Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
[trimmed]
Collection laws have drawn protest from critics who view rescue
operations as a tax-funded service, just like firefighting.

"It's almost an entitlement," said Golike of the National Search and
Rescue Association.

Green, the Grand County sheriff's sergeant, said sending a bill to a
family who lost a loved one is a "big gray area" that makes him
uncomfortable, "even though it has been done."

This is usually a hot topic around here after a big rescue
effort. There are always a few who gripe about their small
taxpayer contribution to such efforts while the volunteers
who man these operations are generally dead set against any
attempt to charge those being rescued.

I think the following article makes some good points.

http://tinyurl.com/yadsck

An excerpt:

The Oregon National Guard flew helicopters in the searches
for the climbers and James Kim and his family, lost in the
Southern Oregon mountains after Thanksgiving. Brig. Gen.
Mike Caldwell said it costs $2,890 an hour to fly a UH-60
Black Hawk, including fuel and maintenance, and $7,500 to
fly the larger CH-47 Chinook. On Mount Hood, the Black Hawks
flew 37 hours and the Chinooks flew 15. But nobody gets
billed for that, Caldwell said.

"From a practical standpoint, we're budgeted for those
hours," he said. "Those flight hours would have been flown
anyway in training. Instead we are able to get our people in
a real-world environment."

-rick-