All, there was a bill introduced to the Washington Legislature last week (HB1214) that proposed adding a twenty five cent surcharge to all "Sportsman's" licenses (fishing, hunting, etc). That money would fund an account that would be used to reimburse volunteer SAR Organizations for expenses while on a SAR mission. Further, it allowed the SAR volunteer organizations a method to go after the subject for additional renumeration of up to $500.00, providing lack of reasonable care on the part of the subject led to the rescue.
The bill went to committee this past Tuesday. and was basically killed, but one of the sponsoring legislators (Goodman, Woodinville) wants to continue dialogue and perhaps resurrect it later. I think it would be wise for communities such as this to be aware of these types of legislation and get involved of the process to ensure that bad legislation doesn't get through and that the proper things go into it to make it good. Here is a linky the proposed bill. Please take the time to find your state legislators and let them know how you feel about this.