America’s busiest search-and-rescue system at risk of collapse, study finds

March 11, 2022

In Colorado, where the number of outdoor users is quickly outpacing the bandwidth of local search and rescue (SAR) teams, volunteer rescuers aren’t just unpaid—they’re spending over $1,500 of their own money each year to save other people’s lives.

That’s according to a landmark new study conducted by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) in 2021, to investigate reports of burnout, underfunding, and legal vulnerabilities among many of the state’s 50 all-volunteer, nonprofit SAR teams. Outside Business Journal