I stand corrected and had missed that. Thank you, Kurt.

Another thing you missed with your assumptions, Rick, is that the NPS has spent a lot of time touting their "rescues" in the Smokies and using it as a justification for a backcountry fee. Most rescues in the Smokies happen on Mt. Leconte, where a concessionaire runs a lodge with hot meals and a false sense of security draws dayhikers to the 6600 foot level. I emphasize dayhikers here because when you look at a breakdown of purported "rescues" in the Smokies, they involve non backpackers (eg people who don't pay a fee to use the smokies). These guys who were "rescued" and I use that term in the loosest of fashion, were probably walked out at a minimal cost to the NPS. Unless they employed a helicopter, I see no overhead costs associated here outside of regular ranger duties. As a matter of fact, the last big "rescue" along the AT in the Smokies involved a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter because the rangers couldn't get to Pecks corner shelter in the snow. They got turned around because of drifts. I suppose they never heard of snowshoes but they sure have a great arsenal of automatic weapons and a dandy shooting range on Mingus Mill and they drove to the trailhead at Smokemont in a 50,000 brand new 4wd. The backcountry news gets sensationalized all the time because it is titillating and foregin to most of the windshield tourists, 9 million of whom don't pay a dime to drive through and pollute the park that we backpackers now subsidize in the form of a user tax that excludes all other groups.

Rick, you didn't miss it. I hadn't updated the story with that tidbit.

SmokiesBackpacker, you raise an interesting question: Exactly how many SARs does the park staff handle annually, and what do they entail?

A very quick search through Traveler's 2013 archives found one rescue back in June of a hiker who was injured when a tornado tore through the area (interestingly, a backcountry ranger patrolling the area to assess damage and check on hikers found him), and just about a year ago another A.T. hiker was found dead in a shelter.

Now, there very likely were other SARs that we didn't cover. But it would be interesting to see the park's records on how many SARs it averages a year and at what cost. That's where the Park Service could offer more transparency, by posting that information on its websites, much as some parks post annual wildlife surveys.

This isn't to suggest the park doesn't need funds to cover backcountry SARs and patrols, but merely to raise the question of just how much does it cost on an annual basis? Even if there were zero SARs there likely is a need for backcountry patrols to ensure folks aren't getting into trouble or damaging resources, and, frankly, from a PR standpoint.

Dang, Smokiesbackpacer, give the broken record a rest!

re: "These guys who were "rescued" and I use that term in the loosest of fashion, were probably walked out at a minimal cost to the NPS. Unless they employed a helicopter, I see no overhead costs associated here outside of regular ranger duties." You need to go back and reread the above story, which was updated several hours before you posted your comment concerning the hikers' condition and other details.

As to "no overhead costs outside of regular duties" - can you confirm that no one was called in from off-duty, or no overtime was involved in an overnight rescue, or how many people participated in the incident, and for how many hours?

Perhaps the next time there's a rescue under similar conditions ("overnight temperatures in the single digits, winds gusting to 35 miles per hour, wind chills near 20 degrees below zero, and blowing snow") perhaps you'll be first in line to volunteer to hike in, spend the night on the trail and help out. Otherwise, your criticism sounds pretty hollow, and sadly, just another helping of your sour grapes about anything the park staff does.

For my part, I say "thanks for the good work!"

And so say we all, Jim.

The most recent rescue in our local park was through the night, off duty rangers including ranger management, fire department both paid and volunteer, and other on/off duty park employees. They carried the vivtim out, including swift water crossing. Everyone involved was a friend or neighbor. None of them have claimed to be "heroic", but that doesn't stop the victim nor myself from terming them as such.

Kurt,

One irony of the newly hired backcountry rangers in the Smokies is that they are furloughed in the winter time. There are plenty of uniformed law enforcers to do the job if needed, and rarely is it needed. As a Smokies volunteer, Jim Burnett, I have been involved in rescues multiple times, mostly from a personal backpacking standpoint where we have walked unprepared folks miles back to a trailhead or in one particular situation escorted a college age group 9 miles up Forney Creek because they apparently didn't realize that a downhill trail returns uphill and you may need a rain jacket and camping gear. They would all have likely been fine, just like those kids above, but here in the South, we see these things as our personal duty and not the responsibility of the federal government. Ironically, as a result of the smokies backcountry fee, visitation to the Smokies backcountry has dropped almost %30 in the first year. Here is a link, which is currently inoperable (bureaucracy at work) https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park%20Specific%20Reports/Monthly%20Public%20Use?Park=GRSM

This is the NPS wisdom at work. Reduce backcountry visitation, which is what they want in the first place. I give them kudos for that success. Keeping people out of public lands is one thing the NPS seems to have mastered.

Sigh.

In other news, pitchers and catchers report on February 12th. Which is, of course, the fault of malignant NPS management.

Stupid and unprepared yes. Pay for rescue? No matter the depth of stupidity the taxes and fees collected should cover the cost of rescue, however there are certainly gray areas.