The plan for Colorado Parks and Wildlife to take a larger role in backcountry search and rescue has been paused to consider a new proposal that would put a county sheriff in charge of coordinating large-scale, multiagency missions.
When Colorado Parks and Wildlife in March announced an overhaul of the state’s backcountry search and rescue management, it was expected that the new program would be rolling by fall. The search for a third-party state coordinator has been ongoing. The 53-year-old, volunteer-led Colorado Search and Rescue Association did not step forward to work under Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Now, the County Sheriffs of Colorado has asked the state to pause the search for a new statewide incident manager, saying a county sheriff could fill the role of coordinating multiagency search and rescue missions. The proposal for a Colorado sheriff to take over statewide coordination comes from Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen…