As counterpoint, I submit the following from a friend who runs a flight service in Idaho. It would seem that Idaho politicians may need a better sense of balance. There's got to be a compromise in here somewhere, both to protect the environment and to help humans in trouble. Every story has two sides. I work for the US Forest Service and the policy is quite clear on this issue. Planes for search and rescue are appropriate for wilderness areas. I have approved them both for body recovery and for searches. We didn't have a minute of delay for those approvals. We had once case on the remote Illinois River where a number of boaters were trapped by high water. I immediately approved helicopter over flight for the area. 19 people were removed from this wilderness river. We also a approved a jet boat to head up river as far as possible to recover the bodies of 2 people. I have also approved body recovery in Wilderness using motorized vehicles. The policy is clear. I don't know the facts in this case, but I would be interested in hearing more. There was a plane missing near Challis that was just found; perhaps this is the case you refer to? Sounds like there was some communication problem or someone made a poor decision. In the case of the Illinois river I was also asked if a helicopter could be used to recover the leftover gear, I declined permission for that. I requested that they get an outfitter to remove the gear via raft. I felt the air support was unwarranted in that situation. I would argue there is a balance. -- MZ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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