Maine's "Get Out of the Woods Free Card"

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Waumbek

Waumbek

New member
Joined
Oct 27, 2004
Messages
1,890
Reaction score
209
Location
Avatar: "World's Windiest Place" Stamp (5/27/06)
It's a legislative proposal (LD 510) for the Maine Rescue Card, rescue insurance, and it's not literally free, but $20 annually. This is similar, I understand, to the western before-the-fact insurance model and different from NH's after-the-fact negligence model.

I wonder if there will be deductibles? Will the premiums go up annually? Will no map and compass void the contract? What about pre-existing conditions? Can I buy a premium policy and get a fast chopper ride down rather than a smelly, bumpy slow litter haulout? Lots of questions (some facetious, some not). More importantly, will it encourage or discourage more prudent planning, behavior, and use of public resources?

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/101091.html
 
Unfortunately unless it's required I'm afraid it would be a non-event. F&G departments need to do some better marketing and produce some cool tee shirts, water bottles, stickers and patches to fund their expenses. The average hiker would spend $50 on a tee, water bottle and patch without hardly thinking about it, but would probably rather be arrested and jailed if forced to spend $20 for rescue insurance.

Makes we wonder, this is alot like the Wind Mills thread when someone mentioned telephone poles and power lines...Most hikers believe it's their God given right to tramp the woods free of charge, just like, I'm sure, most hunters and fishermen did 100 years ago. Now no one has a second thought about charging hunters and fishermen fees and surcharge taxes on their equipment for access to their chosen sport. Just saying.
 
Last edited:
I'd buy one if I was in Maine. Not that the parking pass money goes toward rescues but I don't mind paying $20 a year to help out the places I like.

I pay more annually for Highway tolls & at best all I can see is that they allow me to get to the places I like (or need to for work) quicker.:)
 
For some reason I still re-up every year with AAA and it makes me feel a little better for doing so.
I guess if some woman down the street is getting pricey health insurance for her dog, then $20 for a what if situation isn't so bad.

Otherwise, if you forget to bring flashlight or a sleeping bag, they may say that you were not properly geared up, could charge you $2000 for sar.
 
yeah it's voluntary to start and next thing you know we are paying $100 a year or more mandatory. I don't mind paying for the parking pass but heres another charge and then another and another etc, etc, blah blah. I like the current NH model, if you are unprepared and you need rescue than you will be charged, lose your driving license. This would be good only if it remained voluntary. Maine loves it's taxes and fees so look out.
 
BlackBuffalo said:
For some reason I still re-up every year with AAA and it makes me feel a little better for doing so.
I guess if some woman down the street is getting pricey health insurance for her dog, then $20 for a what if situation isn't so bad.

Otherwise, if you forget to bring flashlight or a sleeping bag, they may say that you were not properly geared up, could charge you $2000 for sar.
Click to expand...

My guess is that without the revenue generated by the program, and a decent level of participation in it, you are more likely to be charged for any rescue, prepared or not. Even experienced folks sometimes get into trouble and $2000 is probably only a tenth of what you could get charged.
 
The ones who go out and buy the insurance, being the prepared and mindful types, will most likely never need it. It's the fools that leave most of their gear in the car because it's too much extra weight that will need rescuing...

In NH, you will not be charged if you are prepared. Just be prepared and heed weather forecasts. Those 2 things are worth a million times more than any stinking little "get out of the woods free" anyways.
 
andrewb said:
The ones who go out and buy the insurance, being the prepared and mindful types, will most likely never need it. It's the fools that leave most of their gear in the car because it's too much extra weight that will need rescuing...

In NH, you will not be charged if you are prepared. Just be prepared and heed weather forecasts. Those 2 things are worth a million times more than any stinking little "get out of the woods free" anyways.
Click to expand...

Naturally, that is why the program could work. That is the reason you can even buy insurance, not everyone who buys it makes a claim. But if you read the original article referred to in the first post in this thread the problem is how the D.I.F.W. is going to fund its operations. Right now hunters and fishermen pay a license fee. They are looking at ways to charge canoeists and hikers fees as well.

I think it's immeasurably preferable for the fee to be voluntary as it is with this proposal than mandatory, which will invite violations and be difficult and costly to enforce.

I also question the attitude that says "it can never happen to me, because..." No one has a 100% lock on all of the conditions in the backcountry no matter how well prepared they think they are.
 
bcskier said:
Naturally, that is why the program could work. That is the reason you can even buy insurance, not everyone who buys it makes a claim. But if you read the original article referred to in the first post in this thread the problem is how the D.I.F.W. is going to fund its operations. Right now hunters and fishermen pay a license fee. They are looking at ways to charge canoeists and hikers fees as well.

And taking that one further...

I'm not a hunter or fisherman but I use the same resources as both these groups when I hike. So why shouldn't I share in the expense? Setting aside the stereotypes most of the hunters/fishers I've encountered are just as conscientious as the hikers.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I don't mind paying $20 for this insurance. It's like other said...even if prepared, things do happen...if this helps the agency that keeps the trails, parking lots, campgrounds, etc. what they are...then, so be it. Why should I use these wonderful resources without giving something to help maintain them?

