![](https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cascade-rescue.jpg)
By TIM ROWLAND
Adirondack forest rangers are responding to significantly more emergency calls than they were 12 years ago, even as the number of rangers has remained the same, a new study shows.
By 2017, rangers were receiving 346 search-and-rescue calls compared to 223 in 2007. That translates into an extra emergency call every three days, according to an academic paper by Ethan Collins, a student at the University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Peter Pettengill, an environmental studies professor at St. Lawrence University in Canton.
The paper was published in the Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
With more users and more acreage incorporated into the park over the decade, the increase is understandable. But services haven’t kept pace. “The issue lies in the staffing,” said Collins, noting that as calls are on the rise, the number of rangers in the decade studied increased by only one, to 135.
That means that in the 10 years studied, emergency calls per ranger were up 54 percent. Collins said the problem isn’t just for people who are hurt or lost, but for the rangers themselves who may be fatigued from an overnight rescue, when a new call comes in.
Although — unlike at a national park — there are no solid data on the numbers of people using the park, Collins said an obvious reason for the increase is the increase in Adirondack use. “If you have twice as many people in the woods, you’re going to have twice as many calls,” he said.
But the data also suggest that the users of the park are older and perhaps not as agile on the trails. “There are more retirees who live in and around the park,” Collins said. “They may overexert themselves and become fatigued, which makes them more prone to slip and fall.”
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
The park also attracts neophytes, who are more likely to be unprepared, or become lost in the woods, he said.
The report conducted a deeper analysis of the years 2015 and 2016, in which there were 528 search-and-rescue operations involving 638 people. Hiking was the most common activity requiring a search-and-rescue mission, followed by snowmobiling, camping, hunting and climbing. Fifty-seven percent of those needing help were male, and the most common age group was from those 45 to 65 years old, a segment that made up 30 percent of the calls.
The greatest percentage of calls (42 percent) came from those who were lost, with 24 percent needing help with an injury.
Slipping and falling led to 43 percent of the injuries, with another 19 percent owing to incapacitated hikers who bit off more than they could chew. Another 9 percent had a specific medical event such as a heart attack. Over the two years studied, there were 26 reported fatalities, including six drownings, five suicides, four killed in a plane crash, three falls, two due to exposure, two due to a previous medical diagnosis, two “other” and one each due to exceeding their ability and snowmobiling.
The Adirondack Explorer thanks its advertising partners. Become one of them.
Collins said his and other studies have indicated that education and training appear to be the best bet for reducing backcountry rescues. A preventative plan focusing on education and preparedness was instituted in the Grand Canyon in 1997, and it’s helped reduce the numbers of lost or injured hikers, the report indicates. The program includes formal checklists for hiker safety, and has since been implemented at Yosemite and Delaware Water Gap.
Basil Seggos needs to go – hopefully to be replaced by someone who knows what Rangers do every day – often working overtime with lack of rest and in severe/dangerous conditions.
Interesting read and I definitely think we need to add more Forest Rangers and Assistant Forest Rangers but one important factor not mentioned in this article is technology. Service is better than it was 10 years ago and more people have cell phones, definitely a contributing factor when more people are able to make emergency calls than ever before. “If you have twice as many people in the woods, you’re going to have twice as many calls,” and If you have more people in the woods that have and are relying on cell phones those calls will increase even more. Just another reason we need to #addnysrangers and education!
I think that’s a short sighted comment. Seggos has been the best commissioner that I’ve seen in over 20 years. The issues discussed in the article require more than just throwing more Rangers at the problem. (There’s no such thing as an Adirondack Forest Ranger, and the writing seems to suggest that there are 135 Rangers assigned to the Adirondacks. There aren’t. It’s only about 60).
Building A well marked and sustainable trail system that is maintained by full time, professional Trail crews would undoubtedly decrease the number of injuries and searches. Building adequate parking facilities and educational hubs would allow Rangers to do more Comprehensive and preventative education, instead of being forced to Waste time writing parking tickets on busy weekends
Please consider that you might be overly critical of the term “Adirondack Forest Ranger” Its simply more concise than “Forest Rangers stationed in the Adirondacks”. The study was on Adirondack incidents. Curious why you believe Seggos has been a better commissioner than Granis or Martens?
The added amount of people using the trail systems has also added to the response from local volunteer fire and rescue departments.
This number 346 I assume comes from the DEC statistic found on page 62 of the report below.
This number is NOT the number of ranger S&R’s for the Adirondacks (as the title suggests) this is the total number for NYS. I think either this article or the paper it cites in wrong.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/legal_protection_pdf/17frarprtweb.pdf