Die Free or Live
Eagle Scout Scott Mason “did everything right” when he was injured and stranded for three days in wintry conditions on Mount Washington during a solo hike in April, and came out alive. That’s what New Hampshire Fish & Game said then.
Now game wardens in the “Live Free or Die” state have slapped the 17-year-old with a $25,234 bill for the search-and-rescue effort, citing “negligence.” Boston Herald:
A plucky Eagle Scout who probably should get his own episode on the Discovery Channel’s “Survivorman” instead has been hit with a $25,234 rescue bill – after he lasted three days in wintry conditions with an injured ankle on Mount Washington.
Halifax Scout Scott Mason, 17, built a rock shelter, waded across icy rivers and started a fire with hand-sanitizer gel. Some might think he deserves a merit badge for coming through his ordeal alive in April.
Instead, he’s being stuck with what is reportedly the highest New Hampshire rescue bill to date – 25 large – for a two-day search by dozens of rescue workers and a helicopter. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department has given him 30 days to cough up the cash.
As impressive as his survival skills may sound, Fish and Game officials said Mason acted with negligence and, in accordance with New Hampshire law, is liable for the cost of his own rescue. Prior to 2008, reimbursement was required only in cases of recklessness.
Maj. Tim Acerno, who oversees law enforcement for Fish and Game in the Granite State and headed Mason’s rescue in April, said Mason “was negligent” in attempting to hike an “aggressive” trail in wintry conditions, and then taking a “difficult route even after spraining his ankle.”.
The official response appears to contradict Acerno’s own earlier statements to the Patriot Ledger that Mason’s solo hike was “ambitious,” but “once he was lost, he did everything right.”
Mason’s mother declined comment yesterday under the advice of legal counsel.
Halifax Boy Scout Troop 39 at the time called him their “most experienced hiker” in a statement, saying that “he put all of his training and skills in order to come through the ordeal.”
New Hampshire Fish and Game performed at least 131 rescues from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009. Of those, Acerno said, the state has sought 40 reimbursements for incidents deemed “reckless” or “negligent.”
“When people are negligent, they will be billed, and the word is out there,” Acerno said. He added that Mason’s bill was the highest he’d ever seen. They usually range from a couple of hundred to several thousand dollars. Acerno also said that the reimbursement law doesn’t appear to have dissuaded hikers.
Massachusetts law does not require parties to pay for any search and rescues, according to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which performed 65 search-and-rescue operations in 2008.
Yeah, why do I think revenue-happy Massachusetts is gonna want to remedy that?
Anyway, having spent years hiking in the White Mountains, probably half or better of my multiple trips up 25 or so of the 4,000-foot-plus peaks having been hiked alone, I’m wondering if solo hiking is effectively illegal. Solo x-country skiing in winter, too.
Too bad. Yes, NH F&G is often required to go after people who have gone hiking without maps, without flashlights, without proper clothing, without food and water, without a clue what they are doing, and a moron tax is not a bad idea. But bad luck and poor decisions by people who are neither negligent nor ill-prepared also happen. People hike and camp in winter, too. Now, if I go hiking or backcountry skiing with my son, get injured, and he can’t haul me out, but we try to drag ourselves out on a trail that NH F&G thinks is a poor choice, are we negligent?
If they are so tight for cash that they need to shake down Boy Scouts, maybe they should start charging everyone $10-a-head rescue insurance at trailhead toll booths. Don’t lose that ticket or you’re screwed.
But do me a favor. If I ever get stranded in the Whites, don’t do me any favors. I’ll find my own way out.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:48 am Comments (2) on Saturday, July 18, 2009
2 Responses to “Die Free or Live”
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July 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Sheesh. Yeah, be careful, Jules!
July 18th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
[...] How much is having your life saved? according to Jules $25,234 [...]