wage and banks to bail out.