San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters is to help spread the costs of what he says are increasingly common search and rescue operations. The insurance is $12 and offer buyers coverage for five years. Masters is worried that growing backcountry travel will soon exhaust his annual $100,000 search and rescue budget. A single rescue or recovery operation can run as much as $50,000. “I think you should be responsible and held accountable if you are engaged in these types of recreational pursuits,” Masters said. Six people have died in Colorado avalanches this season, including a .
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