The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office says it has seen an unusual upward trend of Search and Rescue (SAR) missions over the past year.
Officials have seen a reported 200% increase in rescues within the county but the sheriff’s office says its not a unique problem to Skamania.
Teams across the state have reported an increase in Search and Rescue operations, according to the Washington State Emergency Management Division.
In a post on Facebook, the Skamania County Sheriff’s office highlighted seeing 13 rescues in July.
“Despite repeated messaging on social and mainstream media, we continue to see this exorbitant number of search and rescue missions in our county,” states Sheriff Summer Scheyer.
“We do not have the financial or personnel capacity to continue with this extraordinary increase in missions for much longer. I want nothing more than people to enjoy the incredible outdoors and live a healthy lifestyle. I just want them to do it responsibly," the sheriff said.