What I don't like is what I interpret to be: if you have the insurance...and need SAR...you are all set. If this law goes into place and you DON'T opt for the card (which you do not have to do...it would be voluntary)...you WILL get charged for your SAR regardless of how it happened or how prepared you were. Someone else said that this would bread carless hiking...leading to excess SAR missions, increased costs (remember, they only paid $20), lawsuits, and closing trails. It could also result in hikers having a bad reputation for being careless (just like hunters have...regardless of the reality of how most people hunt responsibly).

Just MHO
 
And taking that one further...

I'm not a hunter or fisherman but I use the same resources as both these groups when I hike. So why shouldn't I share in the expense? Setting aside the stereotypes most of the hunters/fishers I've encountered are just as conscientious as the hikers.
Click to expand...

Then just buy a fishing or hunting license even if you don't use it.
Unfortunately with this new card lots of $$ will be eaten up by administrative costs.
 
I don't think it is the answer.

How would you feel about paying a fee for every state you walked/hiked in? Twenty for Maine, Twenty for New Hampshire, Fifteeen for Vermont, Thirty for Massachusettes, Five for Rhode Island, Eighteen for Connecticut.

Changing the topic a little, I've purchased a plan for my adventuresome son. It's not health insurance, nor accident insurance per se, but would provide payment for his hospital fees for an "event" while pursing his outside activities.

The company is called Adventure Advocates, and the fee is around $30 per month. I learned about it in a blog from Jackson Hole, Wyoming at a time when my son had no health coverage and was declined for standard health insurance because he had broken his back mountain biking.

I think of it as similar to AAA, though slightly more expensive, the payback could be very important to our family finances.
 
eruggles said:
I don't think it is the answer.

How would you feel about paying a fee for every state you walked/hiked in? Twenty for Maine, Twenty for New Hampshire, Fifteeen for Vermont, Thirty for Massachusettes, Five for Rhode Island, Eighteen for Connecticut.
Click to expand...

..until all the states share the cost how can one expect the "general fund" of each state to cover everything? There are individual licenses for hunting and fishing in each state now. Perhaps a general "Outdoor" permit for each state or one for New England, or the northeast, or the country....
 
eruggles said:
I don't think it is the answer.

How would you feel about paying a fee for every state you walked/hiked in? Twenty for Maine, Twenty for New Hampshire, Fifteeen for Vermont, Thirty for Massachusettes, Five for Rhode Island, Eighteen for Connecticut.
Click to expand...

Some definitions of the word: voluntary --

voluntarily - out of your own free will; "he voluntarily submitted to the fingerprinting"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Free of coercion, duress or undue inducement. Used in the research context to refer to a subject’s decision to participate (or to continue to ...
www.rush.edu/rumc/page-1120170890846.html

Actions taken exercising free will, without compulsion, without legal obligation, without expectation of return or profit.
www.greenlegacies.ca/resourcesGlossary.asp

Done in accordance with the conscious will of the individual. The opposite of involuntary. See the entire definition of Voluntary
www.medicinenet.com/huntington_disease/glossary.htm

The article said the fee would not be compulsory. Nuff said?
 
Waumbek said:
... This is similar, I understand, to the western before-the-fact insurance model and different from NH's after-the-fact negligence model.
Click to expand...

What and where does this "western model" exist, anyway? There seems to be myth (or at least as best I can determine) that there's some type of insurance available.

Since people don't get charged for rescues in the west, why would you need insurance, anyway?
 
When I hiked the Colorado Trail back in 2002 I bought one of these for $3.00. CORSAR cards, http://www.dola.state.co.us/dlg/fa/sar/sar_purchase.html . It is included in a sportsman's licence if you buy one. It doesn't cover everything but for three dollars I thought it was well worth it plus it helps those who do perform the searchs. I see it still cost the same as it did back then.
 
I never plan on being "bailed out" in life, whether financially or in this case while on the trail. I especially think it's wrong for this to be done by the government -- there things should not be their burden.

When I go hiking, I realize that some situations could possibly arise where I don't make it out alive. That's what makes the trip planning important. Be vigilant, be prepared, and since weather is highly unpredictable don't be afraid to postpone the trip or turn around once underway - and most importantly, don't expect someone to rescue you if trouble arises. I still argue that for some hikers, feeling they can summon medevac helicopters at will only fuels a homeostasis of risk that will ultimately only result in tragedy.

IF all your best judgement before and during the excursion still results in an accident (which certainly is a possibility) and IF you need help and IF help is rendered, just pay the fine. When people get airlifted out of the mtns and don't pay a dime for it, it's like going into a hospital and having your life saved and then stiffing them on the bill. It's wrong to pass this burden onto an already cash-strapped forest system -- and even more wrong to simply pass this cost onto taxpayers. I do not like financing other people's mistakes when they refuse to pay up.

Given this could be costly, perhaps an optional insurance plan is a good idea. Does anybody know how much an SAR operation costs? However, I do not think $20 from a few random people is enough to fund very many SAR operations. For the system to work, the fees would probably need to be pretty steep.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Top