{"id":43987,"date":"2021-11-01T18:59:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T18:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-search-and-rescue-hires-first-executive-director\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:16:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:16:35","slug":"colorado-search-and-rescue-hires-first-executive-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-search-and-rescue-hires-first-executive-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Search and Rescue hires first executive director"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dolores
Dolores County Search and Rescue members were all smiles after finding a missing hiker after a two-day search in a mountainous region of Dolores County.<\/span>The Journal file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Colorado Search and Rescue Association President Jeff Sparhawk has been hired as the agency\u2019s first full-time executive director.<\/p>\n

The new position is seen as an important step in CSAR\u2019s efforts to design a more sustainable system for backcountry search and rescue in Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to our humanitarian services, we are part of Colorado\u2019s outdoor recreation economy. Our communities and our recreation economy relies on backcountry search and rescue,\u201d said Sparhawk in a news release. \u201cIt\u2019s time for us to take a serious look at our current system and proactively evolve so we will be able to better adapt to the changing needs of Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, CSAR, which is based in Denver, advocated for the passage of the Backcountry Search and Rescue bill (SB 21-245). It passed in June.<\/p>\n

The bill is intended to aid search and rescue organizations in several ways, including providing funding for an injury training program for volunteer rescuers.<\/p>\n

The bill also commissions a study by Colorado Parks and Wildlife to research options for improved worker\u2019s compensation, long-term mental health benefits, reimbursements for volunteers\u2019 for out-of-pocket expenses, and possibly retirement benefits.<\/p>\n

The goal is to lessen the costs for communities supporting search and rescue operations by realizing economies of scale where possible, CSAR stated.<\/p>\n

A full-time executive director is needed to move the mission forward so Colorado can continue to rely upon the low-cost volunteer model for backcountry search and rescue.<\/p>\n

Local search and rescue teams are staffed by volunteers, who donate time for incidents and training, and pay for expenses out of pocket.<\/p>\n

Keith Keesling, operations captain for Dolores County Search and Rescue, said the new bill and CSAR leadership is helpful.<\/p>\n

He said rescue gear is provided for volunteers by the organization, but members typically buy $500 to $1,000 worth of gear themselves every year.<\/p>\n

\"A
A Flight for Life helicopter responded to a Dolores County search effort for six youths overdue from a tubing trip on the Lower Dolores River a few years ago. The youths were rescued after spending a night in Ponderosa Gorge, according to Dolores County Search and Rescue.<\/span>The Journal file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

State and county search and rescue funds reimburse volunteers for fuel and broken gear, but not time. He said state SAR funding has largely covered operational costs, including helicopter rescues.<\/p>\n

Paid compensation for members\u2019 time has not been available.<\/p>\n

Volunteers are often pulled away from jobs to rescue someone injured in the backcountry, Keesling said. For example, a recent successful rescue at El Diente Peak logged 84 hours of volunteer time.<\/p>\n

State laws mandate that employers allow employees unpaid leave for rescues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not paid. Rescuers give up time at their paying jobs; you just have to hope you have a good boss,\u201d Keesling said. \u201cOn top of that, I have to ask my team to take off work for training, which is hundreds of hours per year.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a challenge to keep people in the field when a search and rescue operation lasts for days or weeks.<\/p>\n

Support plans for team members vary county to county.<\/p>\n

In Dolores County, search and rescue members become unpaid county employees when training or on a mission.<\/p>\n

Rescuers\u2019 injuries are covered under state workers\u2019 compensation programs, Keesling said.<\/p>\n

Other search and rescue organizations buy their own insurance.<\/p>\n

Providing a retirement benefit for long-term search and rescue members should be looked into, Keesling said. That system is available for volunteer fire departments, but not search and rescue teams.<\/p>\n

Stable funding for a daily stipend for on-the-job rescuers would help them cover out-of-pocket costs, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA statewide system that is viable and sustainable would go a long way for a dedicated group of people who are making sure people get out of the backcountry alive,\u201d Keesling said. \u201cHiring a dedicated executive director is the right move and will help keep the issue on the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolores County Search and Rescue, which has a volunteer team of eight to 10 members, responds to about 25 calls per year. It often teams up with Rico and West Fork fire departments.<\/p>\n

Volunteers are needed. Training is available for mountain climbing and rope skills, but rescue teams also need shuttle crews, food and delivery equipment and grant writers.<\/p>\n

Sparhawk brings a lot of experience to the post of CSAR\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n

He has more than 30 years\u2019 experience as a volunteer rescuer with Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, as a search dog handler with Front Range Rescue Dogs. He also has served on CSAR\u2019s board for nearly eight years, the past four as president. He worked closely with Colorado state legislators to write and advocate for SB 21-245.<\/p>\n

Sparhawk is an attorney with 12 years of private practice experience focused on nonprofit law, small-business transaction, trust and estate planning and entity formation.<\/p>\n

\u201cJeff has dedicated significant personal time and energy to raising awareness of the new challenges our Colorado search and rescue teams are facing \u2013 from increased and more complicated calls for rescue to long term funding issues to healthcare and mental health support for search and rescue volunteers,\u201d Dan Gibbs, executive director of Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said in the press release. \u201cJeff is the right person for the job as Colorado search and rescue teams rise to these new challenges and Coloradans are recreating in our outdoors \u2013 and getting lost or needing rescue assistance \u2013 in record numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

passed to support statewide search and rescue effort<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[837,28,1807,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-county","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-search-and-rescue","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43987"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85921,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43987\/revisions\/85921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43987"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}