Adirondack Forest Ranger Search and Rescue Highlights

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents statewide. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the backcountry.

“DEC Forest Rangers’ knowledge of first aid, land navigation and technical rescue techniques are often critical to the success of their missions,” said DEC Commissioner Joe Martens. “Search and rescue missions often require Rangers to function in remote wilderness areas from rugged mountainous peaks to white-water rivers, and through vast forest areas from spruce-fir thicket to open hardwoods.”

Recent missions carried out by DEC Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks include:

Essex County

McKenzie Mountain Wilderness
Town of North Elba
Lost Hiker: On May 31, 2015 at 3 p.m., DEC Ray Brook Dispatch received a call from a 36-year-old female from Syracuse who had lost the trail while descending from the summit at Scarface Mountain. She had bushwhacked down the mountain, but still could not locate the trail. DEC advised her to contact Essex County 911, which could obtain her GPS coordinates. Once her location was established, DEC Forest Rangers determined she was going in the wrong direction, but was close to a seasonal camp road. DEC provided her with a new directional bearing to reach the camp road where she was met by the responding Forest Rangers. The Rangers escorted her down the road and then drove her to her vehicle at the Scarface Mountain trailhead. The incident concluded at 4:30 p.m.

Feldspar Brook
Town of North Elba
Missing Hiker: On May 31, 2015, several DEC Forest Rangers assisted in the search and recovery of a missing female hiker in the Feldspar Brook area. Information on this incident is available at: https://www.nyspnews.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=45842.

Be sure to properly prepare and plan before entering the backcountry. Visit DEC’s Hiking Safety (http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28708.html) and Adirondack Trail Information (http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.html) web for more information.

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