Fish and Game Rescue
Fund In the
Red
Funded by Motorized Recreation
by
Paula Tracy
New Hampshire Union Leader
July 28, 2010
CONCORD – Search-and-rescue missions in New Hampshire's water and woods have
kept New Hampshire Fish and Game busy and financially in the red -- again.
Col. Martin Garabedian said yesterday that the department began the new fiscal
year July 1 with a series of rescues and a budget deficit of $26,000. "It
has been a very busy summer," but that's not unusual, said Garabedian.
The continual cost of the missions is forcing him to make cutbacks in hiker
education, including program funding for Hike Safe.
"We are looking at something else and trying to find a new funding mechanism,"
Garabedian said.
As it stands, money for search-and-rescue missions comes from registrations of
motorboats and off-highway road vehicles, including snowmobiles and ATVs.
Garabedian said that amounts to about $180,000 a year to cover, on average,
about 150 search-and-rescue missions. But he said the budget often does not keep
pace with the calls. Efforts to get alternative funding for the missions
have not met with much legislative support, including efforts to get money from
the state's general fund.
The state changed the law in 1999 to allow the department to be reimbursed for
search and rescues the attorney general deemed to be caused by "recklessness."
But that has only brought in several thousand dollars a year, Garabedian said.
Those who are rescued sometimes make generous gifts to the department. And
volunteer organizations such as Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue,
nonprofits such as the Appalachian Mountain Club or municipal organizations such
as the Laconia Fire Department's dive team have assisted Fish and Game.
But by law, it is the department's responsibility to respond and lead the rescue
and/or recovery. Some rescue missions require more resources than others.
A simple slip and ankle turn a mile from the trailhead requires less time than a
multiple-hour search in the woods and water using helicopters.
A recent search for a Rhode Island man who drowned on Lake Winnisquam required
six to eight hours of dive time and considerable resources, Garabedian said.
Each New Hampshire registered boat, ATV and snowmobile brings in $1 to the
search-and-rescue program. In the past, boaters and snowmobilers have asked why
they shoulder the burden when hikers, who do not necessarily have boats or
snowmobiles, use a majority of the money.
Currently, Garabedian said money that comes in from registrations goes directly
to the account, and the department draws from that.
Fish and Game gets an infusion of capital in November from snowmobile
registrations, which he said helps balance out the fund.