Funding for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, particularly covering the department’s expenses without relying solely on hunters and fishermen, is a perennial issue. It has come up again in the form of payment for searches and rescues. Rather than charging those who are lost and injured, as some have suggested, or adding more dedicated fees, more of the department’s expenditures should be covered by the General Fund.

Earlier this week, Piscataquis County commissioners voted to no longer reimburse local fire departments for assisting in searches and rescues in the Unorganized Territory. The county has sent small payments to local departments in the past to help defray such expenditures. The commissioners decided, however, that search and rescue is the responsibility of the DIF&W and that it should cover the costs.

The department, which is responsible for the Warden Service’s search-and-rescue operations, will continue to look for lost people and rescue those who are injured. But the department is concerned about the escalating costs. Some recent searches have topped $100,000 in expenses.

In addition, an increasing number of rescues involve people who are not hunting and fishing but rather are hiking, boating or have wandered away from a home. This furthers the resentment of hunters and fishermen who feel their license fees are supporting the department, which is spending more and more money on activities that don’t improve wildlife or fish stocks.

Recognizing this problem, the Legislature in 2003 passed a bill requiring the state to fund 18 percent of the department’s budget with money from the General Fund. Immediately the state faced shortfalls, and when cuts are being made to health and human services programs, dedicating more money to wildlife is a hard sell.

To help defray search-and-rescue costs, a common suggestion is to charge those who are rescued, especially those who used poor judgment, such as venturing out in a blizzard only to become lost. Using the same logic, however, it would make sense to charge people who smoked in bed, requiring the fire department to put out the fire. DIF&W has sent bills to people rescued in situations that suggested poor judgment but, perhaps because there are no legal standards about when such reimbursements are required, they have never been paid.

Search-and-rescue operations are a public service and should be paid for by the general public, as are fire and police protection. The way to increase public support of DIF&W is to increase the funding it receives from taxpayers, which means a larger General Fund appropriation.