Posted: Thursday, August 7, 2008 12:00 am
On Wednesday, three people who had been missing in the North Santiam Canyon area were found, bringing to an end organized searches, one of which had lasted three days. The question is whether such searches are justified and whether the people instigating them should be billed.
And the answer is no, they should not be billed. But also, we might be too quick to launch big searches.
In one case, a couple of young people had gone on a raft trip on the Little North Fork River but found the going slow and decided to camp for the night. Family members called authorities, and searchers sprang into action.
In the other case, a man from Albany apparently got lost on a hike and went missing Sunday afternoon. Around mid-day Wednesday he flagged down a delivery truck after apparently stumbling around the countryside since Sunday.
On the Democrat-Herald website, a reader reacted to the rafters' story: "A simple cell phone call, or stopping at a house and calling wireline, would have saved the taxpayers a lot of money … and kept people from risking their lives looking … . These people should get a big, fat bill for services rendered needlessly."
We all appreciate, of course, sheriff's officers and volunteers who typically go into action when someone is reported missing. But it also ought to be possible for people to spend unplanned extra time in the woods or on a river without triggering massive searches involving scores of paid and volunteer personnel.
Sure, those people on the Little North Fork might have called somebody, assuming they had a cell phone, or reached somebody at one of the houses said to have been within reach. Perhaps they were thoughtless. Perhaps, though, they assumed that their families would realize that sometimes a river trip takes longer than anticipated.
The authorities want everybody venturing into the outdoors to make a plan and notify people. That's just common sense. But sometimes people want to be by themselves for a few days, or even overnight, in an unplanned way. We should not allow ourselves to be so regulated that adults cannot spend an unscheduled night outdoors in the summer without triggering a search. (hh)