Record high year for Gallatin County Search and Rescue

Outdoor recreation has certainly gained popularity within recent years, but with an increase of recreationists, accidents also arise. The year 2021 was one of the busiest outdoor recreation seasons the country has seen and the Gallatin County Search and Rescue (SAR) experienced its busiest year yet with volunteers responding to 134 calls, including 34 searches and 69 rescues. According to the Gallatin County SAR website, 161 volunteers dropped what they were doing to go help someone 1,263 times and spent over 13,017 hours on calls and training. 

Scott Secor, the commander of Gallatin County SAR, acknowledged the pandemic and the increasing population of Bozeman as reasons why the number of outdoor recreationists has increased. “I think people did go out into the backcountry trying to get away, and I truly believe that it was a motivating factor. And everyone who drove around in the summertime could see that the trails were just packed and the trailheads were just overflowing with cars.”

Although the pandemic could be the primary cause of crowds in the outdoors, Secor said there could also be unknown factors involved. “It’s all a theory because you can’t question every patient that we transport or why they’re out there or what they’re motives are,” Secor said.

The two busiest seasons of the year for SAR are the mid-summer and mid-winter seasons. Recreational sports such as backcountry skiing, snowmobiling, backpacking and hiking are popular sports during those times. Early spring and late fall can also be a tricky time of year for trail users. “The trails aren’t usually real great that time of year,” Secor explained. “Usually they’re real muddy or really icey still.”

Anyone can volunteer for Gallatin County SAR. There are currently around 160 volunteers, which is about the maximum level the organization can handle. “We try and balance the people wanting to be on the team with the actual needs of the organization and the team itself,” Secor said. The volunteers include construction workers, doctors, college students and retirees. 

“Once they get on the team we run them through indoctrination and get them up to speed on radio communications and nomenclature and how operations work and different navigations needs and mapping, that kind of thing,” Secor said. Volunteers don’t need to be certified prior to SAR, they will get certified in house through training procedures and will be able to respond to calls. 

Secor accredits the success and existence of the Gallatin County SAR to three things: “We couldn’t do it without our volunteers first and foremost. I mean they walk away from dinner, from birthday parties, from family gatherings to go help a complete stranger in the middle of nowhere just because they have a love for the backcountry,” Secor said. “Number two, we couldn’t do it without the community. The community at large just really supports search and rescue and you know that’s huge. And then number three. Without the support of the sheriff and the undersheriff who really just believes in search and rescue and gives us all the tools we need to succeed.”

To learn more about the Gallatin County SAR, visit https://gallatincomt.virtualtownhall.net/search-and-rescue.