New York State Forest Rangers Conduct Daring Rescue Of Stranded Hikers

When you think of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, what comes to mind? Well, for one, you might not think of the many things that DEC Forest Rangers do daily.

Sometimes their daily routine is just an ordinary day, but there are many times when their job is so much more than just ordinary. Each week the NYS DEC reports on the precious week's highlights on their website.

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Over a recent week, New York State DEC Forest Rangers taught a Basic Wildland Fire Suppression course to area firefighters, assisted in fighting 28 wildfires in 28 counties, helped prepare scouts for receiving their Fire Safety Badge, and were a huge part of a wilderness search and a wilderness rescue, in addition to many other tasks.

During the wilderness rescue, the New York State DEC noted the following from the Town of Italy in Yates County New York:

 On March 11 at 5:45 p.m., Forest Ranger Dormer responded to a report of two stranded hikers at Conklin Gully in Hi Tor Wildlife Management Area. Mud, erosion, and high-water flows made it difficult for the pair from Manchester and Farmington to return the way they had hiked in. The Ontario County High Angle Rope Team and the Yates County Rope Team worked with Ranger Dormer and fire departments from Benton, Bristol, Canandaigua, Cheshire, Dundee, Farmington, Honeoye, Middlesex, and Naples to set up a high angle rope system to extract the hikers. Rescuers rappelled down, secured the subjects, and brought them up 200 feet before the temperature dropped and darkness set in. Neither subject was injured, but both were evaluated by Naples Ambulance. Resources were clear at 8:30 p.m

Check out the photos of the rescue, below.