Wellll, maybe and maybe not. Sometime in the early 1980's the officials at Organ Pipe were faced with a situation in which several border crossers were dying of thirst and exposure - time was of the essence. They sent wheeled vehicles to their aid, trampling all sorts of wilderness regulations in the dust - to virtual universal acclaim, including mine and I am a staunch supporter of wild areas and conservative, minimal development in parks. No action was taken against them.

Strictly speaking, the decision makers in this case were career employees, not political appointees. I doubt they had time to seek guidance from the PAs in Washington.

I think the real problem is that whoever is operating in the field is doing so under very unusual circumstances, and inefficiencies and slow responses, vital to a good SAR operation, are likely to be more common. In any event, this is not a good time to have a problem in a park.